Etisalat Group’s Chief Executive Officer Saleh Al Abdooli has submitted his resignation after 28 years.
The telecom operator said in a statement that it was due to personal reasons.
Al Abdooli began his career with Etisalat as an Engineer for Mobile Systems Planning in 1992. For eight years after his appointment, Al Abdooli served the company in various roles and was promoted as the Chief Engineer of Mobile Systems Planning. In 2001, he was appointed as the Managing Engineer for Mobile Systems.
In this role, he was responsible for all activities pertaining to planning, design, optimization, operations, maintenance, installation and quality assurance across the company network.
Al Abdooli was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat’s operations in the UAE in February 2012 and was named the Group CEO in March 2016.
The Board of Directors accepted his resignation and appointed Eng. Hatem Dowidar as Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Group.
Dowidar is currently the CEO International of Etisalat.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the UAE (TRA) has extended the validity of all wireless authorisations of hospitals and medical centres across the country, regardless of the expiry date of the authorisation, to support the precautionary measures taken by the UAE health sector in the current circumstances.
TRA said in a statement that it has also announced that it has provided a package of backup radio frequencies to support the wireless communication system in the health sector in the UAE, so that it can be allocated immediately upon request without the need to pre-pay the fees required to complete the transaction.
TRA assured that the spectrum monitoring system is working around the clock to limit any harmful wireless interference that impedes the work of vital services.
“Hospitals and medical centres will be given priority in the event of jamming or interference affecting their devices or causing delay or disruption of their work, in order to strengthen and support the precautionary measures taken by the UAE to protect society and preserve the health of citizens and residents,” it said.
Delegates at Davos urgently need to make a big and bold commitment this year to financial technology (fintech), an opportunity that the world cannot afford to miss amid a slowing global economy, an industry expert said.
The call comes as world leaders, CEOs, academics, influencers and celebrities head to the Swiss mountain resort of Davos for the 50th annual World Economic Forum (WEF), starting on Tuesday.
As it celebrates its landmark 50th year, Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group, said the World Economic Forum 2020 has the opportunity to champion and enhance the transformation of business, which has been dubbed the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution.’
“We’re living through a pivotal moment in history in which increased and advancing technology is monumentally and profoundly changing the way we live, do business, and interact with one another.
“We can clearly see seismic shifts happening in the financial services industry – a sector trade and commerce is deeply reliant upon. The vast majority of this change is being driven by fintech,” he said.
Moreover, he said that mobile banking and investment apps, peer-to-peer lending, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, robo-advisers and crowdfunding are all part of this fundamental shake-up of the space.
The momentum and energy of this evolution now need to be harnessed by delegates in Davos, he said and added that they need to commit to fintech by using their time, energy and resources for its research and development for three principal, positive reasons.
Following the shift from e-commerce to fintech in 2018 in the Middle East and North Africa, fintech retained its top spot in 2019 and accounted for 13% of all deals last year, according to startup platform MAGNiTT.
Talal Bayaa, Chief Executive Officers at Bayzat, said that fintech will continue to be a popular industry for investors and entrepreneurs as new startups emerge to enable financial services across the value chain.
“We’ll also see mature ones raise larger rounds as they look to become fully regulated, since there has been no traction in partnerships with traditional players,” he said.
Philip Bahoshy, founder and CEO of startup data platform MAGNiTT, said that accelerators and governments play a key role in supporting fintech startups.
Green said that fintech can speed up the pace of global financial inclusion and can provide access to financial services for millions of people who live in remote areas and/or who might normally not be able to use financial services because of historical biases of traditional financial companies.
“Second, fintech offers companies the opportunity to be agile, to diversify, to cut costs, and to meet regulatory requirements all whilst improving the client experience. This will help them thrive in rapidly challenging times of change and disruption.
“And third, the revolution is happening with or without them. As consumers, we increasingly want all our financial services needs to be dealt with online and/or on their mobile devices. We demand personal service and instant access anywhere and at any time. This trend is only set to grow as we all become increasingly dependent on tech,” he said.
Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), world’s fastest-growing free zone, has witnessed a 5.4% year-on-year growth in new company registrations in 2019 to 1,969 and is now home to over 17,000 companies.
DMCC, a government entity established for major multinationals and start-ups in 2002, finished 2019 with the strongest fourth-quarter registrations in four years.
A total of 559 companies signed-up to the free zone in the fourth quarter, a 20% increase on the same period in 2018. This follows the registration of 202 new member companies in October 2019, the highest figure in a single month for two years.
