ALKHOBAR, 24 August 2004 — We all know that the real reason everybody goes to the Gitex IT trade show in Dubai is to check out the deals at the Computer Shopper. This year the Gitex Computer Shopper will be held at the Airport Expo Dubai from Oct. 2 to 8. The shopper is set to break all previous Computer Shopper records — with more than 150 exhibitors representing 500 companies scheduled to exhibit their wares, making it the largest and most comprehensive IT retail event in the region.
The 2004 Shopper will be 20% larger than last year’s edition. The Gitex consumer IT exhibit will showcase the latest in personal computers, laptops, printers, peripherals, gadgets and games from the world’s leading manufacturers. Global and regional companies such as HP, Acer, Sony, Dell, Microsoft, JVC, Samsung, BenQ, Jumbo, Jacky’s, Plug-Ins, Emirates Computers, CompuMe, Eros Electricals, Grand Stores and Cell-U-Com have all expanded their presence.
Electronics giant Sony will present “Sony World,” an expanded showcasing arena featuring the latest in gaming, digital imaging and home entertainment. Microsoft has increased its year-on-year stand space and companies including Samsung, JVC and Cell-U-Com are taking their own stand space for the first time this year.
The Gitex Shopper will occupy a whole hall of the enormous Airport Expo. Exhibitors there will be displaying the latest innovations in office automation products, educational and entertainment software, Internet products, multimedia, telecommunication products, training programs, computer furniture and stationery, to name just a few of the items available.
At Gitex there are certain to be many low cost mobile phones for sale. Buyers should be aware that incidents of exploding budget mobile phones seem to be increasing. The latest report is from the USA, where on Friday, Aug. 13, a San Diego teenager landed in a hospital emergency room for treatment of injuries sustained when his phone blew up.
The teen had just removed his LG phone, model VX-10, from a charger when he accidentally dropped it. As he picked it up, the cellular phone exploded, throwing the phone battery with sufficient force that only a wall about 30 feet away stopped it.
As a result of the explosion, the teen sustained cuts on his hand that required five stitches. Debris from the exploding phone penetrated his T-shirt and hit him on the head, leaving a noticeable bump. His family, who were with him in the kitchen of their home at the time of the explosion, report a bang loud enough to leave them with ringing in their ears for at least 10 minutes following the explosion. The teen’s mother said there was a white flash after the phone exploded, followed by a black powdery substance that covered the walls in the room.
According to Carl Hilliard, president of the US-based Wireless Consumers Alliance (wirelessconsumers.org), there have been numerous cases of exploding cellular phones. In the past, most have been linked in some way to battery defects. Nokia released a warning last year cautioning consumers not to use counterfeit replacement batteries in Nokia phones. Nokia stated that investigations of explosions involving its phones had all revealed that the incidents involved exploding counterfeit batteries manufactured by unauthorized suppliers. According to Nokia, the counterfeit batteries are not subject to the same quality control and testing that Nokia batteries undergo. Nokia said that counterfeit batteries could overheat damaging both the phone and the battery. Nokia also warned that non-original cell phone chargers could corrupt original batteries.
Despite these warnings, Nokia phones coupled with counterfeit batteries continue to blow up. The latest reported case happened in Hong Kong earlier this month when a mobile phone user injured his hand when his Nokia 6150 exploded. The explosion happened seconds after the man took it out of his pocket after realizing it was getting hot.
In the Saudi market counterfeit mobile accessories are ubiquitous. In fact, it is often impossible to find original accessories, especially for mobiles that are illegal for import. Take the Nokia 6600, which in Saudi Arabia has been nicknamed “The Panda.” Due to the fact that it’s a camera phone, this model is not legally imported into the Kingdom. Of course since it is forbidden, “The Panda” has become wildly popular and the handset is sold with a wink, a whisper and no warranty at numerous mobile phone shops in all major cities. Counterfeit accessories for “The Panda” are sold openly and are readily available.
On Sunday I went out looking for the Nokia 6600 and its gear. The very first shop I went to on King Fahd Street in Alkhobar had everything. Some of the press-on replacement covers for the 6600, while counterfeit, were very nicely packaged with Nokia branding that even included a credible hologram. The salesman made no apologies for offering the counterfeit goods. In fact he stated that he was simply providing the required customer service.
By the way, counterfeit replacement mobile batteries are not common but can be found with a little effort. They sell for less than half the cost of originals. Such purchases may be penny-wise and pound foolish — as the saying goes. If you are using an unauthorized battery in your handset and it starts to heat up, it would be best to switch the device off and change the battery. The investigation of the exploding LG phone is under way in the US with no definitive conclusions. We’ll keep you posted.
And in further mobile news, I recently received a press release with the blaring headline, “European and Middle Eastern Business Workers Cry Freedom in Break with Traditional Nine-To-Five Routine.” Wow! This was big and it was definitely a trend of which I’d been unaware — even though I live here in Saudi Arabia, which happens to be a part of the Middle East.
The press release touted the findings of a new survey, “Destination Wireless,” conducted on behalf of Intel Corporation by the Economist Intelligence Unit amongst more than 600 business workers in ten European and Middle Eastern countries. The survey supposedly highlights the growing influence globalization and wireless technology are having on working practices and office culture. The survey claims to identify a growing need for workers to adopt an even more flexible approach to their working lives.
The report asserted that in a clear shift away from the traditional nine-to-five based office culture, old working practices are being swept away thanks to increased adoption of mobile technology enabling users to view work as something that you do, rather than a place that you go to. The report’s findings theoretically show that workers are spending more time outside the office and that the working day is becoming longer and increasingly fragmented.
Asked to define the current proportion of their working day spent working out of office, survey respondents cited up to a third (33.2%), predicting that this is set to rise to just under half (42.4%) in the next two years. The shift is prompted by the increasing need to work across borders with colleagues in other offices and countries, with almost two-thirds (61%) of those questioned highlighting increasingly working as part of a virtual team. In a move away from the day-to-day routine of familiar faces in the office, more than a third of those questioned (37%) cited remote colleagues as their primary day-to-day contacts reflecting the increasing irrelevance of location.
Adapting to the changes, the workers surveyed are embracing the shift away from the status quo with the majority (68%) claiming to be more (19%) or as productive (49%) working outside the office as within. Almost three-quarters (73%) are as comfortable working remotely as at the office. Focusing on the benefits of improved productivity and performance, more than three quarters cited mobile working as creating a competitive advantage over rivals (83%), enabling them to provide better client service (88%). Eliminating dead time whilst out of the office (87%) was identified as another key advantage. As a result, adoption of mobile technologies amongst the business users in the survey is at an all time high, with an overwhelming majority currently using (82%) or planning to use (13%) a laptop in the next two years.
The information in this report is amazing, incredible stuff until you read the details of how the survey was done. In the report’s explanatory paragraph it is noted that 611 executives, managers and staff based in ten countries responded to the survey. The countries included in the survey and the percentage of respondents from each were: the UK (24%), Poland (12%), Italy (11%), Spain (10%), the Netherlands (9%), Sweden (9%), France (7%), Germany (6%), Russia (5%) and the United Arab Emirates (5%).
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, approximately 30 people in the UAE responded to this survey and according to the Economist Intelligence Unit that was enough to justify the headline, “European and Middle Eastern Business Workers Cry Freedom in Break with Traditional Nine-To-Five Routine.” Perhaps the Economist Intelligence Unit needs to check out this news flash: “While the UAE is in the Middle East, the UAE is not ‘the’ Middle East.”
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