Sony Ericsson took sixth place in the re-launched guide, taking joint top honors in the Products category, scoring maximum points for energy efficiency of its phones, its advice to users, and its targets to increase their efficiency. The guide also reveals that the company came close to scoring maximum points for the avoidance of hazardous substances in its products – a key indicator in corporate environmental commitment.

Following the release of the guide, Spyridon Gousetis, Head of Marketing Middle East and Africa, Sony Ericsson said: “Sony Ericsson is a lifestyle company and our products are targeted across various consumer groups. Environmental awareness however is something which many of our user’s priorities, an attitude which is increasingly evident especially in our younger customers who are becoming more and more concerned with climate related issues.”

Sony Ericsson’s ‘GreenHeart’ initiative is the company’s commitment to making mobile phones environmentally friendly throughout their entire life cycle. The unique green technology has been integrated into the recently launched Xperia neo smartphone, with future models also set to comprise energy efficient design and components.

Sony Ericsson also scored on Energy, taking most points for its targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its internal activities by 20 percent by 2015. In addition, the company was recognised in the Sustainable Operations category for its chemicals management policy and programme that has been highlighted by its work with suppliers to discourage the use of restricted substances.

Gousetis added: “Everybody is trying their best to go green, the global green initiative is gaining significant traction and this has brought a new dimension to the way products are manufactured. For instance, to take laptops as an example, if laptop manufacturers only used recycled aluminum it would take 90% less energy to make the same machine, and the energy saved would be enough to power the laptop for two years.”

Further demonstrating its commitment to the Green Cause, Sony Ericsson has signed into a number of significant framework agreements helping endorse its Green Heart initiative.  Such agreements include the United Nations Copenhagen Communique, a framework designed to tackle climate change.

In another example to the company’s alternative energy policy, in Sweden all the electricity used by Sony Ericsson comes from renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydropower, and represents approximately 53% (previously 40% in 2009) of the total electricity used in all Sony Ericsson office sites.

Abu Dhabi-UAE:8  February , 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced its Earth Observation and Environmental Remote Sensing (EO-ERS) laboratory has produced an animated clipping on the evolution and the urban expansion of Abu Dhabi City over the past 25 years.

Accessible on http://youtu.be/8gErC_tRAiY, the animation marks one of the projects by EO-ERS at Masdar Institute to capture various stages of the growth of the emirate. The satellite data used for this animation was provided by NASA and the US Geological Survey Department (USGS).

The EO-ERS laboratory at Masdar Institute is currently involved in several research projects focusing on developing new satellite-based tools to forecast, detect and monitor different environmental hazards in the UAE and the GCC region. Its research activities include coastal water quality monitoring from space; solar and wind potential mapping; real time dust detection; land cover monitoring; and thermal mapping of urban areas.

The EO-ERS lab is directed by Dr. Hosni Ghedira and presently includes a team of 3 postdoctoral researchers, one IT engineer and seven research assistants. Dr. Ghedira is also an Associate Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering at Masdar Institute. Before moving to the UAE, Dr. Ghedira spent six years at the City University of New York as an Assistant Professor and Research Associate Professor. He also acted as director of the Environmental Remote Sensing and Image Processing Laboratory at the NOAA Cooperative Remote Sensing Science & Technology Center in New York for more than four years.

The EO-ERS lab at Masdar Institute has been recently selected by NASA as one of seven global pre-launch test sites for a new Earth observation satellite SMAP, which is scheduled to be launched by NASA in 2014 (smap.jpl.nasa.gov). In collaboration with NASA, EO-ERS will jointly run a four-year pilot study on airborne dust estimation for this new satellite mission. The lab has its own satellite receiving station that receives real time satellite data from NASA and European Space Agency satellites as well as state-of-the-art software packages for satellite data processing and analysis.

Established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change.