“DMCC is a global hub for trade and an interconnected business district in the heart of Dubai. We added 2,000 companies from a variety of backgrounds and sectors in 2019. The strong 2019 performance is the result of us listening to our member companies, constantly enhancing our services and broadening our engagement with business communities around the world,” Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said in a statement.
The new member companies include start-ups, SMEs and multinational firms from a variety of sectors, adding to the diverse business ecosystem DMCC has built within its Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) community. Over 100,000 people live, work and thrive in JLT, where everyday lives are transformed by DMCC's smart district solutions.
Bin Sulayem said that DMCC continues to attract foreign direct investment to Dubai from key international markets including China and India.
“We look forward to welcoming more companies in 2020 and in turn increase our contribution to Dubai’s GDP and the wider national economic diversification strategy,” he said.
“As the world becomes more reliant on the Internet and virtual world, malicious cyberattacks are increasing, with goals ranging from seizing personal property to destroying large organisations and creating chaos in many countries of the world,” Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, TRA Director-General, said.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the UAE (TRA) has warned users to be wary of the ‘Emotet’ banking Trojan, making its rounds globally.
Emotet, first identified by security researchers in 2014, was designed to sneak into your computer and steal sensitive information but the latest version of the malware infects users through its bulk spam email campaigns containing harmful links to users.
Frankfurt, one of the largest financial hubs in the world, recently shut down its IT network following infection with the Emotet malware.
The TRA also warned the public of the risk of fraudulent messages that mislead recipients into thinking that they are from reliable sources and invite them to click on certain links or send private information by phone, email or otherwise, ultimately making the recipient a victim of scam and online fraud.
TRA said that such message reach users via SMS and WhatsApp, impersonating a well-known company or bank established in the UAE, which then ask the user to call some numbers, provide personal data and bank card details, under the pretext of unblocking the ATM card.
In addition, the TRA cautioned against widespread Snapchat links such as filters because they may contain malware. The TRA recommended not clicking such links until after verifying the sender to avoid being infected with any malicious code.
Abu Dhabi-listed telecom operator Etisalat’s business customers can now make unlimited calls to mobile or fixed numbers in the UAE or to a majority of international destinations.
After unveiling the ‘Freedom Unlimited’ plans’ for its postpaid customer recently, the telecom operator has now launched ‘Freedom Unlimited’ postpaid plan for business customers.
Through the AED 350 plan, businesses can make unlimited local calls across UAE and with AED 600 plan; businesses can make unlimited local and international calls.
Free-roaming minutes, data (local and roaming) and a free gold VIP number await businesses opting for higher rental plans.
They can enjoy 500 incoming and 100 outgoing roaming minutes as well as 100GB of national data and 1GB of roaming data on the AED 900 plan. Meanwhile, those selecting the AED 1,200 plan can enjoy 1,000 incoming and 200 outgoing roaming minutes as well as 125GB national data and 2GB roaming data.
The original PlayStation launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, and in Europe and America about a year later. 25 years on, the PS4 rules the games world, and the PS2 remains the best-selling console of all time. The PS3... also came out, with its expensive launch price and initially weak software library.
The PlayStation changed games forever: it arguably made them mainstream and adult at the same time, and it had an extraordinarily large catalogue of titles.
So much love remains for the original PlayStation – it's why Final Fantasy 7 is being remade next year, and why Resident Evil 2's own remake launched to such fanfare this year. Below, the TechRadar team share their own treasured memories of the console.
