MiddleEast
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Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx set to hit Europe and Middle East in May
While Stateside folks have been enjoying the thicker, but longer lasting RAZR Maxx for a few months now, those from across the pond have been missing out. Good news is you won't have to wait it out on the sidelines much longer, as Motorola's announced the extra juice-packing Maxx is set to make its Euro and Middle Eastern debut come next month. However, Moto wasn't clear about how much you'll have to shell out to grasp onto this Droid, or which specific countries it'll make the trip toward. Whatever it may be, let's hope it's already been fed that Ice Cream Sandwich we spotted a while back...
Israel announces plans to build national broadband network, increases fiber intake
Israel is home to a burgeoning tech industry, but the country's broadband infrastructure hasn't really been able to keep pace. In terms of broadband penetration, in fact, Israel ranks just 21st out of 34 developed nations, according to statistics gathered by the OECD. All this may be changing, however, now that the country's state-run electric company has announced plans to create a new national broadband network. According to the AP, the forthcoming network will use so-called fiber to the home (FTTH) technology, which is capable of providing connections at speeds of between 100Mbps and 1Gbps. That would be about ten to 100 times faster than the connections most Israelis have today, and could offer obvious benefits to a wide array of businesses and industries. The electric company is aiming to have 10 percent of the country connected to its new network by next year, and to have two-thirds covered within the next seven years.
Orange offers free Wikipedia access to mobile users in Africa and the Middle East
There are more than 70 million Orange customers across Africa and the Middle East, but only about 10 million are able to access the web from their handsets. That gap may be narrowing, though, now that the provider has decided to offer free mobile access to Wikipedia for users throughout the region. Under the program, users with an Orange SIM card and a web-enabled phone will be able to access the site as many times as they want, without incurring any data charges. Heralding the partnership as the first of its kind, Orange says its new initiative should make it easier for emerging market consumers to access the online encyclopedia, which Wikimedia Foundation director Sue Gardner described as a "public good." The offer is slated to roll out across 20 countries in Africa and the Middle East, beginning early this year. Find more details in the press release, after the break.
Report: iPhone banned in Syria
According to a report by the German Press Association (via Haaretz), Syrian authorities have banned the use or importation of the iPhone into Syria in an attempt to crack down on protesters in that country. International media has been banned from Syria for months, so virtually all we know about the protests currently happening there comes from footage uploaded to the Internet, usually via protesters' cell phone footage of events. The BBC reports that other smartphones have yet to fall under the blanket ban, which seems curious at first; however, it's not so curious when it turns out there's actually an iPhone app dedicated to the protest movement. The iPhone's UI also makes it incredibly easy to upload video footage to YouTube, which the current Syrian regime also wants to suppress as it opposes -- often violently -- the protests against the government in Syria. The UN reports that more than 4000 people have been killed in Syria since protests began in mid-March. Like many other flashpoints in the Arab Spring movement of 2011, protesters have been heavily using iPhones, BlackBerrys, and other smartphones to communicate and co-ordinate their activities. Additionally, with camera quality in many smartphones approaching the level of low- to mid-range point-and-shoot cameras, and with many smartphones supplying simple methods of uploading those videos online, documenting government responses to protests has been easier than ever before. The Syrian government's ban on the iPhone is unlikely to measurably impact protesters' activities, as they will either start using iPhones more clandestinely or simply switch to an unbanned smartphone platform. Additionally, protest movements like the one currently taking place in Syria got along just fine before the iPhone came along, so if Syrian authorities are hoping that banning the iPhone will stop the protests, they are sure to be mistaken.
Google launches Person Finder app following earthquake in Turkey
In the wake of yesterday's devastating earthquake in Turkey, Google has launched a specialized Person Finder to help victims find missing loved ones. First developed in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Google's Person Finder has since been deployed to several other natural disaster zones, including post-tsunami Japan earlier this year. The idea behind the company's Turkish initiative remains as straightforward as ever: users can enter information on the person they're looking for, or add any details they may have on people who aren't already accounted for. Of course, all submitted records remain available for public search and viewing. If you've been affected by the earthquake or have any information on someone who has, you can find Google's Person Finder at the source link below.
Microsoft and Brightpoint buddy up to deliver Windows Phone to Middle East and Africa
Microsoft's sights have clearly been set on expanding its Windows Phone empire into emerging markets, considering its recent interest in developing Tango, a low-cost version of its mobile OS due out next year. But the company's expansion strategy doesn't just get put on hold in the meantime -- Redmond announced a new partnership with Brightpoint, effectively adding the North African and Middle East markets to its Mango distribution list. Individual countries will have access to the Windows Phone Online Shop before the end of the year. We imagine there's quite a few anxious souls in the region who've been looking to get their hands on these devices for a long time now, but that wait is almost over.
