Lite is the latest BlackBerry plan from Nawras, giving customers 50MB of free browsing and 10 free national SMS, all for the low monthly rate. As the name suggests, this is the ideal choice for those with a relatively low usage style.

Value has shot up in the National plan, where the monthly BlackBerry subscription now includes unlimited BlackBerry Messenger and emails together with 200MB free data usage for national browsing as well as 25 free national SMS.

Added value is also a feature of the revised Global plan which now gives customers 15MB of free data for BlackBerry Messenger, emails and surfing, when roaming. Additionally, customers receive 1024 MB free for national browsing along with unlimited BlackBerry Messenger and emails and 50 free national SMS.

According to Said Al-Shanfari, team leader, core services at Nawras, “Our first priority was to develop a series of plans to give terrific value to our current and future BlackBerry customers while bearing in mind their varying usage styles. Each Nawras

plan offers not only great value for money but customers can also be confident that their service is based on the reliability of the Nawras network, supported by award-winning customer service.

“As always, before introducing these highly attractive plans, Nawras carried out extensive market research to determine what customers see as their priorities and what they are looking for in order to get the most out of their BlackBerry® experience,” Al-Shanfari added.

As a result of living the customer experience, Nawras will send an SMS notification when the national data usage reaches 80% and again at 100%. For added convenience, customers can send a free SMS to 80045 with the keyword ‘usage’ to check their data usage.

Nawras has totally transformed the telecommunications landscape in the Sultanate of Oman by changing what people buy and where, as well as how they get help and pay. Today, more than two million customers trust Nawras to be their caring communications provider.

The research shows that the rate of SMS including taxes in Morocco is the highest. Morocco’s highest rates are followed by Syria, Lebanon, Algeria, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen and Palestine.

47 out of the 54 mobile operators covered, provide the MMS service. Eight operators, provide it only on the same network without the ability for cross network MMS sending.

A new report, “SMS and MMS rates in the Arab World: A Regional Comparison” was released to the Arab Advisors Group’s Strategic Research Services subscribers on November 7, 2010. This report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only US$ 950. The 38-page report, which has 17 detailed exhibits, provides a detailed regional comparison and analysis of the Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) rates in the Arab region. The report covers 54 cellular operators in the following 18 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen.

Any investment in this report will count towards an annual Strategic Research Service subscription should the service be acquired within three months from purchasing the report.

“The Arab Advisors Group’s regional analysis shows that the average rate of national SMS including taxes for the studied Arab cellular operators is US$ 0.060 for prepaid and US$ 0.061 for postpaid subscriptions, while the average rate of international SMS stands at US$ 0.161 for prepaid and US$ 0.160 for postpaid subscriptions. The average international SMS tariffs are 2.67 times the average national SMS tariffs for prepaid customers, and are 2.64 times the average national SMS tariffs for postpaid customers.” Ms. Hadeel Sakkijha and Mr. Mohammed Al-Shawwa, Arab Advisors analysts, wrote in the report.

The Arab Advisors Group’s team of analysts in the region has already produced over 2,100 reports on the Arab World’s communications, media and financial markets. The reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group’s website

Strategic Research Services (Media and Telecom). To date, Arab Advisors Group has served over 600 global and regional companies by providing reliable research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients.

The annual event, which honours outstanding, creative and innovative m-Contents, attracted over 420 entries from nearly 100 countries.

Hesabi has been developed by Flagship Projects, a leading developer of mobile applications in the UAE and the Middle East.

The World Summit Award is a global initiative on e- and m-content of the United Nations and its Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID), held in collaboration with UNESCO and UNIDO.

Commenting on the award, Shadi Hasan, Managing Director, Flagship Projects said: “We are delighted to win this international award. It is a recognition of our competency in developing programs like Hesabi that incorporate latest global standards and add value to the application of IT to day to day life.”

Hesabi, one of the first Arabic educational applications developed for iPhone, iPod, iPad, is designed to teach children from the 4-10 age group the principles of Mathematics in ways that are easy, simple and fun, incorporating elements of drawing, interactive speech, calculations and latest edutainment techniques.