At a time when the only names in the console business worth mentioning were Nintendo and Sega, Sony’s plans to launch its own console seemed crazy to me at the time – that was until I saw the T-Rex demo (I think it was included on a demo disc with the PS1 as well), which showed off the kinds of graphics effects we could expect with the new console. It blew my little mind at the time – I’d never seen graphics like it, and it was a real statement of intent from Sony, and a great showcase for its new console. That short little demo has become as iconic as some of its games. Matt Hanson, Senior Editor: Computing
The birth of stealth games in Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid was arguably the first non-CD-ROM adventure game that felt truly cinematic, with high-quality voice acting (for the time, anyway), and a reasonably mature story about nuclear war. Its moody intro leads into the game's first room, a basement area where you can learn all this revolutionary stealth game's basics: don't step in a puddle, or enemies will hear you. You can punch an enemy and knock them out, but you can only kill them by grabbing them from behind. Did you get caught? Crawl under a surface and hide until the alarm goes away. These fundamentals of stealth gameplay would change games forever. Samuel Roberts, Senior Entertainment Manager
Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII
Hey, Final Fantasy VII remains the most talked-about RPG on the PlayStation (and that console had a lot of good ones), hence why it's being remade right now in stunning fashion. But Final Fantasy VIII had arguably the best minigame of any game: Triple Triad was a really simple card game where you placed cards on a 3x3 grid, aiming to flip the cards of your opponents by placing more powerful monster cards next to theirs. It was a perfect time-waster in a game that already took tens of hours to finish. Samuel Roberts
Stealing a car in the first Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto was a game of playground legend: an 18-rated, incredibly violent top-down adventure where you could drive around an entire city (several, as a matter of fact). The first GTA, made by DMA Design in Dundee, was unlike anything else on PlayStation, and all the fundamentals that still shape the series (and other Rockstar games, like Red Dead Redemption 2) today are in there: how missions work, that you press triangle to steal a car, and the fact that the most fun always comes from the chaos you create yourself. Samuel Roberts
The PlayStation startup sound
Enough said. Olivia Tambini, Staff writer, Home Entertainment
Iconic gaming mascots
It’s hard to think about PlayStation without the legendary gaming mascots that are so inherently linked to the brand springing to mind. Over 25 years PlayStation has brought us some iconic characters, including Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Lara Croft, Nathan Drake, Aloy, Kratos and many more. With many of the first-generation titles being remastered, some of these classic characters have been given a new lease of life, and they’re still integral to the brand. It goes to show that PlayStation truly has a knack for creating some of the most charismatic, relatable and memorable characters in gaming Vic Hood, Gaming writer
A world without walkthroughs
We take it for granted now that, if you get stuck on a tricky level in a game, you can simply go online and find a walkthrough within seconds. Back on the original PlayStation, things were nowhere near as easy, and games felt considerably harder. Stuck on a Resident Evil puzzle? You would only succeed through pure perseverance, or you’d have to go to your local newsagent and pick up a gaming mag that (hopefully) had the answer. It was frustrating at the time, but nowadays we maybe take for granted the fact that we can swan through difficult levels at our leisure. Vic Hood
Demo discs
The PlayStation's use of the CD-ROM was significant for a few reasons. Using low-cost media allowed Sony to undercut the significant software prices of the Nintendo 64, and it also meant that demos of games were viable on consoles for the first time. Whether they came with the console or with Official PlayStation Magazine, it meant everyone got to play a lot more games than ever before – just not the whole game. Did anyone ever own Kula World, the platformer in which you play as a beach ball? I doubt it… but everyone played the demo of that game. Samuel Roberts
Micro Machines V3 with two multitaps and 8 controllers
Ah, multitaps. Remember them? The huge chunks of plastic, the forever tangled web of controller leads, and that one player who always sat just that bit too far from TV, resulting in the console being yanked onto the floor any time they gesticulated. Multitaps were ugly, inelegant solutions – especially compared to the wireless world of today – but they were the facilitators of some of the most epic gaming moments of PlayStation’s history. John McCann, Deputy Editor
FIFA 98: Road to World Cup
For gamers of a certain age with a penchant for football titles, Song 2 by Blur will forever hold a very special place in their hearts. The song was the soundtrack to EA’s perennial soccer hit back in 1997/98, and whenever it’s played, those in the know are instantly transported back to the digital representations of the 16 French World Cup stadiums, graced by David Beckham, David Ginola, Paolo Maldini and co. John McCann
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3
Sometimes in life you get a perfect confluence of events, and for me that happened when I broke my leg at university and bought Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3. It’s hard to think of a better game to play while completely sofa-bound, and I developed a full-blown addiction to grinding, kickflipping and beanplanting anything that moved in the game’s brilliantly designed levels, from Suburbia to the Cruise Ship. An extra adrenaline rush was supplied by the superb soundtrack, which saw The Ramones merge into Motorhead as I attempted to unlock secret characters like Darth Maul. This was my gateway drug to the equally addictive SSX snowboarding series, and both set a high watermark for pure PlayStation fun that remained unmatched until MotorStorm swerved onto the scene in 2007. Mark Wilson, Cameras Editor
Fighting games, growing up, and Tekken 2
Having mainly been exposed to Nintendo consoles as a young’un, getting the Sony PlayStation really changed the game for my sisters and me. For one thing, it finally introduced us to the world of fighting games, with Tekken 2’s polygonal brutality of choke-holds and face-kicks feeling a long way from the cutesy battling of Pokemon Silver or the N64’s Diddy Kong Racing. Sure, it was no Mortal Kombat when it came to gore, but the PS1 showed me that the world of games was a lot harder-hitting than I’d first thought – even if my main fighting strategy wasn’t any more complicated than hitting the square button in quick succession. Henry St Leger, Staff writer, Home Entertainment
Finally completing Crash Bandicoot
When we finally got a PlayStation, we answered a local newspaper ad from a woman who wanted to get rid of some of her son’s old games. We paid £10 for around five games, and among them was Crash Bandicoot (or in other words, one of the finest, and most challenging games to grace the planet). Many an hour was spent after school, sat cross-legged in front of the TV, repeatedly plunging to my death in The High Road, or being crushed by boulders in Jungle Rollers. In the years I spent playing that game, I never did manage to complete it, but it never put me off playing – it was just too much fun.
