Rolls-Royce
Some customers and media representatives joined Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors (MYNM) to take part in a “Charisma Tour” drive experience that kicked off at the Rosewood Corniche Hotel in Jeddah recently. The tour moved to Obhur in north Jeddah and then to Riyadh and Alkhobar. MYNM, the exclusive and authorized dealer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Saudi Arabia, treated the guests to experience three exclusive Rolls-Royce models: The Ghost, the Phantom Coupe and the Phantom Drophead Coupe. Each of the three Rolls-Royce models aspires to deliver its owner a “unique and prolific driving experience through its distinctive interior and exterior designs.” The Phantom Drophead Coupe’s exterior lines echo the timeless styling of the great Rolls-Royce motor cars: A long bonnet, large-diameter wheels, short front and long rear overhangs, and the quintessential dynamic line descending along its flanks. Inside, the design emphasizes the airy openness of top-down motoring, embracing the elements and creating a stunning social environment. Designed to cover great distances with the minimum of fuss, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe is a sublime choice for a transcontinental trip. Powered by a new twin turbo 6.6 liter V12, that delivers an astonishing 563 bhp and 780 Nm of torque with extraordinary performance lies the Ghost, the latest and finest addition to the distinguished Rolls-Royce Family. “Rolls-Royce represents the epitome of luxury and elegance,” said Anees Jamjoom, MD, MYNM.
Samsung
Samsung Electronics Ltd., a South Korean giant in the consumer electronics industry and the official sponsor for the ongoing AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011, is enhancing excitement and football fever for fans around the world through its latest smart devices and the newly launched mobile application, ‘AFC 2011 Samsung’. This Android/Bada OS based mobile football application is available on Samsung’s latest smart devices, the GALAXY Tab, Galaxy S, Wave I and Wave II. Downloadable from the Android Market and the Samsung Apps Store, the “AFC 2011 Samsung” app puts exclusive content from the AFC’s MatchCast service into the hands of football fans. Matchcast displays real-time information and statistics from the Player Tracking System which is refreshed every 20 seconds. Using the “AFC 2011 Samsung” app, fans will be able to stay tuned to real time performance data on individual players and teams, such as pass accuracy and sprint speeds. The mobile application also lets users make direct comparisons on player and team performance and is customizable to enable fans to tailor the information they want to see. Gyehyun Kwon, VP and head of Worldwide Sports Marketing, Samsung Electronics, said: “With the launch of the ‘AFC 2011 Samsung’ app, we hope to provide a new standard of football viewing experience to football lovers around the world. “The AFC recognizes Samsung for its diverse efforts in making this sporting event more visible and exciting, enabling more engagement with sports fans,” said Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of AFC.”
BFX
The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) has announced that the MENA’s first ever multi-asset exchange will commence live operations on Feb. 7. The BFE will adopt a phased approach to its trading whereby its Islamic division, Bait Al Bursa, will start its e-Tayseer platform for general use on the Feb. 7, and its conventional segment will start on March 7. This two-phased approach is designed to give market participants sufficient time to market and develop business in the BFX’s Islamic sector in advance of launching the conventional market. The official launch of the BFX will be marked by a ceremony held with the support of Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, prime minister of Bahrain on Feb. 1. The launch of the BFX will include the start of operations of Bait Al Bursa, the BFX’s Islamic division, as well as the BFX Clearing and Depository Corporation (BCDC). It will provide the region with a fully integrated electronic trading platform with a plug and trading floor, which will be internationally accessible to trade securities, structured products, Shariah-compliant financial instruments and derivatives.