Mike Lazaridis apologizes for BlackBerry outage: 'We've let many of you down' (video) (Update: full services restored)
Now that BlackBerry services are returning to full functionality, RIM founder Mike Lazaridis has decided to issue a public apology for this week's mysterious global outage. In a video address published today, Lazaridis acknowledged that RIM dropped the ball this week, but assured that his company is working hard to remedy the situation. "I apologize for the service outages this week," Lazaridis said. "We've let many of you down." The executive went on to say that services are approaching normal levels across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, but could not give an estimate as to when RIM may see full global recovery. "It's too soon to say that this issue is fully resolved," Lazaridis explained, adding that there may be some instability as the system returns to normalcy. He reiterated, however, that his company is "working tirelessly" to restore services and, perhaps more important, consumer trust. Skip past the break to see the full video for yourself. Update: RIM is holding a conference call now and Mike just said "we have restored full services." That's said to be the status globally, so go ahead, spend a few minutes and get that BBM backlog out of your system. You deserve it. If you're still not receiving messages, RIM suggests pulling your battery and rebooting the phone. And those RIM folks probably need some sleep... "nobody's gone home since Monday," following "the largest outage we've ever experienced."
RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn't provide ETA for restore
If you don't own a BlackBerry yourself, chances are you know somebody who does. And if that person lives in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America or South America, they're probably quite unhappy with RIM at the moment. This week's service outage began with a server failure in the UK, and spread like wildfire to Africa and the Middle East, before continuing on to parts of Asia, the US, Canada and a good portion of South America. This is only the latest BlackBerry service outage for RIM, bringing email, BBM and web browsing services to a halt. But with BlackBerry services playing a critical role in real-time business and government communications, any interruption is unacceptable, and costly for all. RIM CTO David Yach responded to questions during a press conference this afternoon, explaining the original cause of the outage (that UK server failure, along with a series of failed redundancies), and how that grew into the global outage we're experiencing now: "It's a backlog issue. Clearly we have a backlog in Europe, based on the initial outage and the time it's taken to stabilize that. At this point, we have not throttled the other regions, but as you can imagine, with the global reach of BlackBerry, people using it to contact others around the world, there's a lot of messages coming to Europe from Asia and the Americas, and those would be backed up on the other system. It's looking like over time that backlog built, and started impacting those other systems." The obvious solution would be to clear the backlog and restore service, but in doing so, RIM would purge any undelivered messages. Yach said that all emails will eventually be delivered, however, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about there (there was no related comment regarding BBM messages). When asked what the company would be doing to "make right" by way of its customers, Yach emphasized that his focus was only on restoring service at this point, and made no promises of restitution. Is the BlackBerry outage affecting you? Let us know by voting in our poll, or leaving a comment after the break.
BlackBerry outage spreads to US and Canada, continues in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, South America (update: RIM confirms)
It's day three of RIM's BlackBerry service outage in much of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil and Chile. But now the problem appears to have spread into Canada -- RIM's home turf -- and we're even hearing reports of some service issues in the US as well. We've reached out to RIM for comment, but we'd like to hear from you. Let us know whether or not you're having issues in the poll below, and jump past the break to sound off in the comments.%Poll-69781% Update: RIM has posted the following statement to its BlackBerry Service Update page: BlackBerry subscribers in the Americas may be experiencing intermittent service delays this morning. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. We will provide a further update as soon as more information is available. Update 2: RIM UK has also posted a statement: We know that many of you are still experiencing service problems. The resolution of this service issue is our Number One priority right now and we are working night and day to restore all BlackBerry services to normal levels. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
BlackBerry services offline for some in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Again. (update: RIM confirms India, South America, too)