Leading the company’s delegation at IPTC, Ghanim Al-Kuwari, Qatargas’ Chief Operating Officer - Administration, states, “Qatargas is pleased to attend this important industry conference which will provide a key platform to address technical and business issues that challenge oil and gas professionals. The conference will particularly report on overarching industry matters such as safety, the environment, security, human relation and training. IPTC will enable us to share our experiences of best practices, our state-of-the-art technology and our innovation, with industry peers from across the global LNG value chain.”

A part of the Qatargas delegation is Abdelkader Haouari, Qatargas Offshore Operations Manager who has been invited to co-chair two sessions during the conference week.

The first session, on day two of the conference, is titled ‘LNG Prospects and Technologies’. This session will relate to the international LNG prospects, natural gas reserves of Middle East, India as a market for natural gas, managing the gas export manifold to ensure gas deliverability, strategic approaches to new growth challenges of LNG, energy optimisation of LNG terminals and Floating LNG. The second session is on day three and is titled ‘Improving the Operational Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Performance’.

In response of this he states, “Representing Qatargas, I’m pleased to be associated with these two important technical sessions of the conference, which can offer a wealth of knowledge and expertise to all delegates.”

An exhibition is also being held on the sidelines of the conference, in which Qatargas is participating as part of the Qatar Petroleum pavilion and sponsoring an element of the delegate session breaks at the conference. Visitors will be able to receive first-hand information regarding Qatargas and its activities from Qatargas personnel at the stand as well as information regarding potential career opportunities at Qatargas.

Muscat, 7 February 2012 – Nawras, Oman’s customer friendly communications provider, is now helping businesses in rural areas by providing enhanced coverage via the launch of VSAT technology. Even In the most secluded locations, companies can now gain access to the internet or connect to their corporate networks nationwide.

VSAT, as ‘very small aperture terminal’ is commonly known, is used to transmit data and internet via satellite communication.  Two solutions are being offered to Nawras Business customers including dedicated internet bandwidth and Point to Point connectivity over ‘Single Channel Per Carrier’ or SCPC technology. This option is ideal for medium and large companies, particularly where security and high speed is a priority.

Alternatively, best effort internet access over Time Division Multiple Access, known as TDMA provides shared capacity through a more economical service without jeopardising quality levels.  TDMA is ideally suited to meet the requirements of small and medium enterprises.

VSAT from Nawras is easily scalable, reliable and gives cost efficiency without compromising on quality.  Helping customers get more from their business, Nawras tailors products and services to deliver communications that support company development which is always backed up by professional after sales service. 

Outlining some of the many benefits of the new VSAT service, Nawras Business Data & Internet Products Manager Mohammed bin Jaffer Al Najwani, said, “We believe that connectivity is no more a luxury, rather a necessity, even when operating in rural areas of the country.  Our VSAT offerings come with variable speeds and prices to suit different budgets and needs.  Most importantly, we are providing an end to end solution with flexibility and reliability that will enhance the communication experience and allow our customers to get more from their business.”

Nawras Internet Professional (NIP-VSAT) with shared bandwidth and unlimited data involves a one-off set up fee of 250 Omani Rials and monthly fees ranging from 319 Omani Rials, while the point to point Nawras Ethernet Service (NES-VSAT) with dedicated bandwidth can be established for a one-time fee of 105 Omani Rials with monthly fees ranging from 669 Omani Rials upwards.

Nawras is proud to be serving an ever growing number of companies from small home offices to large corporations, in the public and private sectors. With an extensive portfolio of mobile and fixed services as well as multi-technology access network, Nawras is able to suggest the most suitable communication solutions to match each business customer’s needs and always offers reliable support.  VSAT is now the latest addition to a long list of services designed to help businesses grow.

Nawras customers are invited to contact their account manager to take advantage of this new service.  All other enquiries should be directed to 9510 1503, any Nawras Store or through the website at www.nawras.om/vsat.

A Qtel Group company, Nawras is dedicated to enriching the lives of people in Oman through better communication services delivered in a caring, excellent and pleasingly different way.

As part of Abu Sheikha’s future visions, the application aims at providing comprehensive infrastructure solutions that serve the company’s employees working in its branches across the kingdom. It also seeks to develop and enhance the management of the company’s operations to keep up with its expansion schemes. 