Skip forward around 15 years, and the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy was released – a remaster of the first three games. Inevitably, I was hooked, and at the ripe old age of 25 I finally completed Crash Bandicoot. My work was done – thank you, PlayStation, for many years of fun and frustration. Olivia Tambini
Tomb Raider and the female protagonist
Original Lara Croft (or Laura as she was going to be called) may have been a poorly proportioned, and controversial, character when it comes to being a good role model, but there’s no denying that she was the face of PlayStation for a long time. Sure, Lara came with issues – primarily that she was being flaunted as a sex symbol with pixelated breasts – but she was still a badass.
Intelligent, adventurous and probably one of the most significant characters in gaming, Lara led the way for strong PlayStation female protagonists such as Horizon Zero Dawn’s Aloy and Ellie in The Last of Us – even if it did take a bit longer to get to less scantily-clad females. Original Lara may be the version that’s burned into our memories, but the Tomb Raider reboot brought us a more realistic, relatable version, proving that while the character may have her flaws, she's still as iconic as she was in the ‘90s. Vic Hood
The height of Disney games
“What about Aladdin on SNES?,” we hear you scream. Well, apologies to those people, but PlayStation Disney games were the absolute best. Hercules, Tarzan, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, The Emperor’s New Groove… the list goes on and on. They weren’t allwinners, but there was nothing like watching the latest Disney film and then picking up the game to play straight after – where you essentially just rewatched clips of the film but with some gameplay thrown in. Vic Hood
The advent of survival horror
“You were almost a Jill sandwich!” Okay, so Barry Burton’s words to Jill ‘the Master of Unlocking’ Valentine weren’t necessarily the most auspicious start to a franchise – and, indeed, genre – that would dominate consoles for the next couple of decades. But the sheer tension and terror that Resident Evil brought to the PS1 certainly was.
The zombies; the fiendish puzzles (I’ve never had to play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the piano before or since to unlock a secret room); the crows that pecked poor old Forest Speyer to death; the genuinely sleepless nights; the having to live it all again in Silent Hill, Outlast and countless sequels and reboots. Thanks, Resident Evil… I guess. Adam Marshall, Editor, Subscriptions and Services
Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), the parent company of du, launched its unlimited postpaid power plan with unlimited data, unlimited minutes and unlimited internet calls in the UAE.
The limited-time offer is available to new or existing customers who opt to migrate from their postpaid plan to the ‘real unlimited plan’.
The unlimited flexi minutes and unlimited data offer will be given to subscribers to the Power Plan 1000/1200 for the duration of 12 months, with or without contract. Customers can use their Flexi minutes for national and international calls to 164 destinations around the world.
The Dubai-based telecom operator is also offering its postpaid customers a free internet calling pack subscription valid for 12 months with Power Plan 300/350, Power Plan 500/600 and Power Plan 1000/1200.
With this free internet calling pack subscription, customers can make unlimited app-to-app calls or text anyone across the globe on selected VoIP apps such as Botim and YZER.
French energy management and automation specialist Schneider Electric has opened its sixth smart distribution centre globally and first in the Middle East in Dubai in a bid to digitally transform supply chains for efficiency and sustainability.
The other smart distribution centres are in Australia, China, Brazil, France, and India.
Mourad Tamoud, Executive Vice-President for Global Supply Chain at Schneider Electric, said the centre features its IoT-enabled, open, interoperable architecture EcoStruxure platform that makes operations efficient and lean.
Moreover, he said the new centre will showcase technologies that deliver greater efficiencies to customers and partners as well as providing a platform to develop local talent.
“We intend to reduce our carbon footprint and go green, inside its factories, by 2030 by using renewable energies and extend it our suppliers by 2050,” he said.
Dubai has become one of four international hubs for the French company after Paris, Boston and Hong Kong and Schneider Electric has been present in the region for 30 years.
