Nokia N91 multimedia, the company’s latest device optimized for mobile music consumption, has been launched across Saudi Arabia. With room for up to 3,000 songs on the integrated 4-gigabyte hard disk, the new phone delivers a premier music experience. In addition, the industry standard 3.5mm stereo headset jack and easy transfer of music files from the PC help make the N91 a connected mobile jukebox. Encased in stainless steel, the phone has dedicated music keys on its face, which slide down to reveal the phone keypad. It is a part of the new Nokia Nseries range, bringing the latest multimedia technologies and smartphone functionalities. “The Nokia N91 delivers both a fantastic music experience and cutting-edge phone features,” said Jonas Geust, vice president, Music at Nokia. “What sets the Nokia N91 apart is that it is always connected - you can download new music while on the move, add it to your favorite playlist and then share your playlist with friends. It’s truly the world’s best mobile connected jukebox.” The phone serves up to 12.5 hours of great sound via the included stereo headset with remote control. The N91 supports a wide range of digital music formats including MP3, M4A, AAC and WMA, and is compatible with a number of accessories from industry leading brands Bose, Harman Kardon, JBL, and Sennheiser.
American Express
American Express (Saudi Arabia) hosted an exclusive shopping evening at Al Basateen Shopping Center in Jeddah on Sunday for its cardmembers who “enjoyed all the benefits of a unique shopping experience” including special discounts of up to 50 percent, a complimentary cocktail and free instant gifts as they shopped. It is the first time in the Kingdom that a shopping center has been reserved for such an exclusive event, and to celebrate the occasion the mall was decorated with a display of American Express themes and transformed with a dramatic light show making the occasion a memorable night. “As the Kingdom-based company, Amex (Saudi Arabia) Ltd. seeks to provide American Express cardmembers with every opportunity to get added value from their American Express cards by continually introducing new promotions and special offers that are tailored to meet the needs and tastes of the Kingdom’s residents,” said Mazin Khoury, CEO, Amex (Saudi Arabia) Ltd.
Islamic Funds Conference
The World Islamic Funds Conference will be held in Manama on May 29-30. This elite gathering of investment professionals will bring together investors, fund managers and the key players to identify new growth opportunities in the multi-billion dollar funds industry. Bahrain’s Shamil Bank and Solidarity have announced their platinum partnership of the World Islamic Funds Conference, being held under the patronage of the governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency, Rasheed M. Al-Maraj. Al-Maraj said: “The World Islamic Funds Conference will offer asset managers the opportunity to exchange ideas with the investment community from different countries. I look forward to the debate during the opening session on regulation, supervision & innovation in the global Islamic funds industry.”
SJAHI
Saudi Japanese Automobile High Institute (SJAHI) conducted its second students’ skills contest at its Jeddah workshop recently. About 200 students (the full complement of one academic year) into their second year of studies participated in the contest. The students strive to achieve the contest’s objectives by demonstrating their acquired technical knowledge and skills, exhibit excellence in their studies and are provided with opportunities for self-development, self-esteem and self-confidence, and also to inculcate in them sportsman’s spirit in any sphere of their life. The students were grouped to perform in and handle the different aspects of car repair, ranging from systems check and unit repair involving mensuration, adjustment, replacement to troubleshooting. The participants were required not only to perform their jobs accurately but also to complete them within the given timeframe making it the base for awarding them the certificates and prizes too. Abdullah Al- Huwaimel, director general of education, Makkah region, was the chief guest together with other Japanese guests who included Takehiro Kagawa, counsellor at the Japanese Embassy in Riyadh, Consul General Isao Dekiba, and Kiyofumi Nakauchi, resident representative in Saudi Arabia of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Riyadh.
Casio
Casio Computer Co. introduced a new item from Exilim Pro Line Digital camera products model EX-P505 equipped with rich features. The camera, compact in design and light in weight camera, comes with long lens-barrel and SLR-style grip packs 5.0 megapixel CCD, 5X optical zoom and 8X digital zoom lens. Its 2,0 inch rotating LCD screen enables free single shot as well as manual exposure controls. The advanced MPEG-4 technology offers very high-quality movie recording in VGA size (640x480 Pixels) at 30 frames per second in addition to other features. These include aperture priority, shutter speed priority, manual exposure modes, 2 hours continuous movie recording. The camera is available at the showrooms of Mahmood Saleh Abbar Co. the agent of Casio products in the Kingdom.