GM Cadillac
AutoWeek, a major US automotive publication, has selected the CTS-V Coupe as its 2011 Best of the Best Car, placing the Cadillac at the top of the class of new or significantly redesigned cars for the 2011 model year. AutoWeek editors graded new vehicles on drive train, ride quality, handling, exterior and interior design and fun factor. The CTS-V Coupe received the most points overall in the car category. The award was announced on the AutoWeek website and has appeared in the Jan. 10 issue of the magazine. The recognition is in line with a number of similar honors awarded to the CTS-V Coupe by publications in the Middle East, including ‘GT of the Year’ by evo Middle East magazine. AutoWeek editors noted the CTS-V Coupe’s dramatic design and also praised the Cadillac for providing both power and refinement. One editor called it the “best Cadillac ever.” The car is stiff and set up to handle well, but Cadillac has found an intriguing mix of performance and ride quality that places this creation in a category of its own, another editor wrote. “It’s quite something to behold.” The CTS-V Coupe features a supercharged 6.2-L V8 engine delivering 556-horsepower and a Magnetic Ride Control suspension system that can read and react to the road in milliseconds. The CTS Coupe and CTS-V Coupe, part of Cadillac’s high-performance V-Series line, were both introduced in the second half of last year for the 2011 model year. “The AutoWeek Best of the Best award affirms what we thought at Cadillac when we launched the CTS-V Coupe,” said Don Butler, VP for Cadillac Marketing.
LG
LG Electronics (LG) unveiled a new Android smartphone, LG Optimus Black, at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that kicked off in Las Vegas last week. Providing users with a dramatically brighter 4-inch NOVA display in the world’s slimmest 9.2 mm mobile device, LG Optimus Black creates a one-of-a-kind user experience unlike anything before. Available for the first time in the mobile market, LG Optimus Black’s NOVA display is designed to be the brightest, clearest and most readable among mobile screens with 700 nits1 of brightness for optimal visibility. LG Optimus Black provides users with an easier and more natural experience when browsing the web, reading emails, or writing documents with higher levels of brightness and pure white tones that deliver true black and white colors for ideal handset viewing. NOVA technology featured on LG Optimus Black also enables users to maintain visibility whether indoors or outdoors under strong sunlight. In addition to greater luminosity, the NOVA display on LG Optimus Black also radically reduces power consumption by 50 percent during general indoor use compared to a conventional LCD. Similarly, AMOLED consumes twice as much power as NOVA to display a full white screen, the most frequently used color scheme for web browsing. “We are excited to introduce this stylish new Android smartphone and expect the LG Optimus Black to play a key role in the mobile market,” said H.S. Paik, president of LG Electronics Gulf FZE.
Jones Day
Global law firm Jones Day has announced that it will open three associate offices in Saudi Arabia this year — in Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar. These openings will bring the total number of Jones Day locations worldwide to 37. Jones Day will practice in the Kingdom in association with Alsulaim Alawaji & Partners Law Firm, a Saudi firm established in 1990. Yusuf Giansiracusa has rejoined Jones Day as partner-in-charge resident at its Riyadh office, which opened on Jan. 1. Giansiracusa has worked with Saudis and foreign clients doing business in the Kingdom for the last 20 years. Alsulaim Alawaji & Partners and Jones Day will open offices in Jeddah and Alkhobar later this year. These offices will focus on project finance, mergers and acquisitions, and dispute resolution. The partner-in-charge resident in the Jeddah office will be Fahad Habib who will relocate from Jones Day’s Washington office. The partner-in-charge resident in the Alkhobar office will be Oliver Passavant who has practiced at Jones Day for many years in both the United States and in Germany. Passavant has extensive experience in energy, mergers and acquisitions, finance, corporate restructuring and intellectual property. Stephen J. Brogan, MD, Jones Day, said: “we are delighted to welcome Giansiracusa.
ALJ
The 4th MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Business Plan Competition, sponsored by Abdul Latif Jameel Co. (ALJ), is preparing for the closing of its first round. The competition is the first of its kind in the Arab world designed to encourage all entrepreneurs in the region to start their own company and, ultimately, create a nest of unique and inspiring role models. The first round’s deadline for submitting online applications is Jan. 18. The competition, which accepts entries from all Arab countries is modeled around the MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competition, based at the MIT Sloan School of Management in Boston. It is tailored to encourage students and researchers to act on their talent, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow’s leading firms. The competition is organized in three rounds and will run over a period of eight months. During Round 1, teams are required to submit an online application form. 30 applications reflecting the best conceptual business ideas and means of implementing them are then selected to qualify for the next round and attend a two-day entrepreneurship workshop in Beirut. In Round 2, the corresponding 30 teams are required to present a full-fledged business plan following their ideas. Nine of the most solid business plans are then selected to qualify for the final round. The competition’s final awards ceremony will be held in Tunisia on June 17. The first place winner will receive $50,000 in prize money, while the 1st runner-up gets $10,000 and the 2nd runner-up $5,000.