Tamoud said that the smart centre not only shortens its delivery time to customers but also optimises supply chain operations to provide delivery excellence.
Optimising CapEx and OpEx investments
The smart distribution centre, spanning across an area of 30,000 square meters and located at Jebel Ali Free Zone, is now open for inbound, outbound and local adaptation entities.
“In the short- to mid-term, our smart distribution centre is already increasing the end-to-end efficiency of our operations up to 5% by cutting delivery time to customers, optimising supply chain operations by reducing equipment downtime and reducing overall power consumption saving approximately 10-12%,” said Ahmed Khashan, President of Gulf Countries and Pakistan at Schneider Electric.
He said that the EcoStruxure platform enables real-time performance monitoring, analysis and predictive analytics to reduce downtime and create more efficient operations.
“Our technologies enable our customers to take a holistic view of their operations to optimise CapEx and OpEx investments,” he added.
UK-headquartered WorldFirst has expanded into Dubai and opened a representative office at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) to create a platform for international trade and currency exchange.
The expansion will enable WorldFirst to provide currency exchange services and cross-border payment solutions for e-commerce businesses and individuals to the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region.
WorldFirst was acquired by Ant Financial, the financial technology arm of Alibaba Group Holding Limited, in February 2019.
“WorldFirst joins more than 2,300 active registered organisations and a FinTech community of more than 100 firms that have made the DIFC their location of choice in order to service the MEASA region,” Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, DIFC Authority, said in a statement.
Moreover, he said the launch will enable WorldFirst to tap into the MEASA region’s burgeoning e-commerce market which is projected to be worth $97 billion by 2020 and continue their upward growth trajectory.
Home to the largest financial ecosystem in the region, the DIFC has succeeded in attracting some of the world's leading financial institutions since 2004.
The DIFC FinTech ecosystem has achieved a three-fold growth since the end of 2018.
To date, Jonathan Quin, CEO at WorldFirst, said that more than 250,000 global customers have chosen WorldFirst for their international transfers.
“We have transferred $70b for customers since our launch and undertaken more than one million transfers per year. Now is an exciting time for the e-commerce industry and we believe the Middle East offers vast potential for growth as we continue our journey to become the world’s best foreign exchange platform for individuals and international businesses,” Quin said.
UAE-based telecom operator Etisalat is offering unlimited local and international calls on select plans for its postpaid customers.
With the new ‘Freedom Unlimited’ plans, postpaid customers can choose a plan based on their need and enjoy complete freedom from calling limits. They can make unlimited calls to mobile or fixed numbers in the UAE or the majority of international destinations.
Postpaid customers also stand to benefit from the limited time ‘Double Data’ promo without any additional charge when they subscribe to one of the eligible new ‘Freedom Unlimited’ plans. They can enjoy double data benefit for 12 months, starting from the day of activation.
Moreover, customers can either choose a no-commitment option and enjoy complete freedom from a postpaid plan, or get a contract to save more. Customers also avail great benefits at a fair price and enjoy ‘Smiles Unlimited Buy 1 Get 1’ subscription worth AED20 a month for unlimited discount vouchers on shopping, dining, wellness and travel.
With ‘Roam Like Home’ access starting from just AED 100 per week, customers can use their local data and minutes on the new ‘Freedom Unlimited’ plans, while roaming across Etisalat’s preferred roaming partners globally. ‘Freedom Unlimited’ customers will also enjoy 100 WiFi hours per month at more than 350 locations, including shopping malls across the UAE when they connect to ‘UAE WiFi by Etisalat’.
There's not long now until Black Friday deals take over the internet, and there are many things you can do to prepare for the sales, including making a shopping list of all the products you're interested in, or categories you'll stick to.
Well, we wouldn't give advice if we weren't going to stick to it ourselves, and each of the writers and editors at TechRadar has their own 'shopping list' to follow over Black Friday. Many of the entries are tech-related, but there are some other pieces of kit, including toys and essentials, that we're hoping for too.
To give you an idea of what we're expecting – and wishing – will be discounted, we've amassed the list below, along with some helping buying advice if you're interested in the same products we are.
Gareth Beavis
Global Editor in Chief
LG OLED C8
This year - please, this year - I'll buy my white whale of a TV: a properly good OLED set. I saved up a few years back to buy one, but every year I've missed a great sale because I meant to get around to snapping it up... and the deal had ended by the time I'd refocused.
An OLED TV is something I desperately want for my tech collection, as the brightness, contrast ratios and inky blackness - combined with sublime color reproduction - make OLED TVs a real winner. I'm thinking that the OLED C9 could be in the right sweet spot of price, at the lower end of the range but still packing great picture quality and top smart TV capabilities.