Well, RIM, things really aren't looking good for you over in EMEA, are they now? We've received several reports of a second BlackBerry outage for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and our friends over at T-Mobile UK and Vodafone Egypt have confirmed again on Twitter, just several hours after RIM tweeted that service had been restored. So, what's going on over there? We're reaching out to RIM for a statement, and like those of you affected, we can only hope that things get back up and running very quickly. Are you outraged? Experiencing perfect service (and in EMEA)? Jump past the break to tell us what's up in the comments. Update: RIM has issued the following statement: Media statement - October 11 Some users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, India, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina are experiencing messaging and browsing delays. We are working to restore normal service as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Update 2: Another update from RIM: The messaging and browsing delays being experienced by BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina were caused by a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure. Although the system is designed to failover to a back-up switch, the failover did not function as previously tested. As a result, a large backlog of data was generated and we are now working to clear that backlog and restore normal service as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience and we will continue to keep you informed. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
UK server failure sends BlackBerry devices offline in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (update: restored)
If there's one thing RIM doesn't need right now, it's another BlackBerry outage. Well, are you sitting down? RIM UK is currently investigating issues affecting "some users in EMEA" -- that's Europe, Middle East and Africa, for the acronym-disinclined. The company has turned to Twitter to acknowledge the outage, with T-Mobile UK and Vodafone Egypt chiming in as well (and pointing fingers at RIM, as expected). The Telegraph reports that the "glitch" hit around 11AM this morning local time, and is affecting email and instant messaging services, along with web browsing, leaving users unable to use their BlackBerrys for anything but making phone calls and sending texts. BlackBerry outages appear to be a rather frequent occurrence for RIM, typically hitting during peak usage times -- like, for example, 11AM on a Monday. So are you currently without service? Jump past the break to chime in with a comment. Update: BBC is reporting that email services have been restored after the outage affected millions of users. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nokia C3-01 Gold Edition gets blinged out with 1GHz processor and gold-plated bod
Searching for the perfect accessory to your gold lamé hot pants, gold tooth and gold pinky ring? Then look no further than the Nokia C3-01 Gold Edition. This hunk of sparkly splendor is basically a Series 40 C3-01 Touch-and-Type feature phone with a fancy 18 carat gold topcoat and an upgraded 1GHz processor. Less impressive on the inside, this gilded ringer is packing a quadband GSM radio, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 2.4-inch QVGA touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera and a microSD card slot. Since it's a made in Finland, it's got Nokia Messaging for email and IM, Nokia Communities for Facebook and Twitter, the new Nokia S40 browser and the Ovi Store, obvi. This ultimate feature phone is available primarily in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for a price of €220 ($320) -- but is there really a price on looking fresh?
Nokia debuts C2-03 at CommunicAsia (video)
Nokia's Mary McDowell announced the company's third dual-SIM device, the C2-03, at CommunicAsia. It's a portrait slider with a 320 x 240 touchscreen display paired with the company's Touch and Type interface. Like the C2-00, it's based on S40 and supports Easy Swap -- a handy feature that lets users hot swap their SIMs. Additionally, the phone sports a new version of Nokia's web browser that compresses data up to 90 percent, and Nokia Maps for Series 40 -- which provides location search and routing while offline. Amazingly, standby time is rated at a hearty 400 hours, and while the built-in memory is somewhat paltry (10MB), the storage can be expanded up to 32GB. It's expected to be released in Q3 for €77, and will roll out across India, China, the south-east Asian-Pacific region, Eurasia, the middle east, and Africa. The C2-02, a single-SIM variant will debut alongside the more intriguing sibling, but we know you're most interested in the dual-SIM darling, so hop past the break for an extended peek.
iOS 5 rumored to offer FaceTime in the Middle East
Readers in the UAE and other countries will be happy to know that FaceTime is working again on iPhones in the Middle East under the latest iOS 5 beta. As you may recall, when Apple introduced FaceTime in iOS 4, many carriers in the Middle East refused to allow FaceTime on their networks. Unsurprisingly, a hack soon emerged that allowed people to get FaceTime working on jailbroken iPhones. Now it appears that hack is no longer necessary. Apple-wd.com [Google translation] has posted screenshots and a report that shows FaceTime is working on iPhones in Saudi Arabia from service providers STC and Mobily. However, as MacStories points out, there is no way of knowing if FaceTime functionality will remain in Middle Eastern countries once the final version of iOS 5 ships. It's entirely possible that local carriers could update their configuration files to block FaceTime access in the future. Only time will tell. In the mean time, if you have iOS 5 and are in the Middle East, enjoy FaceTime while you can.
