Qatar Airways recently held a workshop in Alkhobar for the corporate travel trade to discuss product updates, showcase upcoming new routes and highlight popular summer tourist destinations. Nabeel Hussain, corporate sales manager for the Eastern Province, hosted the event. The airline recently unveiled a massive capacity expansion in Saudi Arabia and is gearing up to launch a fourth gateway in the country, representing a dramatic 71 percent rise in frequency to the country. Madinah becomes the Doha-based airline’s newest destination in the Kingdom with four flights per week, beginning July 14. As of June 1, services to Jeddah and Riyadh rose to twice-daily. Dammam also saw weekly flights rise to four-times-a-day. Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 98 aircraft from its Doha hub to 100 key business and leisure cities worldwide. For customers living in Saudi Arabia, Qatar Airways has a dedicated reservations telephone number — 92 000 1159.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, announced the launching of the Samsung Galaxy S II (Model GT-I9100) in Saudi Arabia. Galaxy S II is supported by 1.2GHz dual-core processor that coalesces the ultimate viewing experience with incredible performance. Targeting the tech-savvy generation that continues to grow, Samsung GS II proves capable of meeting all expectations. This smartphone utilizes the latest version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the fastest growing mobile operating system. The Samsung Galaxy S II has been equipped with Samsung’s newest crystal-clear Super Amoled Plus screen. Raising the bar of quality viewing on mobile phones, Super Amoled Plus introduces the best in quality concerning color gamut, contrast ratio and edge sharpness. Incorporating RealStripe screen technology and a greatly increased sub-pixel count, Super Amoled Plus makes images look clearer and more detailed than ever before. The Samsung Galaxy S II has also been equipped with an 8.0MP, high-profile rear camera, that takes numerous shots such as panorama shot, action shot and cartoon shot, a front 2.0MP camera and a camcorder with 1080p full HD recording and playback. Ayman Mannaa, marketing manager at Samsung Electronics KSA, says: “Samsung has selected the Galaxy S II smart-phone as its premium mobile product with which to launch Samsung Hubs — integrated mobile applications designed to meet the most popular needs. With Samsung Hubs, the Samsung Galaxy S II conveys the Readers Hub, providing a library that contains over 2.2 million books, newspapers and magazines on-the-go. The Social Hub, the future of communications, allows the user to access all types of messages (push e-mail, text, VM and SNS), and communicate all through one place — the contact list, without having to resort to individual applications.”

Huawei Technologies, a global leader in delivering telecom and ICT solutions, announced it has launched the Huawei Authorized Learning Partner (HALP) program in partnership with Stage 2 Learning Solutions, a certified division under Al Khaleej Group, a leading independent education and training center. The Huawei Authorized Learning Partner (HALP) program will provide training and certification specifically in Internet Protocol (IP) and Datacom technology. The training aims to equip technical engineers and experts with specific technical skills including the application, installation, configuration and troubleshooting of Datacom and IP technology. From understanding network designs, benchmarking and maintenance in IP technology, the HALP program will ensure that technical engineers and experts in the enterprise market, channel sales and services, as well as students studying network technology related degrees achieve the best value training in IP technology. The program is expected to enrol at least 500 students across the Middle East region by the end of 2011. Michael Xiong, director of services and delivery for Huawei Enterprise Middle East, said: “Training our partners is critical in the early stages of the Enterprise Business Group. The partnership will not only help our partners give our customers a proper introduction of our solutions but it will also help them understand how the technology can help deliver business results to their organizations.” Al-Khaleej Group signed an agreement with Huawei Enterprise earlier this year in Saudi Arabia to establish a certification system that allows for a more pragmatic training program in Datacoms and Internet Protocol (IP) technology. Huawei’s partnership with Stage 2, its newly-formed division under Al-Khaleej Group, will aim to continue its training capabilities in UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

Saudi Electronics and Home Appliances Institute (SEHAI), the training institute for Saudi youth located in Dir’iyah, Riyadh, recently received additional technical support from Japan Working Group. Fahad Al-Harbi, director of SEHAI, successfully organized the intensive five-day technical training program implemented by Japanese engineers. Kawata and Asano from Daikin Industries, Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) strengthened the professional teaching skills of SEHAI instructors. In order to implement the training effectively, SEHAI fully prepared the tools and equipment, including Daikin air-conditioners, purchased by SEHAI and donated by Ahmed Zainy Electric and Air-conditioning Co. Ltd., the distributor of Daikin. The Japanese engineers visited Ahmed Zainy Company in Riyadh and observed the four-week long second on-the-job training (OJT) program, which is designed for students of second academic year and has started from June 11, 2011. The OJT program is being implemented in the field of electronics, home appliances, air-conditioning and computer and office equipment in SEHAI Saudi Working Group member companies. SEHAI is about ready to distribute the first graduates in this month, who enrolled at SEHAI in September, 2009 and preparing to receive the third batch of students in the academic year of 2011/12.