Commenting on the event, Mr. Tareq Abu Sheikha, Abu Sheikha’s CM, said: “As a leading provider of foreign exchange and money transfer services, our company will benefit from MenaITech’s application as it will help us automate our HR department and link it to the company’s sections, including the financial and employee relations departments, to speed internal operations. Such techniques will inevitably have a direct role in reinforcing our competitive capabilities and set the stage for both the administration and employees to keep up with the accelerating growth in our businesses and investments,”

For anther part, Mr. Ziad Abu Sheikha, Abu Sheikha’s HR Manager “Our administration is keen on empowering its human resources and employing modern techniques to improve its infrastructure and foster its operational efficiency and effectiveness, specifically because it has a wide network of branches across the kingdom.” 

On the other hand, Dr. Bashar Hawamdeh, MenaITech’s CEO, said, “We are glad to service a pioneering provider of foreign exchange and money transfer services like Abu Sheikha for Exchange, which is one of the leading companies in this field, and support its management with the necessary solutions and specialized applications that would help its growth and employ its resources optimally.”

“The services provided by MenaITech’s application are not limited to the administrative departments; they extend to cover all the employees who can use the self service application and take advantage of a wide range of features, such as managing leaves of absence, payments and liabilities. Accessing these features through the internet will increase the employees’ level of satisfaction as they will no longer have to show up at the human resources department for such matters,” Hawamdeh added.

It is worth mentioning that Abu Sheikha for Exchange is one of the leading banking and financial services institutions in Jordan and has recently been transformed into a limited liability company. The corporation has a network of branches that have been distributed carefully in strategic locations throughout the capital and are connected through a modern telecom network that enables clients to perform their banking operations easily.  

Eros Group will distribute the Revo’s Digital Radio products incorporating FM, Internet and DAB technologies through key retail channel partners in UAE and other Gulf countries and service the needs of consumers throughout the region.

On the occasion of release of Revo products in UAE, Mr. Deepak Babani, CEO of Eros Group said, “Partnering with Revo reflects At the launch press conference Mr. Deepak Babani, CEOEros Groupcommitment to constantly expanding our product portfolio and giving our customers the latest in consumer electronics. Revo is well known for highly acclaimed Digital Radio products with innovative designs and we are proud to introduce it to our customers in this region. We are confident that this ingenious piece of technology will appeal to our wide customer base.”

Mr. Colin Urie, Commercial Director of Revo Technologies commented on the occasion, “Our mission is building the World’s most exciting, innovative and stylish digital radios. At Revo we place a high degree of importance on the look, feel and ease of use of our radios. Our aim is to produce a product that crosses over from being a humble piece of electronics to something that enriches your day to day life. With their detailed knowledge of consumers, industry, unique range of products, and innovative service record, we are confident that our partnership with Eros will help establish Revo in UAE and other Middle East markets”.

Reflecting on the new trends in listening to music, Mr. Sathish Shenoy, Vice President of Business development of Eros Group added that streaming music from connected devices like PC, Digital music players, Internet/DAB Radios and Music Services is changing the way people listen to music. High penetration of internet connectivity and relatively large bandwidths, make Internet Radio a versatile option to expand your access to music and other audio content dramatically at no extra cost. In addition to local FM stations, Revo radios gives you instant access to your own music libraries like iTunes either from the docked devices, connected PCs, or more than 15,000 free Internet radio stations and podcasts from across the world, or DAB and DAB+ radio stations wherever available and most popular online music services streaming millions of songs. Revo’s own RadioControl, an innovative and easy-to-use application for iPhone, iPod app enhances user experience of controlling multiple devices attached to the network with a touch of a finger.

Initially Eros Group will make available three of best-selling products from Revo range: recently launched K2 with innovative contemporary design, Heritage which has a retro inspired design and Axis, Revo’s best-selling digital radio device priced at Dhs 1699, 1399 and 1249 respectively.