Now I just need to follow the advice we give every year: set your budget, and if you see the thing you want for a price that you can accept, snap it up. You'll regret it if you don't... trust me.
I'm excited by the thought that the Lego Millenium Falcon could be mine this year. I've watched the 71592 Falcon set go up to over £600 and the 10179 set now retails at almost £10k second hand, but if any of the retail partners drop the 75257 set significantly I will probably invest and end the internal debate about whether I need to have 1,351 new pieces of Lego in my life.
This Black Friday, I plan on picking up a bunch of AAA games that I've missed out on this year - because unfortunately I don't get to review every new game that comes through our doors.
However, nowadays a new console title would set you back at least £45 so I'm hoping to grab discounts on the likes of Borderlands 3, Resident Evil 2 Remake and MediEvil.
The likes of Amazon and Walmart tend to do great deals on games during Black Friday and Cyber Monday but if, unlike me, you're a PC gamer then you may want to keep your eyes set on Steam instead.
It is finally, finally time to replace my laptop. My old Asus Zenbook UX305 has served me well for a good five years, but now that the speakers have given out I have no choice but to move on.
The Zenbook range is a bit pricey for me these days, so I'll be looking for a mid-range laptop that's small and slim enough to carry around all day without breaking my fragile spine – if I could get even a couple of hundred pounds off a new PC it would make grieving my Zenbook that little bit easier.
Being the curmudgeonly, nostalgia-obsessed 30-something that I am, I'll be hunting down deals on retro mini game consoles and retro arcade machines. I'm dying to get a hold of one of these Arcade 1Up or other modern retro arcade cabinets and modding it to play any arcade games that I wish.
(There's a reason why the trackball-based models are all deeply discounted.) With one of these, my ultimate basement would be complete.
It's not the most exciting purchase, but the only thing I know I'll definitely buy this November is yet another 12 months of PlayStation Plus. If you subscribe to PS Plus, I can't recommend buying a year long pass over the Black Friday period enough.
It's almost guaranteed to be discounted each year - which makes it much less than if you were to subscribe monthly - and you know that by the time it's finished there will be another discount ready and waiting.
Who knows, maybe I'll even own a PS5 by 2020's big sales period.
As a father of two young kids, Black Friday has turned into an early warm up to Christmas. For better and for worse.
Top of my daughter's list is something called LOL Surprise Doll House, part of a family of products that currently top Amazon's most wished list for dolls and accessories.
It doesn't have a smart thermostat (yet) but comes with a working elevator, a rooftop patio, a pool, 85 surprises and a spa. Its glitzy and over-the-top design (including a moving truck) has won it the Toy of the Year Awards in 2019. Oh and there's also an even more extravagant Winter Disco Chalet version with an ice-skating rink but shhhhh, she doesn't need to know yet.
This Black Friday, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a pet camera to keep a watchful eye on my elderly cat and my hyperactive puppy – I want to know what they get up to when I'm at work! There are some really cool models out there at the moment, and I'm particularly keen on the PetCube Bites 2; it comes with two-way audio so you can talk to your pets, as well as a treat dispenser that lets you fling treats using your smartphone. It even has Alexa built-in, so you can ask the camera to dispense treats and even reorder more supplies, without the need for a separate Amazon Echo speaker.
When Black Friday arrives, I'll be hunting for a great deal on a set of true wireless earbuds for running. Winter is on its way in the UK, so I'm looking for something that'll stay put and stay charged during those long, cold training sessions. In a perfect world I'd find a brilliant Black Friday deal on the Jabra Elite Sport True Wireless Earbuds. With a snug fit, great audio quality and a heart rate tracker, they'd give me the extra push I need to lace up my trainers with numb fingers and put in those important miles.
This Black Friday I'll be on the hunt for a Nintendo Switch, plus loads of games for it, some PS4 games I've missed out, a new TV, bags of Hue bulbs (they are always on sale on Black Friday) and all kinds of things that I love. Oh, wait... I have a newborn baby, so actually it will be bulk packs of diapers, wooden toys, things to make my home safe for the tiny human that's now rolling around in it and other essentials. I might treat myself to some loose leaf tea to help keep me awake, though...
My mum has been bugging me to help her replace her ailing old iPhone SE for ages, but I keep telling her to wait until Black Friday phone deals start rolling in. Every year we see some ridiculous prices on budget, mid-tier and even flagship smartphones - we're expecting some very attractive Samsung Galaxy S10 and iPhone XR offers this time around. Personally, I'll be directing her towards the likes of the Huawei P30 Lite and Samsung Galaxy A40 and A50. Perfectly decent phones from big-name brands at prices that will suit her bank balance.