Showtime
Showtime, a pay-TV provider in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced the opening of another showroom, this time at the Dhahran mall in the Eastern Province. This brings the total number of Showtime showrooms in Saudi Arabia to 15. The mall is the biggest shopping complex in Alkhobar housing some of the largest anchor stores like Geant hypermarket, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and many more. “The company’s expansion of showrooms is part of the strategy to increase customer satisfaction by improving the quality and increasing number of sales points,” Wisam Edghaim, Showtime’s director for Saudi Arabia, said. “Our research indicates people like to buy direct from our staff. Our showrooms allow us to control the whole sales process and provide accurate information on new channels and technical developments.” Feedback from customers has been very positive indicating that Showtime is achieving its objective of reaching more people and providing services direct to its subscribers. One such shopper, Ali Babtain, visited the showroom when he was shopping at the mall and managed to get information about channels and prices on the spot. “I found the staff very informative about their product, which is satisfying,” Babtain said.
SNAS/DHL
SNAS/DHL Middle East recently announced is new weekly schedule using the new Boeing 727 cargo plane. The company will operate the jet between Riyadh, Jeddah, Bahrain and Dubai six days a week which will greatly reduce the transit time for deliveries of documents, parcels and heavyweight shipments, substantially increasing SNAS/DHL’s load capacity into the Kingdom. “SNAS/DHL has been working toward this major step forward for more than a year and we’re delighted that our daily flights service is now operational,” Samir Al-Judaibi, air operations and gateways manager at SNAS/DHL, said. “By routing the flights via Dubai, we can include shipments from the UAE, making this fast new service even more effective and convenient for our customers in the Kingdom. In addition, the new service gives a tremendous boost to our existing high load lifting capacity to 20 tons daily.” The Kingdom is one of the biggest and most important markets for us in the region and the introduction of the 727 flight services is part of the company’s investment to strengthen and expand its capabilities in anticipation of strong, long term growth in the express and logistics needs,” he added.
MTC
Mobile Telecommunications Company Group (MTC) has announced its platinum sponsorship of the Arab Telecom and Internet Forum (ATIF), which takes place in Marrakesh, Morocco from May 19-21. Now in its seventh year, the forum brings together corporate leaders and industry experts from around the telecom world, and MTC sees the 2005 event as another opportunity to enhance its growing, international reputation. Dr. Marwan Al Ahmadi, CEO for Strategic Affairs and IT at MTC, will discuss future initiatives of the group in a paper titled “MTC moving into the global arena.” He will also highlight the achievements of the company as it pursues the 3x3x3 strategy to achieve global status conceived by group CEO Dr. Saad Al Barrak. “MTC is today considered a leading mobile operator in the MEA, but our goal is to compete with the main global players in the near future. In 2005, we hope to more than double our existing customer base and enter more new markets,” Dr. Ahmadi said. MTC recently announced acquiring 85 percent of the subscribed shares of leading Sub-Saharan telecom company Celtel International B.V., increasing its customer base to 9.5 million customers in 18 countries. MTC will secure the remaining 15 percent of Celtel in the next two years. Through its local-regional-global strategy - called 3x3x3 - MTC hopes to attract 20 million customers by 2011.
Al Baik/Coca-Cola
For the eighth year in a row, more than 200 students participated in the annual Al Baik Coca-Cola Young Scientists Competition and presented inventions that conformed to the competition theme “Save our resources.” The event took place at the Jeddah Science & Technology Center (JSTC), where the exhibits will be on display up to May 18. Abdullah ibn Mohamed Al-Hawaimel, general manager at the Ministry of Education in the Makkah region, was the guest of honor at the awards ceremony. Parents of the young inventors were also present. The occasion began with a tour of the inventions’ gallery and included a visit to the Al Baik Coca-Cola workshop for young scientists, which is a fully equipped, sponsored, laboratory-style working area of the JSTC where students can carry out experimental projects.
