dubai
Latest
Sony sells "substantial" stake to Dubai investment firm
Stringer-san, Hirai-San, everyone at Sony, say hello to your new part owners: Dubai International Capital, run by UAE Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. According to the Journal the investment is for a stake under 5% of the total company since there were no legally-required Japanese security filings to indicate otherwise. No real idea how much this chunk of Sony went for, but whatever it cost we're sure it was only a drop in the bucket for a dude with enough money to make Billy G. and Carlos Slim scoot over a seat at dinner. BTW, Sheikh RRAM (can we call you that?), do us a solid and get Sony to resurrect Aibo and QRIO, cool? Much love. [Warning: subscription req'd for read link]
Dubai Burj al-Taqa skyscraper to generate all its own energy
A skyscraper in Dubai is being designed so that it generates all of its energy through renewable means such as wind turbines and solar panels. On top of the tower will be a 200 foot turbine that harnesses the power of the wind, and an array of solar panels on the roof and a series of islands that stretches over 161,459 square feet. The tower will also feature a massive solar shield to protect it from the sun, and vacuum glazed glass that will reduce the amount of heat absorbed from the extreme temperatures (up to 50 degrees C / 122 degrees F), presumably meaning less reliance on traditional air conditioning. Talking of air conditioning, the main system for cooling the air inside the tower uses a convection system which pulls in cold air at the ground level, and sucks it up out of the top of the tower. The air conditioning will use seawater, and underground cooling units lower the temperature inside to 18 degrees C / 64.4 degrees F. This building may be a technological beacon for environmentally friendly skyscrapers, but as a commenter on metaefficient points out, new building designs don't do much to solve the inefficiency of older buildings in cities. Although that doesn't mean we can't imagine what it'd be like to work and live in a sea of glass and metal without feeling slightly bad about it.[Via Metaefficient]
Dubai's new luxury tower to resemble an iPod
As if the Burj Al-Arab (and Time Residences) in Dubai wasn't unique enough, Omniyat Properties is getting set to construct a 23-story luxury tower inspired by none other than Apple's iPod. Slated to be built in Business Bay, the "iPad residential tower" is scheduled to house more than 200 units, and was "designed by Hong Kong-based architects James Law Cybertecture International." The high-rise will sit atop a "docking station angled at six degrees," which should have iPod fanboys flying over in droves just to snap pictures. While no preliminary sketches have surfaced quite yet, we'll be sure to keep an eye out for future development (ahem) of the world's largest iPod, and you can go ahead and pencil in "sometime in 2009" as your "must-take" vacation.
Dubai's Time Residences tower: world's largest gadget?
We've seen lots of ridiculous claims in our day, but this time we're not sure which is more absurd, that someone thinks that Dubai needs another ridiculous high-rise building, or that the Time Residences tower is going to be a solar-powered 360-degree rotating version. Yes, all that solar power (the UAE gets a lot of sun over there on the Tropic of Cancer) could be used to power individual units instead -- but instead, all that energy will be used to power the ginormous motors needed to turn this building a full rotation over the course of a week. Tav Singh, the director of Dubai Property Ring, the local branch of UK Property Group which is funding the project, said that the company plans on building similar structures in every time zone around the world. Regardless of which room in the Time Residences you decide to set up shop in, it's bound to be significantly more overpriced than your Manhattan studio.[Via Gear Factor]
Neo intros diminutive 808i handset for Middle East / Europe
There's no shortage of wee sized mobiles out there to test the longevity of our poor eyes, but the "UK- and Dubai-based" startup, dubbed Neo, is adding yet another option to the mix. While we admire the shiny Photoshop job seen above, the company has reportedly assured us all that the miniscule 808i will see the light of day in "March 2007." Admittedly, the specs aren't too far-fetched (unlike some yet-to-be-produced handsets out there), as it touts tri-band compatibility, a color LCD, Bluetooth, 1.3-megapixel camera, MP3 / MP4 playback, 128MB of flash memory, and a microSD slot. At a glance, the nifty bar atop the mobile bears resemblance to some of Sony Ericsson's offerings, but the 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.3-centimeter enclosure and 90-gram weight sure stands out. If all goes "as planned," the 808i should hit the Middle East just a few months into 2007, with Europe getting it soon after.[Via RegHardware]
Efonica VoIP service supports dial-up too
Fusion Telecommunications of Dubai has just entered the already crowded VoIP market with a beta version of its SIP-powered Efonica service. Registered users can chat amongst one another for free using standard telephones connected to an analog phone adapter or dial POTS lines on the cheap, with calls to the US from other countries costing under two cents a minute. What sets Efonica apart from some of the other services out there is its claimed ability to work even on dial-up connections -- still a rarity these days -- allowing people in areas with low broadband penetration to get in on all the fun offered by Internet telephony. Although the basic version of the service is free, calls to landlines or cellphones and voicemail functionality require signing up for the Efonica Plus option, which will avaiable at the end of the public beta test in about two months.[Via Personal Tech Pipeline]