“Developing such applications in the UAE is a clear proof that the country occupies an important position in the world of technology, and Flagship is proud of its achievements with the support of its creative staff,” Hasan said.

The application helps children recognize numbers and the four basic Mathematical functions which are very important to improve children’s abilities. It also helps them to differentiate between right and wrong ways of numeric calculations in an extremely user friendly environment.

“About 60% of the qualitative mobile applications in the Middle East are developed in the UAE, which is a significant percentage,” Hasan added.

“Nearly 40% of smart phone users all around the world use 6 to 10 mobile applications in their daily life and in a few years, people will be more heavily dependent on them because they are easy and cost effective,” Hasan added.

Flagship, the leader developer mobile applications in the Middle East, commands 30% of the professional mobile applications in the UAE market, and is poised to increase this remarkable share in the coming years.

The company is also gaining significant software developer momentum with more than 400,000 new developers joining Forum Nokia in the past 12 months, and 92 surpassing the million download milestone for their apps.

In related news, the Nokia Qt Software Development Toolkit (SDK) and the Qt SDK combined have been downloaded 1.5 million times as developers discover this approach can improve the speed and efficiency of creating apps for mobile devices, including smartphones such as the new Nokia N8, Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01, which are shipping, and the recently announced Nokia E7.

In a strategic move last month, Nokia announced unified application development around the Qt framework to simplify creating apps for Symbian-based devices and products that will be powered by the new MeeGo operating system. Developer video testimonials for the Qt framework are available at Forum.Nokia.com.

Examples of popular and creative new Symbian smartphone content on Ovi Store include:

• Swype: With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the keyboard, Swype ‘s technology enables users to input words faster and easier.
• NHL GameCenter Premium: Keep up with your favorite hockey team by listening to live radio, checking stats and scores, or by watching highlights and condensed games.
• WhatsApp Messenger: A smartphone messaging app that uses 3G or WiFi to connect with friends and family. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages at no cost.

Since Nokia began shipments of its new Symbian smartphones, starting with the Nokia N8 on Sept. 30 of this year, the top downloaded free app globally was Q Torch, a utility app that turns your device into a flashlight, by CellApp Technology of India (also among top three in Europe, India and Southeast Asia/Pacific); the top downloaded paid app was Angry Birds, the smash hit game, by Rovio Mobile of Finland (also among top three in North America, Southeast Asia/Pacific and Europe) and the third most popular item downloaded globally was Need for Speed Shift HD, a game that delivers the thrill of high-performance racing by EA Mobile of the U.S. (also among top three in Central and South America, and Southeast Asia/Pacific).

“The rapid growth on Ovi Store to pass the 1 billion annualized downloads mark demonstrates that Nokia is a competitor in both scale and size when it comes to its services,” said Scott Ellison, vice president of mobile and consumer connected platforms at IDC. “With Nokia’s stronger focus on the Qt platform and improved developer ecosystem, Nokia should continue to see its developer numbers increase as developers see profit from new revenue shares, operator billings and the ever-growing user base around the world.”

“Without any promotion or marketing dollars, in a few weeks we’ve hit 200,000 downloads in Ovi Store faster than we did with App Store,” said Anton Gauffin, CEO of BLStream, creator of the game Crazy Hamster. “We’re very positively surprised with what we’ve seen on Ovi, and we’re on track to exceed our App Store performance even though we’ve been there longer.”

“Ovi Store is on a strong trajectory fueled by new apps and games from a growing number of partners and more than 250,000 new consumers signing up for Ovi every day,” said Tero Ojanperä, executive vice president, Services, Nokia. “The number of daily downloads has increased from about 2 million to 3 million since September. We anticipate our progress will continue as we have just begun shipping our new Symbian smartphones.”

Photography
One of the things I really admire about the N8 is the 12 megapixel camera that can shoot in HD, in my humble opinion it’s the perfect alternative for cameras, at least the non professional ones.

