To celebrate The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Day, the Google Saudi Arabia homepage has changed the logo to the following:
The logo was previewed on Google Arabia’s facebook page hours before the beginning of September 23rd.
Additionally, Google has launched a Saudi Arabia edition of Google news a few days ago (via ArabCrunch).
We at Saudi TechView would like to wish everyone a Happy Eid ul-Fitr. Eid Mubarak! كل عام و أنتم أجمل.
Image was kindly provided by Abdullah.
A tweetup is “n. A real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through the online Twitter service”. You are welcome to attend the fifth Riyadh Tweetup to be held September 3rd 2009 at Second Cup Cafe from 10 pm to 2 am. Still a male-only event.
You can register for it here. Follow @TweetupRiyadh on Twitter. Make sure to follow @SaudiTech for Saudi TechView updates.
Western Digital has finally released a 2 terabyte drive that spins at 7,200rpm. The WD Caviar Black supports up to 2 TB, supports speeds up to 3 Gb/s and with 64 MB Cache. The other model WD RE4 is aimed for business users.
Via Electronista. Hopefully Nahil will bring these drives to Saudi Arabia as soon as possible even though I couldn’t find any “Caviar Black” models.
Western Digital is my favorite hard drive brand. Their drives are the most reliable I have ever used. I have contacted their email support many times and they always respond in less than 24 hours with useful information, something other companies should learn from them.
Western Digital has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia thanks to their only distributor in Saudi Arabia: Nahil Computers. I estimate over %95 of OEM 3.5″ hard drives sold in Saudi Arabia are Western Digital drives. Other hard drive makers: Seagate, Samsung, and Hitachi are missing from the Saudi market.
Seagate’s authorized distributors’ list shows Saudi Arabia as an option but no distributors are available. Even though they have a “Collection Point In Saudia Arabia”. Seagate, it’s Saudi Arabia.
The Collection Point processes Return Material Authorization (RMA) disc drives at one central location, speeding up and simplifying the return procedures for Seagate disc drives.
You can buy those brands online or from the specialty store Softland in Riyadh.
As for Western Digital’s distributor in Saudi Arabia, Nahil Computers. I’ve heard good things about their support services for hard drives. However their site is another example of inferior websites for Saudi companies. Their latest news is from 2006 and clicking on products will open an IFRAME with the other company’s website inside! If you visit their hard drive page you will notice it will just open Western Digital’s homepage in a frame (view source code and look for the IFRAME tag), so sluggish.
Apparently Western Digital also made a deal with Jarir Bookstore (not my favorite bookstore). From AME Info: “This strategic partnership with Jarir Bookstore demonstrates Western Digital’s commitment in KSA. We can now service the growing Saudi market with an established, reputable partner that will offer our customers not only the best products and technology but the best end-to-end customer experience”. The offers are on Jarir’s website, they even have the WD TV HD Media Player for 449SR.
Yelp is a database of locations and reviews. It started covering San Fransisco then the rest of the country. Now it’s in Canada and UK. You can use it to find and review restaurants, shopping centers, and many more. Their database is accessible from an iPhone app as well.
It’ll take them forever to expand to every country so don’t expect “Yelp Saudi Arabia” anytime soon. I am aware of one alternative, it is called Qaym (Arabic for “to rate”). Currently it’s Arabic only and limited to restaurants. I hope it expands into more categories soon.
Megaupload (www.megaupload.com) is a file hosting service similar to RapidShare. You can use it to send large files if you can’t email them. The Wikipedia article about it is inaccurate as it claims that KACST is responsible for blocking and we all know that CITC is handling it now.
I should add that RapidShare was blocked but now it has been unblocked for a while. Megaupload can be unblocked too!
We should get it unblocked as soon as possible and to do so fill the form at internet.gov.sa, write an email to unblock@internet.gov.sa or send a fax to +966(1)2639290.
Logitech has announced two new mice under the MX name. From the Logitech Blog:
Today we announced two new premium mice, the Logitech Performance Mouse MX and the Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX. Both mice feature Logitech Darkfield Laser Tracking, which allows you to use your mouse virtually anywhere you want — including clear glass (minimum 4 mm thickness) and high-gloss surfaces. Both mice are expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in August.
Find more info and a video description on Logitech’s blog.
Apparently Logitech now doesn’t have a dealer in Saudi Arabia anymore so it’s better to buy online from Amazon and ship using mail forwarding services.
Let’s face it, imported products sold and distributed in Saudi Arabia are not necessarily on par price-wise with what you may find online, which is why most people have turned to shipping services such as Aramex, DHL’s Easy Shop, UPS’ World Ship, and many others currently entering the fray for their shopping (and shipping) needs. Among these newcomers is the US-based (but Saudi-operated) Shop Gates. Located in Akron, Ohio, Shop Gates utilizes UPS’ fast and efficient World Ship service to delivers your purchased goods to the UPS branch nearest to your home.
Mobily has announced that they have extended their 3G coverage in Saudi Arabia. From AME info:
Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) has said it has added a number of the kingdom’s Northern Province’s cities and villages to its advanced 3G network (3.5G and 3.75G) coverage. This latest addition brings to 326 the total number of cities and villages which come under Mobily’s 3.5G and 3.75G coverage.
I just came back from Jeddah and the Mobily 3G connection there was horrible: 3G isn’t working in many areas, HSDPA speed is horrible (less than 100kbps down according to speedtest.net iPhone app) and Mobily connect card can’t even connect for some reason.
STC is just as horrible with the dropped calls and horrible 902 services. Maybe it’s me or maybe it’s the weather? Who knows.