It's time for me to upgrade my PlayStation controllers. One is the bundled controller I got with the original PS4 back in 2014 - after 5+ years of gaming abuse, the rubber on the analogue sticks is almost non-existent. I upgraded to the PS4 Pro in 2016, keeping the original controller as well as getting the updated DualShock 4 alongside it. However, that too is slowly starting to show its age. In previous years we have seen great Black Friday PS4 controller deals, and this year I'll be treating myself to a pair if the discounts flow once again.
I'm nearly there - an Amazon Echo for every room. One to give me recommendations when I'm cooking in the kitchen. One to listen to me sing in the shower. One to diagnose my groans from the toilet... you get the picture. Whether wisely or not, I've gone from being a smart speaker tin-foil hat wearing skeptic to a convert, and Black Friday is always one of the best times to pick up a new one from Amazon. With 2019's range now hitting its digital shelves, and it being one of the most consistently discounted lines on the site, I'm looking forward to checking out Amazon's Black Friday sales.
Something I've been considering for Black Friday is a Sony A7S Mark II camera, great for film projects, but with the Mark III just around the corner (hopefully), and the Mark II pretty expensive still, I may just wait off another year or two.
Instead, I'll see if any board games, video games, or LEGO sets on my wishlist are on offer – that's a pretty long wishlist at this point though, so I'm probably going to have to be pretty pick. Honestly though, I may use the usual excuse of 'actually, I may just wait and see if this deal is beaten later on' until all the sales have passed, and I'm left empty-handed.
I've wanted to upgrade the RAM in my home PC to 32GB for a while now, but its never been cheap enough to really justify it. I've already got 16GB of speedy RAM (with shiny RGB lighting to boot), but I want to bump that up to 32GB for more bragging rights. Plus, I've noticed plenty of new PC games push up against that 16GB limit, and I just don't want to close any of those Chrome tabs.
HP recently announced its Z-series in India which is aimed at creative professionals and product developers. The ZBook Studio X360 is a convertible workstation that’s designed keeping in mind the ultra-portable nature of a laptop but doesn’t miss out on intensive performance when required.
While the company has regular notebooks in its Z-series lineups such as the ZBook 14U or ZBook 15, the Studio x360 is in a league of its own. Being a 2-in-1 workstation, it can be used in multiple viewing modes and supports touch input.
A great workstation is one that doesn’t just offer sheer raw performance but enhances the overall experience of the creative process involved. And with the ZBook Studio x360, you get a powerful machine that’s uniquely portable.
HP’s ZBook Studio x360 is a versatile workstation that is powered by 8th generation hexa-core Intel Core i9 processors, up to 64GB RAM and NVIDIA Quadro P2000 3D graphics leading a superior performance. This laptop can be configured with up to 4TB NVMe storage which is 21x faster than HDD and 6x faster than SATA SSDs.
The 360-degree hinge design allows users to use it on their laps in addition to other viewing modes-- stand, tent, tablet, and docked mode. This comes in handy for several use cases like typing on the go, showcasing your work, sketching and even docking the laptop to multiple displays.
The touch-enabled display supports up to 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity with tilt and low latency. This means that sketching or editing on the laptop in tablet mode will feel more close to using a pen and paper. The laptop supports the Wacom AES pen and can be fine-tuned with the help of three customizable buttons.
HP ZBook Studio x360 features a 15.6-inch 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution DreamColor display which is layered with an anti-glare coating. The screen has 600 nits brightness and the ability to switch between different color spaces, between AdobeRGB, sRGB & DCI-P3 gamut. This will help the users maintain a definite color profile for all the work they do on this convertible.
The screen can reproduce 100% of Adobe RGB colour gamut which has a larger colour palette than the standard and sRGB profiles. There’s an ambient light sensor that automatically tunes the display’s brightness based on the environment.
For creators and professionals, the ZBook Studio X360 has been optimized for editing, colour grading, retouching, 3D modelling for software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom, XD, Autocad, Autodesk Sketchbook, SketchUp, Solid Edge, among others. Rest be assured, the Studio x360 will be able to handle as intense a workflow as you’ll throw at it.
Being a powerful workstation, the Studio x360 doesn’t miss out on HP’s privacy features like Sure View for guarding the screen against passers-by, Sure Start which protects a user’s data and Sure Click for prevention against creeping malware.