The N8 camera comes with Carl Zeiss lens along with Xenon Flash to improve the quality, in addition, it uses a 28mm wide-angle lens. I love my 10-megapixel Canon, but after using the N8 I started to have a second thought, I mean it’s really amazing to have all these capabilities in my pocket rather than carrying a heavy camera everywhere I go, the N8 gave me more reasons, and enabled me, to take awesome shots on the go.

The fun starts after you hear the shutter, with the photo editor you can edit and improve your photos directly on the phone without the need for any computer software, you can tune the colors, brighteners, contrast and some other attributes, as well as adding some cool effects like color styling, filters and speech bubbles.

This photo below is for amazing desert dunes in Dubai, the left half of it has been modified with the photo editor, I added the Antique effect, it’s a really cool feature with the phone to play with, just like Nokia says, it’s not technology, it’s what you do with it.

Multi-tasking
One of the aspects that adds to the usability of the N8 is the ability to run multiple tasks a the sames time, you can be listening to music while editing your photos and playing around with your social media. You can easily jump from one app to the other, choosing the first option on the options menu enables you to browse through the opened applications and to close whatever you are done with.

Music
One of the cool features in the N8 is the built-in FM transmitter, you can synchronize your mobile phone with the radio in your car to listen to the music directly form the mobile, no need to for any cable or any extra device to enjoy your music, you can check the video review attached to this post to see how it works.

Apps
Let’s say that it’s the weekend and you are heading to the beach, you have your music, your photos and videos, and a great camera in your pocket to capture the fun moments you’ll experience there, what else you might need? Probably it’s the connectivity.

The N8 comes with a range of apps that help you stay connected, you can stay in touch with your social network via an app that can be added to your homescreen, this app brings you a live feed from facebook and twitter with updates from your contacts, and of course enables you to access your accounts and update them, and speaking of updates, you can download the Foursquare app from the Ovi store, not a big fan of these location-based networks, but it’s another feature for everyone who likes to announce the name of the restaurant they are dining in at the moment.

Email is another aspect to stay connected, the N8 supports Microsoft exchange, which helps you to stay close to your business while on the move, you can also setup your personal email on the phone like Gmail, Ovi mail, Yahoo!, or Hotmail. It can be all accessible through a homescreen-widget as well.

The Ovi store hosts a long list of apps both free and paid, but which is the best and which you should use? An interesting widget that can be added to your homescreen shows the top apps on the store so that you can stay updated with what’s happening in the apps world. Now the apps are many, but of the ones I found really amazing is the video editor, where you can create videos and slideshows using photos and videos from your mobile.

Media has a big share in the apps world of the N8, the device comes with apps for YouTube, Al-Jazeera, CNN, BBC, National Geographic and Paramount, these apps feed you with news and updates through widgets on any of the three homescreens you can customize according to your needs.

Customization
With three different homescreens that can be fully customized, you will definitely feel that the N8 is built around you, you can change the background image of each screen and add the widgets you want, so you can have a personal front for your music and social network, another one for business, and a third one for news and cool stuff from around the web.

There are so many things that make the N8 such a great mobile phone, add to all the above is the navigation capabilities that the phone enjoys, you will enjoy driving around while listening to directions coming from your N8, even if you were just walking!

Random photos I took for some buildings in Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) using the N8, no editing was done.

Here are some more photos using the N8, sunset over Dubai Greek as spotted from Dubai Festival City, again no editing.

The most influential style mavens and trendsetters in the region judged the competition based on the participants’ style and smart look and confidence, with Maria A. Petit becoming the new Face of Samsung for Dubai. She proved that she embodies the smart choice of style, which flawlessly matches the whole concept of Samsung’s Galaxy Tabs and C9000 TVs.

Maria A. Petit, the new Face of Samsung for Dubai Fashion Week 2010, commented, “I am thrilled to be chosen out of hundreds of stylish women as the new Face of Samsung for Dubai Fashion Week 2010. I’ve always dressed to stand out in a crowd where I aim to have a modern style with unique designs which happen to lie within the vision of Samsung’s products.”