NVIDIA
NVIDIA has announced a new Web community dedicated exclusively to 3D content, enabling users to enjoy breathtaking, stereoscopic 3D videos and photos while using a 3D-enabled PC or notebook. 3DVisionLive.com is an online community where NVIDIA 3D Vision technology users can enjoy and share a broad range of 3D content on their PCs. It allows them to stream 3D movie trailers, music videos, sport clips, and video shorts, as well as post and view high-quality, high-resolution 3D photos. Consumers and photo enthusiasts alike can use 3DVisionLive.com to create their own custom 3D photo galleries on the Web, where they can upload and share high-resolution 3D images with family and friends, or with the 3DVisionLive.com community. In addition, they will be able to view and rate thousands of photos taken by professional photographers, photo enthusiasts and other 3DVisionLive.com users. The site features an intuitive user interface, and high-performance photo and video management engines powered by Phereo and Fordela. “The goal of 3DVisionLive.com is to create an online community where users can experience the best applications and content for 3D PCs,” said Phil Eisler, GM, 3D Vision. “Now photo and video professionals and enthusiasts will see the future of their profession or passion in 3D with an easy-to-use website.” NVIDIA showcased 3DVisionLive.com at CES 2011, Jan. 6-9 in Las Vegas.
EnerPlastics
EnerPlastics LLC has launched the “first indigenously designed” additive package. The package, if introduced in the manufacturing process of plastic films and other one-time use polyolefin products, enables fragmentation and bio-assimilation. The additive is called EP OBD and will be manufactured at EnerPlastics’ plant in Jebel Ali, Dubai, using ingredients originated from Middle East and Europe. The package conforms to rigid French protocols for oxo-biodegradability and is certified by an independent French Government Accredited Laboratory — CNEP (Centre National d’Evaluation de Photo protection, Université Blaise Pascal, France). Aman Rahman, CEO EnerPlastics, said: “For the last two years, we have been investing in R&D to find a solution to enable bio-degradation of one-time use plastic products, such as shopping bag and other plastic items. It is a proud moment for the company to have been successful.” EP OBD additive is formulated from non-toxic chemical constituents and, when added, in recommended dosage to Polyolefin polymers, guarantees their fragmentation into non-polymeric compounds and eventual bio-assimilation in soil. EP OBD contains stabilizers that ensure mechanical strength and durability to the film to ensure highest mechanical integrity in service during an initial 12-month period. After this initial phase of actual use, the oxidative fragmentation process commences leading to eventual bio-assimilation in a period of 3 to 5 years. The film also undergoes similar fragmentation and bio-assimilation when accidentally blown into marine environment.
Kia
Kia Motors Corporation has again proved its continuous creativity and innovation, which reflects the transition phase and a modern shift in the auto industry. The Korean automobile giant surprised the car enthusiasts around the world in the past few years by launching a range of models in all segments like ‘Soul’, ‘Sportage’, ‘Cerato’ and ‘Cerato-Koup’. Kia has harnessed all its energies to designing cars that meet all modern driving needs. The new KV7 model from KIA is one of these striking and interesting designs, which the company intends to launch during the US international exhibition in 2011 in Detroit. This “monster” from the new Kia family is designed to enter the market with all the ferocity and innovation in spite of all the competing giants of automakers in the world. As it is well known for this category, the most difficult in view of the competition, Kia has put together most modern technologies and a host of new features enabling it to compete well in its class. These great achievements are not difficult and complex to a company that produces more than 1.4 million vehicles a year in 14 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries, which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 165 countries.