The ZBook Studio x360 can deliver up to 16 hours of battery life on a single charge and supports HP Fast Charge for ultra-fast recharge times. HP claims the Studio x360 can be charged from 0% to 50% in just 45 minutes.
That’s not all, the ZBook convertible is tested under stressed workflow and against shock, altitude, extreme temperatures and even drops. So, it doesn’t compromise on the durability department and has received the Military Standard certification.
To make the ZBook Studio X360 yours, you can head over to this link.
Etisalat Group’s third-quarter net profit after royalty remained steady at AED 2.3b when compared to a year ago despite tough market conditions.
The Abu Dhabi-listed telecom operator’s group revenue fell 1.51% to AED 13b when compared to AED 13.2b a year ago.
The pre-paid mobile market is under pressure for the last few quarters due to weak consumer confidence and telecom operators have been focusing on post-paid mobile market to increase the average revenue per user and keep their revenues and profits from decreasing.
According to research firm International Data Corporation, telecom services are feeling the impact of weak consumer confidence and a slowdown in mobile data services.
Even in 2020, the spending in the telecom sector is expected to grow the slowest at 1.01%.
Sukhdev Singh, executive director at research and consulting services provider Kantar, told TechRadar Middle East, that most businesses in the UAE are facing headwinds for the last two to three years, impacting the overall economy in many ways, including the usage of telecom services.
However, he said that Etisalat has managed to broadly retain its bottom-line despite shrinking revenues. “As we get closer to the Expo 2020, which kicks off in the fourth quarter of 2020, economic activities are expected to pick up and help telcos ahead of other sectors,” he said.
Nine-month profit up 2.1%
However, the operator’s nine-month profit amounted to AED 6.7b, an increase of 2.1% compared to the same period last year while its revenues reached AED 38.8b, a decrease of 1.52% to AED 39.4b.
In the UAE, the subscriber base reached to 12.4 million subscribers, while the group’s aggregate subscribers reached 148 million subscribers representing a year on year increase of 5%.
Consolidated EBITDA totalled AED 6.8b, representing an increase of 3% year over year and resulting in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), a measure of a company's operating performance, a margin of 52%.
Etisalat, which operates in 16 markets across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, is investing more than AED 4b in rolling out 5G network base stations this year in a bid to stay ahead of its Middle East peers.
The operator has installed 700 base stations in the UAE out of the 1,000 base stations planned to cover 30% of the populated areas with 5G this year.
5G era opens new opportunities
Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli, CEO of Etisalat Group, said that the 5G era has opened a world of opportunities to enable the deployment of innovative solutions and services across different sectors which will accelerate digital growth, drive efficiencies and enrich the overall customer experience.
“With continuous collaboration with our partners in the public and private domains, we are well geared to deliver 5G innovative solutions that will alter and reshape our society and industry on a large scale,” he said.
Even though local telcos are taking a lead in offering 5G networks, Singh said that the 5G pickup is not likely to break the ceiling anytime soon, given the limited handsets in the affordable range.
“Furthermore, the excellent 4G network in the UAE leaves a little need to have anything faster except for its novelty factor. IoT and M2M adoption are likely to help the 5G adoption more than the consumer demand in the initial phase,” he said.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE has launched a radio streaming service for the public to learn about the most important news, reports, services, latest developments of the ICT sector of the authority.
TRA digital radio is a new window through which TRA aims to reach a wider audience, including people of determination with visual impairments. The radio can be heard worldwide around the clock from its website.
“TRA ensures to be closer to customers and to stay in touch with them around the clock by activating more channels of communication. We have made great efforts in the development of the TRA website. We also ensure to provide distinctive and creative content on our social media channels,” Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director-General, said in a statement.
“Our children, brothers and sisters from people of determination may not be able to follow TRA news published in newspapers, website or social media, and hence the importance of radio, which is an ideal solution for our visually impaired children to follow TRA news and services, especially smart services that they can use anywhere and anytime,” he said.
In the second phase of the radio, specifically after the fourth quarter of 2019, TRA said the radio will have live interactive broadcast aimed at identifying the customers’ views about its services and taking their inquiries and suggestions, through the allocation of live broadcast hours.
The radio will broadcast TRA’s responses to the inquiries it receives through the call centre, in addition to presenting the most important smart services, tips and guidance on dealing with the digital space provided by specialized engineers from the Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT) of TRA.
The launch of TRA digital radio coincides with the launch of the TV programme of the digital government, which will introduce the audience to the UAE mGovernment and the services provided by the government through all available channels.