As the official product partner for Smartphones and 3D LED televisions this year, the Samsung stand at Dubai Fashion Week welcomed over 400 entries over five days, with fashionistas from all over Dubai posing with Samsung’s high-end Galaxy Tab and sleek C9000 3D LED TVs to compete for the title of the Face of Samsung for Dubai Fashion Week. For those who were not able to attend and were eager to get the latest news from Dubai Fashion Week, Samsung’s DFW online diary was updated live and included notes on signature looks, up-and-coming designers, fashionable gadgets and a Samsung TV section. The Hellwafashion.com website was managed by Bebhinn Kelly, a popular fashion blogger, which attracted over 3’000 people.

In addition to HellwaFashion.com, Samsung teamed up with Mona Fares, clothing label Neon Edge’s new up and coming designer. As a big supporter of local talent, Samsung identified the talented designer who designed dresses inspired by the look, feel and style to reflect the hip and chic design of the GALAXY Tab and elegance of the C9000 3D LED TV. The new Neon Edge collection was an image of shockingly bright and over the top patterns for young and edgy contemporary women and like the Galaxy Tab and C9000 3D LED TV, reflects a vision of the future. The collections of dresses were beautifully worn by models at the Samsung stand during Dubai Fashion Week.

Samsung’s second seasonal sponsorship of Dubai’s hottest fashion event proved that when it comes to impeccable design and innovation, Samsung truly stands out from the crowd. Under a ‘Smart is the new black’ theme, Samsung showcased two amazing innovations in lifestyle products at Dubai Fashion Week, and in doing so forged a link between smart technology and designer fashion.

Samsung Electronics will continue its commitment to delivering fashionable design and style, innovation and smart technology for chic female users, with the aim of becoming the ultimate brand for the fashion industry in this region.

The Asus M10 combines the enterprise-friendly Windows Mobile platform which is integrated with the latest Microsoft Office 2010 and Garmin’s proven navigation, featuring access to Windows Marketplace which offers hundreds of applications right at your fingertips.

Among the new updates is the addition of the interesting, artistic and fun functions of popular ‘LOMO’ (Lenigrad Optical & Mechanical Enterprise) cameras that are now integrated into the M10. These special features are specifically designed by ASUS to be used in conjunction with its high-quality, integrated five mega-pixel autofocus camera, which automatically geotags photos and allows users to share them easily with friends via Facebook and Picasa.

The M10 now also features a smart correction navigator to quickly and precisely display a list of results as text is typed in, along with a new lightning fast navigation engine, thanks to a location awareness performance boost. In addition there’s also a comprehensive update to its POI (Point of Interest) database and updates to speed up locating places through GPS and signal transferring and receiving.

Christoper Aceremo, Country Product Manager for Handhelds, ASUS Middle East said, “Asus M10 is one of the very few smartphones available in the marketplace that has GPS as its primary feature. It is a powerful time-saving tool that combines numerous devices such as the stand-alone phone, laptop, Personal Navigation Device (PND) and digital camera into one. It is ideal for businessmen on the move as it not only helps them keep up to date with their work but also assists in navigation and connects them to social networks.”

The M10 has a sleek design with a 3.5-inch WVGA display and a finger-friendly user interface. The billboard feature displays the most important information so users can review all at one glance. An intuitive 3D task manager also allows users to switch easily between running applications. Keeping the phone responsive and the navigation smooth are 512 RAM and 512 ROM, while 4GB of Flash memory provides ample storage for multimedia and data.

The M10 is equipped with a 1500 mAh battery that ensures many hours of uninterrupted use, as well as a full qwerty soft keyboard for speedy text input. HSDPA wireless connectivity and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) ensure that messages are sent and received quickly. In addition, the M10 can be synched wirelessly to an enterprise system so that contacts and emails are always available and secure.

The Galaxy Tab features a brilliant 7-inch enhanced TFT display screen, 1GHz Hummingbird Application processor supporting 3D graphics and smooth Web browsing and front and rear-facing cameras for video chat while on-the-go.