Dubai, UAE– February 06th, 2012 – GFI Software today announced that it is to host a channel Partner conference on 7th February 2012 at Mina A’ Salam Hotel, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. The conference is open to all GFI reseller channel partners in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The conference will cover all sales and technical aspects related to the latest GFI products, including presentations on upcoming security trends as well as live product demos. Keynote speeches will be delivered by GFI’s management team, focusing on new product launches, channel and sales updates and product roadmaps.

GFI will also be presenting a number of awards to channel partners in recognition of their contribution to GFI’s success across the region.

“Middle East and Africa is a key market for us and the region holds an enormous business potential for both GFI and our channel partners. Our target is to incrementally increase our sales in the region and improve on last year’s very positive growth. At the partner conference we also want to assure our continuous and ongoing support to channel partners in the region,” said John Spoor, Channel Sales Manager MEA, GFI Software.

“We expect a high turnout of partners from UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, and Iraq, among others countries from the MENA region, at the 2012 GFI Partner Conference,” added Spoor.

The innovative new SmartActions app is central to this mission, letting users create automated tasks and improve battery performance by up to 30%, so they spend less time fiddling with mundane settings and more time focusing on the important things in life.

Users can either take direct control by configuring Smart Actions to set specific rules and/or wait for prompts based on recurring behaviors.

For example, the Low Battery Saver action will pay attention to how much charge your battery has and change settings to conserve what’s left. At 40% power, it can dim the display and at 30% it can slow down data usage. You pick the points and you choose the changes.

Smart Actions can also make changes based on where you are. These location-based actions are associated with Wi-Fi connections and will only be performed when those networks are detected. Arriving at your office could, for example, prompt putting your ringer on silent and pulling up that productivity app that really gets things done.

“SmartActions is constantly evolving and adapting to the lives of our customers, automating tasks that would normally require fiddly and repeated manual intervention, and freeing up time that can be better spent enjoying the smartphone experience and going about day-to-day routines. With SmartActions, you can set it and forget it,” said Raed Hafez, Managing Director for Motorola Mobility, Middle East & Africa.

Motorola RAZR is available in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt now.

Dubai, UAE, 06th February 2012, ComGuard, a Dubai based leading value added distributor for IT security products and solutions in the Middle East and North Africa region today announced the availability of a patch from BlueCat Networks for its appliance-based DNS and DHCP software solutions that addresses the latest DHCP vulnerability publicised by the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC). BlueCat Networks discovered the vulnerability and was prepared to immediately provide patches to its customers on the same day as the ISC’s public release.

Working with a client, BlueCat Networks was instrumental in identifying and reporting the vulnerability (CVE-2011-4539) to the ISC. The vulnerability found by BlueCat Networks relates to a bug in the DHCP software which could allow an attacker to remotely crash a DHCP server in a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. After discovering the issue, BlueCat Networks worked with the ISC to test and verify a fix to address the vulnerability. BlueCat Networks’ proactive response demonstrates its commitment to security and providing timely patches to critical security vulnerabilities that could put organizations at risk.

“ISC is very appreciative of BlueCat Networks for its efforts in finding and testing this DHCP issue,” said Barry Greene, President of Internet Systems Consortium. “We are committed to identifying and rapidly addressing any security vulnerabilities and look to partners like BlueCat Networks to assist us in meeting the security requirements of our customers and the Internet community at large using our Phased Disclosure Process.”

“Our customers depend on our solutions to deliver business-critical DNS and DHCP core networks services,” said Branko Miskov, Director of Product Management, BlueCat Networks. “Security is a primary focus of our organization and we have a long history of being first to market with patches to address vulnerabilities as they arise. As an early adopter and member of ISC’s ‘Friends of ISC’ program, we are one of only a handful of vendors that work directly with ISC to ensure the ongoing reliability and feature richness of BIND and DHCP.”

Providing a purpose-built platform for DNS, DHCP and IP Address Management, BlueCat Networks solutions include highly secure software that is updated regularly to address new vulnerabilities. With BlueCat Networks’ simple solutions, there is no need for customers to spend time and effort monitoring security vulnerability and OS patches.