PlayStation Network restoration spreads across the world (update)
Now that North America has been thoroughly blanketed in the beautiful green light of a working PlayStation Network, it's time for other countries to sign on too, and the first out of the gate are the United Kingdom, Ireland and unspecified nations in the Middle East. Sony's official PlayStation Europe Twitter account reports that parts of the EMEA are beginning to light up now, and while there's no convenient map for you to monitor the rollout this time around, you can still get updates straight from the source -- follow the Twitter feed at our source link and Sony should let you know when to get your game on. Update: Looks like it's not just the EMEA, as PSN's spreading across the world -- as of noon PST, it's lighting up the smiles of bereaved gamers and music lovers in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South America as well. Update 2: We're hearing that the UK, Ireland and the Middle East actually went dark again for a tad, but now they should be up again. Update 3: Sony's having a bit of difficulty getting millions of passwords reset in such a short time, due to a number of things, including ISPs that are automatically blocking or delaying the huge influx of email password change requests. Give it time, folks.
America's 'panic button' to wipe phones of democracy activists, perturb repressive governments
So, here's the scene. You're out at [insert city center here], completely neglecting any and all work duties, throwing Molotov cocktails at the building of the State you've grown to hate. It's a protest in every sense of the word, and you're rallying the troops via Twitter and Facebook. It's actually not an uncommon painting these days, and while America's not into promoting violence, it is into keeping the personal information of democracy activists secure. According to a fresh Reuters report, the US State Department is currently developing a software-based "panic button" that would wipe a phone's address book and beam out emergency alerts to fellow protesters if they were apprehended. The goal here is to protect the privacy of those captured while promoting their best interests, and to let others know that trouble is brewing. There's no clear indication of the status here, but something tells us that it'd be useful yesterday for a certain region of the globe.
Samsung Galaxy SL drops AMOLED for Super Clear LCD, Hummingbird for OMAP3
You're Samsung, and you want to make sure you have enough still-limited S-AMOLED displays for the upcoming Galaxy S 2, but you don't want to discontinue the original Galaxy S. What to do? Well, you could always take a cue from the Galaxy S-based Russian Nexus S and use an LCD instead-- and so here we have the Galaxy SL GT-i9003, which is destined to hit the Middle East and Asia with both a Super Clear LCD and a processor swap from Sammy's Humingbird to a 1GHz TI OMAP 3630, along with a bump in thickness and weight due to a slightly larger battery. Apart from that it's pretty much just a Galaxy S, all the way down to the maddening stagnation on Android 2.2 -- but hey, give us 2.3 (or even 3.0) on the Galaxy S 2 and we'll be all smiles and giggles. Update: BestBoyz got a Vodafone price list that seems to indicate that the SL will hit Germany as well. Achtung, AMOLED fans!
Kuwait bans DSLRs, leaves Micro Four Thirds question hanging in the air (update: no ban)
We're not sure what the humble DSLR has ever done to offend the Kuwaiti government, but, according to the Kuwait Times, the recreational use of Digital Single-Lens Reflex cameras has now been outlawed in the country. The Ministries of Information, Social Affairs and Finance (hello, 1984!) have collectively decided to ban the use of the chunky shooters in public places, except where it can be shown that it's for journalistic purposes. This decision has left a lot of people scratching their heads, not least because every self-respecting smartphone nowadays can pump out screen-filling images. And then there's also the matter of determining where the line between compact cameras, which are still allowed, and DSLRs resides -- for example, is the Lumix G2 an illegal shooter just because it looks like one? Update: Oops. The Kuwait Times has printed a retraction of its earlier story, saying that a followup investigation showed no such ban has been enacted by the state's authorities. Thanks, Cajetan!
UAE says BlackBerry is now compliant with regulations, free to rock on
The latest thrilling installment in BlackBerry's Middle East saga has turned out not to be so thrilling after all. Having set an October 11 deadline for RIM to comply with its "telecommunications regulatory framework," the United Arab Emirates is today reporting that the BlackBerry maker has managed to make the necessary changes with plenty of time to spare. Consequently, there'll be no state-ordained curtailing of email, web, or BBM services within the UAE, which mirrors similar agreements that BlackBerry has managed to finagle with India and Saudi Arabia. Of course, the grand purpose of the UAE's ultimatum was for RIM to allow the state access to encrypted messaging communications, and while the current announcement is pointedly missing details on what's been done to appease the Abu Dhabi decision makers, we can't imagine them giving up the fight without RIM making some type of concession. And the shady, undisclosed concessions happen to be our least favorite kind.
Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 launching on November 10 in Europe
While Microsoft's new controller-free Kinect for Xbox 360 will be hitting US shores on November 4th, we've just learned that it'll officially land in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa on November 10th. Sure, that's a bit of a wait, but take heart in knowing that Microsoft's targeting an October launch of its Xbox Live lovin' Windows Phone 7 handsets in Europe compared to a November release in the US. Otherwise, we're looking at the same 15 exclusive Kinect game titles already announced at E3.