The Galaxy Tab is powered by Android 2.2, including full support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1. Just like the Galaxy S smart phones, the Galaxy Tab includes Samsung’s Social Hub application and the new Media Hub content service, offering a robust collection of premium movies and TV episodes from some of the biggest entertainment companies.

“The addition of Galaxy Tab to the Galaxy product portfolio is a powerful proof point of Samsung’s commitment to bring new and innovative mobile experiences to KSA consumers,

said Inamullah Butt, Marketing and PR Manager, Samsung Electronics, KSA.

“The 7-inch display and thin, lightweight design, combined with premium content and productivity tools makes the Galaxy Tab a true mobile tablet that is as comfortable to use standing in a crowded line as it is relaxing on the couch at home. The Galaxy Tab is perfect for watching a movie, reading an e-book or catching up with your favorite TV shows or chatting with an old friend. Plus, the Tab’s design makes it completely pocketable in your pants or jacket.”

Powerful Display, Portable Design
The Galaxy Tab’s 7-inch display features enhanced TFT technology, offering brighter colors and clearer pictures, whether watching a movie or reading a book. The display delivers 1024 x 600 WSVGA resolution, offering full support to the Android 2.2 operating system. With support for Flash Player 10.1, the Galaxy Tab delivers an enhanced content experience when compared to other tablets currently available in the U.S.

Users can engage with thousands of sites with rich Flash based applications and content including games, animations, rich Internet applications (RIAs), data presentations and visualizations, ecommerce, video, music and more. Samsung’s mobile tablet also provides access to the more than 80,000 applications currently available on the Android Market.

Many of the built-in productivity services and Android applications are scalable to fit the Galaxy Tab’s full 7-inch screen. For example, the user’s email, calendar and contacts will all rotate from portrait to landscape format through the tablet’s accelerometer and then open as a split-screen to create a PC or laptop viewing experience on the Tab. Likewise, many Android Market applications will open in full screen. Non-scalable Android Market applications will be framed and centered on the Galaxy Tab screen.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is designed for people who want a premium mobile entertainment experience on the go, but don’t want to be weighed down by a bulky device. The Galaxy Tab fits in a pocket or purse, weighs only 13 ounces and is 12 millimeters thin. Those super-light and sleek dimensions, matched with the 7-inch touchscreen display allows the Galaxy Tab to easily fit into a jeans’ backpocket or the inside pocket of a jacket. The compact design of Galaxy Tab also makes it easy for the user to type on the virtual keyboard with both thumbs or with one hand using Swype technology to type with one continuous finger motion across the keyboard.

Two Cameras, One-on-One Video Chat
The Galaxy Tab is designed with a rear-facing 3 megapixel camera for taking pictures on-the-go and sharing with family and friends. The Tab is also outfitted with a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera and camcorder, enabling video chat with other people who have video conferencing capabilities. Users can align the Galaxy Tab with video chat clients including Qik and Fring and seamlessly talk with other people over a WiFi connection.

Google Mobile Services Benefits
Services like Google Maps Navigation (Beta) and Google Goggles are available on Google’s Android platform. With useful location-based services like Google Maps, consumers can search in Standard English instead of entering an exact address. A search-by-voice function is just as intuitive, meaning searches can also be completed easily on the go. Google Goggles is a powerful, visual search tool that uses the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s camera to uncover information – an image of a landmark or artwork is automatically used to perform a search, delivering relevant content like a description or history. In addition, with a camera, users can enjoy various augmented reality services which are downloadable in the application market.

Samsung Social Hub Simplifies
Just like the Samsung Galaxy S smart phone portfolio, the Galaxy Tab keep users connected with Samsung’s Social Hub application. Social Hub works with the user’s Messaging and Contacts to initiate the sending and receiving of information, whether it is e-mail, instant messaging, social network updates or SMS messages. Additionally, calendar information from portal calendars, such as Google Calendar, and social networking services are displayed together in one calendar with two-way synchronization.