Jayadevan K, Senior Vice President, Value Business at ComGuard, said, “BlueCat Networks physical and virtual appliances are deployed at some of the most demanding public and private sector organisations worldwide to improve security, lower costs and increase IT efficiency. BlueCat solutions also allow organizations to securely manage change and growth with unsurpassed scalability and future-ready support for IPv6 and DNSSEC.”

“The Saudi Telecoms and ICT sector is booming and the high number of industry experts that attended the Saudi Telecoms and ICT Summit held alongside TELSA is a reflection of the industry’s demand for such an event,” said Hussain Al Harthi, Managing Director, National Exhibition Company. “The summit presented a platform that united the industry in discussion and debate covering topics such as Saudi Arabia’s role in setting a benchmark for next generation connectivity in the Middle East.”

According to a report published by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), nearly 70 percent of the internet users in the G20 will be from emerging markets by 2016 compared to 56 percent in 2010, while mobile devices, especially smart phones, will account for about 8 percent of all broadband connection in the G20 nations by 2016.

“The Saudi telecoms and ICT sector is experiencing rapid change. Saudi Arabia’s distinct demographics are driving an accelerated uptake of higher-value services,” said Deep Marwaha, General Manager of Informa Saudi Arabia. “TELSA, which features an exhibition, conference and workshops, supports this active industry and attracts business leaders, telecoms professionals and government agencies from throughout Saudi Arabia and the region.”

“Saudi Arabia’s government has invested heavily into the country’s economy and infrastructure, announcing the second record budget in a row this year. The number of projects and firms is increasing and companies are in turn raising their telecoms and IT budget and purchasing a wider variety of services,” said Mr. Hidefumi Kawakita, General Manager of Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa – KSA Office, during the exhibition. “We see a great potential for business technology solutions and services to verticals such as Education, Government, Healthcare, Hospitality, and many more, and therefore we are setting a focus on this field.

“The government has further recognized the potential for energy saving technologies which are necessities considering that seventy percent of Saudi Arabia’s electricity is consumed by air conditions.  Panasonic is the leader in offering innovative energy saving solutions in the world and we are determined to manifest this position in the Saudi market in the long term.”

Adding to the comments of Mr. Kawakita, Eng. Shoukat Mostarihi, Business Development Manager at Taqnia, one of the leading System Solution operators in Saudi Arabia and member of Alesayi Group, agent of Panasonic Corporation, said: “Panasonic is the leading phone manufacturer in the world. With the Saudi operators heavily investing into technologies such as LTE and HSPA which could serve as a relatively cost-efficient option to deploy high-speed broadband services across the major cities in the Kingdom as well as smaller towns and villages, we clearly see the future in SIP phones, a segment Panasonic aims to claim leadership.”

Mr. Marwaha said: “This is the first edition of TELSA in Saudi Arabia and we received very positive feedback from exhibitors, speakers and delegates. As the only dedicated B2B telecoms and ICT event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia we found a niche that is very high in demand. Bearing witness to this fact is that TELSA was used as a launch platform by participating companies.”

Intergrated Telecom Company (ITC), one of Saudi Arabia’s leading telecom companies, launched the Kingdom’s first Fiber Sync Storage Service, which uses high-speed fiber technology to sync storage units across various data centers, during TELSA. The products offer solutions especially suited for corporations and business sectors which rely heavily on data, allowing them to sync storage and backup sources in less than 1/1,000th of a second. 

Participants in TELSA included the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Official Supporter), Mobily (Official Telecom Partner), Ericsson (Platinum Sponsor), Comptel, (Silver Sponsor), LCC (Silver Sponsor), Integrated Telecom (Silver Sponsor), and many more exhibitors, partners together with a roster of elite speakers.

The Saudi Telecoms and ICT Summit at TELSA was held in parallel with the exhibition in which organizations and companies from around the world discussed the latest market developments and issues.

For more information visit www.telsaexpo.com.