IBLOG SPACE

Dubai: With just four days before the launch of Dubai Metro on Wednesday, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has expressed his excitement. Shaikh Mohammad is "very excited about the launch of the Dubai Metro on 09/09/09 - a historic milestone that reflects what Dubai is capable of achieving", his status update on his public Facebook page read. A total of 2,304 people gave his update a virtual "thumbs up", and almost 900 sent congratulatory messages. As a user-generated content site, Facebook users are able to comment on his status updates and make virtual friends with him on his unrestricted profile, which allows the general public to view his photo albums, videos, personal information and "poke" Shaikh Mohammad (to get his virtual attention). Shaikh Mohammad previously uploaded a personal profile page on Facebook, but announced that he was migrating to a public page, after t

Abu Dhabi: With the capital set to launch its Masdar initiative, the way people consume energy could drastically change as the city takes pioneering steps toward tackling climate change. Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MI) is set to be at the core of Masdar City, the world's first zero carbon footprint city, as it gears up to start the first phase of its activities this month. Masdar City will also be home to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) headquarters located near the Presidential wing of Abu Dhabi Airport. The initiative aims to establish the capital as a knowledge-based economy in key areas of technology and a leader in renewable energy. MI will not only be the Middle East's but the world's first not-for-profit research-driven university to focus solely on renewable and sustainable energy and advance technologies, offering postgraduate studies. "[MI] will be at the heart of Masdar City which is a kind of living laboratory where we will

Iraq began stationing thousands of extra police on the border with Syria this week in response to a spate of bombings blamed on militants Baghdad accuses Damascus of sheltering, an official said on Friday. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has accused Syria of turning a blind eye to Sunni militants using it as a safe haven. Maliki says 90 per cent of foreign jihadists entering Iraq do so through Syria, including fighters he blames for two bomb attacks outside ministries in Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people last month. "These are the emergency forces for the borders ... to fill in the gaps," said Major-General Tariq Yusuf, police chief of Iraq's western Anbar province, which borders Syria. He said Maliki had ordered the deployment personally. Some were already stationed, while others were on the way, he said, declining to give further details. "There is a government accusation against Syria relating to the bomb attacks ... They have information that there is a

Dubai: The 33rd America's Cup is again before the courts with challenger BMW Oracle asking the Supreme Court of the State of New York to take the necessary steps to ensure that the sport's oldest trophy is run in accordance with the Deed of Gift. Tom Ehman, of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) on Thursday cited reasons like "recent actions by Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) to unfairly manipulate the rules and continue their disturbing pattern of misconduct as Trustee of the oldest trophy in sports". "GGYC is also seeking to require SNG to issue rules for the America's Cup match that comply with the Deed's requirements and the GGYC also seeks to make public the still-secret agreement SNG entered into with the International Sailing Federation [ISAF]," Ehman has stated in his charge before the court. Among other things, the Challenger has asked the court to direct Defender Alinghi to conduct match racing in accordance with ISAF rules (except for rules

Internet pioneer Len Kleinrock with an Interface Message Processor in Los Angeles. The Interface Message Processorwas used to develop the internet. New York: Goofy videos weren't on the minds of Len Kleinrock and his team at the University of California, Los Angeles when they began tests 40 years ago on what would become the internet. Neither was social networking, for that matter, nor were most of the other easy-to-use applications that have drawn more than a billion people online. Instead, the researchers sought to create an open network for freely exchanging information, an openness that ultimately spurred the innovation that would later spawn the likes of YouTube, Facebook and the World Wide Web. There is still plenty of room for innovation today, yet the openness fostering it may be eroding. While the internet is more widely available and faster than ever, artificial barriers threaten to constrict its growth. Call it a mid-life crisis. A variety of factors are to blame. Spam a

When Cher Wang enters a roomful of people, they struggle to contain their curiosity. As Taiwan's richest woman, founder of two important technology companies, Via and HTC, and a daughter of the island's most revered tycoon, the late Wang Yung-ching, she is naturally a focus of public attention. But her determination to avoid it has earned her a reputation as shy and secretive. Only since HTC, the smartphone company she set up in 1997, became a fast-rising star among global gadget makers has the 50-year-old chairman of the company engaged with the public. Yet it is her ability to put herself in the shoes of the consumer that observers say is one of the biggest factors behind the success of, first, the chipset maker Via, and then HTC, which has made the jump from contract manufacturer to branded vendor. It is a switch that other Taiwan IT companies have struggled to make. "Cher approaches the business with the eyes of the consumer, because she is not an engineer," says

Netbooks are proving to be a category worthy of attention. They have proven that miniaturisation does not have to cost a fortune as unique new designs and features are starting to be introduced as top vendors in the Gulf strive to differentiate from the competition. The only segment among the Gulf's personal computer industry to witness a robust growth this year amid recession will be netbooks, also known as mini notebooks or second PC. This year total netbook sales is expected to touch 474,082 units, a whopping 105.76 per cent increase compared to 230,399 units in 2008 with a market value of $215.16 million, according to IDC. Totally 230,399 units were sold in 2008 for a value of $104.23 million. "Netbooks priced under $500 were identified as a fast-growing category. For users who do not need top-end processing or visualisation capabilities they fit the bill perfectly," said Madhav Narayan, General Manager, IT division at Samsung Gulf Electronics. "The netbook deman

Dubai: Netbooks are continuing to grow the overall market for Intel silicon and we still anticipate this to be a $10 billion opportunity by 2011, said a top Intel official. "Atom, Intel's solution for small computing, is a new micro-architecture designed for low power from the ground up. Small computing products based on the Atom architecture include today's netbooks as well as many handheld design wins. This new micro-architecture development was done with a very small and efficient design team that utilised the entire existing Intel development infrastructure while also delivering an innovative, low-power solution that is compatible with the Intel Architecture ecosystem," Ferhad Patel, Intel Regional Market Development Manager for Middle East Turkey and Africa region, said. He said the next generation Atom platform code-named Pine Trail will be launched in early 2010. That next Atom processor platform will deliver better performance, improved graphics, improved ther

Stuttgart: Top mobile phone maker Nokia Wednesday bolstered its smartphone line-up to better battle Apple and announced a new location-based service with social networking site Facebook. The announcements at the "Nokia World" event in Stuttgart are the latest riposte from the Finnish firm, which has lagged Apple's innovativeness as the focus of cellphone businesses shifts to services and software. Nokia has been looking for business opportunities in offering services like music downloads or games to cellphone users as the handset market matures, but so far its offerings have had limited traction. Nokia yesterday unveiled its X6 and X3 music phones, which will go on sale in the fourth quarter, priced at 450 euros (Dh2,348) and 115 euros, respectively. The X6 can play 35 hours of music and has 32 gigabytes of internal memory. The company also unveiled a new version of its N97 smartphone, which will be priced at 450 euros, and said it was on the verge of going over 2 million