Additional features of the Galaxy Tab include:
• Daily Briefing: Offers instant access to weather, news, stocks, and schedules.
• Impressive Onboard & Expandable Memory: Galaxy Tab can add 32 GB of external memory to store and manage your favorite video content and pictures.
• AllShare DLNA Technology: Take video or pictures shot with Galaxy Tab and send content wirelessly to other DLNA-enabled devices (HDTVs, laptops, PC monitors, etc.)
• Document Viewer & Editor: Open and make changes to any Word, Excel, Powerpoint or PDF document
• 4,000 mAh Battery: Super-sized battery provides ample power to watch movies, share content and surf the Web

Samsung Media Hub – Entertaining the Masses
In addition, the Galaxy Tab will include future access to Media Hub, Samsung’s own content service, offering a vast lineup of critically acclaimed films and TV programs for rent or purchase. Samsung is working with the biggest and best names in entertainment, including MTV Networks, NBC, Paramount and Universal Studios Home Entertainment to assemble a full library of movies and TV programming, including new release films, next day TV episodes and even full TV show seasons.

Media Hub also allows the user to expand the entertainment experience, allowing content purchased to permanently own to be shared with up to five devices that carry the Media Hub application.

“We are delighted to be the first operator in the Kingdom of Bahrain to offer this device that is tipped to take over the mobile communications world and be the latest gadget to own,” said Viva’s Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Hanna.

Customers can now book their device in advance through the Viva website, in order to secure one.

Powered by Android Operating System 2.2, the Samsung Galaxy brings together all of Samsung’s leading innovations to provide users with more capabilities while on the move. Consumers are able to experience PC-like web-browsing and enjoy all forms of multimedia content on the perfectly sized 7-inch display, wherever they go. Users will be able to continuously communicate via e-mail, voice and video call, SMS/MMS or social network with the optimized user interface.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab brings a wealth of mobile experiences. Its striking 7 inch TFT-LCD display delivers exciting mobile experience for watching films, viewing pictures, e-reading or sharing documents. In design, its light (380g) build provides perfect portability, with its svelte dimensions making it easy to grip and use. Supporting the latest Adobe Flash Player 10.1, the Samsung Galaxy Tab fully supports swift, seamless viewing of every single page of the web.

The ‘Readers Hub’, Samsung’s unique e-reading application, provides easy access to a vast digital library – from classical literature to the latest bestsellers and reference materials. At the same time, Samsung launched the ‘Media Hub’, a gateway to a world of films and videos, and ‘Music Hub’, an application giving access to a wide range of music tunes within the device.

With 3G HSPA connectivity, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0, the Samsung Galaxy Tab enhances users’ mobile communication on a whole new level. Video conferencing and push email on the large 7-inch display make communication more smooth and efficient. For voice telephony, the Samsung Galaxy Tab turns out to be a perfect speakerphone on the desk, or a mobile phone on the move via Bluetooth headset.

While the front-facing camera allows face-to-face video telephony over 3G, the rear-facing camera captures still images and video that you can edit, upload and share, all without any hassle. As online content explodes, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the best portable solution for every lifestyle that needs a constant connection.

AyoWorld is a new venture by Emitac Mobile Solutions LLC. The online store houses hundreds of unique applications which can be downloaded with the click of a button. Whether it be games or business applications for your BlackBerry, AyoWorld brings you a choice of customized applications to choose from.

AyoWorld stays connected in more ways than one. BlackBerry users can carry it around in pockets by downloading the BlackBerry application for AyoWorld. Users can also access the mobile site or simply log on to www.ayoworld.com and download their favorite applications directly to their BlackBerry devices.

The online store features free as well as paid applications and accepts credit card payments along with PayPal. It also allows a user to recharge his/her account using scratch cards that are available at various mobile stores.

In order to provide BlackBerry users with the latest applications, AyoWorld introduces value added applications regularly. Also, to cater to its Muslim audience, the appstore has many Islamic Applications featuring religious applications offered in Arabic, eliminating the need for any translation software.

AyoWorld stocks and updates its appstore regularly so you can enhance your BlackBerry experience.