Saudi delegates forge ICT links at high-tech show

Key departments from Saudi Arabia, including Ministry of Interior and Riyadh Municipality, are participating in GITEX Technology Week in Dubai which is expected to welcome more than 130,000 ICT professionals and trade visitors from 150 countries.
Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, opened the five-day long Gitex at Dubai’s World Trade Center.
The world’s leading brands revealed new products and services on the opening day.
Samsung Gulf Electronics announced the launch of the world’s largest display unit for luxury retail outlets.
The 95-inch Large Format Display (LFD), which is available for the first time in the region, offers LED Backlit technology.
Panasonic has unveiled the Toughpad 4K UT-MB5, the world’s first 20 inch tablet with a 4K resolution display for the Middle East and Africa markets.
The Toughpad 4K — UT-MB5 is the flagship product in Panasonic’s groundbreaking new Ultra-High Definition Toughpad range.
The portable tablet comes with a unique new Panasonic Electronic Touch Pen that is super intuitive and provides paper-like feel for sketching, annotation or handwriting.
“With Toughpad 4K, the region has literally moved into an era of the next dimension in visual developments of 4K resolution technology,” Masao Motoki, managing director, Panasonic Marketing, Middle East and Africa, told Arab
News.
DP World, UAE Region, officially rolled out a new initiative that uses smartphone mobile applications to integrate its entire range of customer services at Jebel Ali Port. The smart new approach to boost productivity and enhance operational efficiencies for imports and exports passing through the DP World flagship facility.
“Our aim is to increase our customers’ competitiveness and lower supply chain costs,” said Mohammed Al-Muallem, senior vice-president and managing director, DP World, UAE Region.
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) announced that it had finalized developing five smart mobile services applications that were launched at Gitex as part of the smart m-Government.
Etisalat launched Duroosi tutorial videos in strategic partnership with the UAE Ministry of Education, supported by Google.
The tutorial videos were launched by UAE Minister of Education Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al-Qattami and Etisalat-UAE CEO Saleh Al-Abdooli.Google will be offering strategic partnership for this project by providing a dedicated YouTube channel and enabling learning through social media tools.
“Smart education is a key priority for the government and advanced infrastructure will play a critical role in the achievement of this mission,” Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al-Qatami, UAE Minister of Education, said after the launch.
Toshiba Gulf FZE launched three new models of 10.1-inch tablets powered by the newest NVIDIA Tegra processors and running on AndroidTM 4.2, Jelly Bean.
Lincoln, Ford Motor Company’s luxury brand, made its appearance at Gitex for the first-time, showcasing the all-new Lincoln MKZ sedan, the ‘Official Car of the Show’.
“The all-new Lincoln MKZ represents the future of Lincoln in both style and substance, with eye-catching design wrapped around intuitive, purposeful technology,” said Paul Anderson, marketing director of Ford Middle East.
“GITEX Technology Week is the perfect platform to showcase our leadership in automotive technologies, whether in infotainment, safety or driver-assist innovations.”
IT research firm Gartner Inc. says that Middle East continues to be a booming market for the ICT industry with total spend projected to increase 5.5 percent from 2012 to $192.9 billion in 2013.
During the event, LG Electronics will demonstrate its product line-up of commercial LED digital signage and display solutions, including 72-inch stunning outdoor displays with 2,000 nit brightness, Ultra HD video walls, and the world’s first signage TV (Ez Sign TV) with Wi-Fi capability.
LG will also unveil the “Interactive White Board” (IWB) which will be displayed on an 84-inch Ultra High Definition display targeted for the corporate and education sectors.
Led by the industry’s first 84-inch class “Ultra High-Definition” 4K digital signage display, LG is raising the bar for the digital signage industry — with a focus on higher-resolution, higher-brightness LED displays that allow businesses to use digital signage in new, exciting ways, while helping to transform the region’s digital signage
market.