New Delhi, December 19, 2011 – QNAP® Systems Inc. today announced a partnership with Symform to provide QNAP customers with up to 200 GB of free cloud back-up and unlimited cloud back-up for a low flat monthly fee. Symform is available with all new QNAP units and to existing customer devices through a free software update. QNAP customers simply click on the Symform tab in the QNAP Cloud Back-up wizard to quickly register and start backing up their NAS data to the Symform cloud, enabling secondary back-up and disaster recovery services.

“QNAP customers purchase our NAS products because they place great value on their data,” said Jérôme Jaussaud, product manager of QNAP. “QNAP offers users cloud back-up solutions to safeguard their data, and we are pleased to offer an additional data protection alternative by partnering with Symform, who offers the lowest price on the market for secure cloud storage.”

In addition to fast and affordable back-up services, users can use Symform to synchronize critical data directly from a QNAP device, between multiple QNAP devices, or between a QNAP device and other devices, such as laptops or tablet PCs. Because Symform has as no file size limits, users can use the cloud to back-up large files or images. Symform also provides users a way to earn more free services through referrals and contribution. Symform is the industry’s first decentralized cloud back-up and storage solution, providing users a cloud platform that is faster, more cost-effective, and more secure than traditional cloud solutions.

“At Symform, we are offering revolutionary value with secure cloud storage and back-up at the guaranteed lowest flat fee,” said Praerit Garg, president and co-founder of Symform. “QNAP is a leader in the NAS market focused on delivering high quality solutions, and we’re excited to supply its users with the most affordable and secure cloud back-up and disaster recovery solution.”

The Symform storage cloud is free of charge (up to 200 GB) with QNAP NAS firmware V3.5.2. Users who upgrade their QNAP Turbo NAS to firmware V3.5.2 also receive the following enhancements:

• Improved performance for changing file and folder permissions when Advanced Folder Permission is enabled.
• Five new UI languages: Hungarian, Romania, Thai, Portuguese (Brazil) and Greek.

QNAP and Symform are hosting an upcoming Webinar on backup disaster recovery best practices for small and medium businesses, scheduled for December 8, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time. To register, go to: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/142655150.

Availability
Symform is now available for all QNAP Turbo NAS models that have been upgraded to firmware V3.5.2. The new V3.5.2 firmware update is immediately available for all QNAP Turbo NAS models at: http://www.qnap.com/download.asp.

Electronics Giant Launches First Concept Store in the Middle East with Jumbo Electronics

Sony, the leading consumer electronics brand, today announced the launch of the UAE’s first ‘new concept’ showroom in association with UAE consumer electronics distributor and retailer, Jumbo Electronics. Located within Jumbo’s Mall of the Emirates flagship store, the showroom provides customers with a unique destination to explore the complete Sony experience, and enhanced pre- and post-personalised shopping and aftersales care within a new brand design concept.

The first new-concept Sony Centrehas been renovated and modeled on the same lines as the global pilot Sony showroom in Los Angeles. The new showroom was inaugurated today by Kiyoshi Shikano, Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing, Sony Corporation, along with Osamu Miura, Managing Director, Sony Gulf and Deepak Khetrapal, CEO of Jumbo Electronics.

Speaking at the launch, Shikano said: “This Sony store will showcase all our latest products and technologies and also provide an opportunity for entertainment content such as movies, music, games to be demonstrated and experienced. Testing and measuring new marketing methodologies in partnership with the customer will be another hallmark of this store.  Collecting, analyzing and making continuous improvement, guided by customer interaction and feedback will be the guiding principle here and we hope through this process the customer will come to feel ownership of this place and will always feel welcome here.  We are happy to be introducing our first concept store in the UAE with Jumbo, who have been our exclusive distributor here for nearly 40 years.”

“Some of Sony’s latest technologies and products that are showcased in the Middle East & Africa for the first time include, Personal 3D Viewer, 3D Binoculars with full HD recording, Room Link that enables DLNA connection of various products and content,” he added.

Designed to offer customers three distinct zones, the remodeled showroom features a section dedicated to displaying the entire range of Sony products, another displaying the latest promotions and the third zone exclusively for consumers to experience, test and play with gadgets.

Deepak Khetrapal, CEO of Jumbo Electronics said: “We are extremely proud to partner with Sony to present the first new concept Sony showroom in the region at our Mall of the Emirates store.  Through this signature showroom, we hope to engage our customers with a fascinating experience of Sony’s innovation and amazing array of products.  The Sony concept store further reinforces our commitment to offering the best-in-class value for discerning customers with market-leading customer-service.  We share a great relationship with Sony and look forward to celebrating more milestones in the near future.”

Sony has been constantly evolving, investing approximately US$ 5 billion in research and development to ensure that the brand continues to lead innovation in consumer electronics. A pioneer driving adaptation of the 3D technology in consumer electronics, Sony leads innovation by producing 3D-enabled products, creating content, influencing back-end adoption of the technology by large cable networks and also retains the edge by investing in the seamless availability of the technology across various product categories.

While Sony’s BRAVIA 3D Internet TVs, 3D VAIO notebooks, 3D-enabled Handycam, the Alpha NEX series of interchangeable lens cameras and Cyber-shot cameras have already made the technology accessible to consumers, Sony has also revolutionised consumption of this technology through introducing gadgets such as the 3D Personal Viewer and 3D Binoculars.

Dubai, UAE – November 27, 2011 – Software AG has unveiled its latest Process Improvement Accelerator, Prime, at the recently concluded SAPPHIRE NOW and SAP TechEd 2011 conferences in Madrid, Spain. Prime accelerates business optimization and automation projects based on specific industry requirements or cross-industry topics such as compliance, supply chain management (SCM) or customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives, resulting in better time-to-value.

Prime combines methodology, blue-prints and industry-specific best practices based on its award-winning Industry.PerformanceREADY offerings. Prime is based on industry standards such as ARIS and supports the creation and optimization of end-to-end processes based on a variety of applications such as solutions from SAP and platforms such as webMethods.

Christo van Rensburg, Consulting Vice President, Software AG Middle East, said: “The launch of Prime is a testament to Software AG’s continuing commitment to deliver value-driven solutions that allow our clients to maximize time and cost savings and optimize performance. Prime further strengthens Software AG’s position as the global leader in business process solutions, and giving us greater leverage to drive our growth plans in the Middle East market.”

“With Prime we are delivering over 2,500 process blue-prints based on more than 20 years of industry knowledge and thousands of man-years accumulated experience”, said Ivo Totev, Software AG Group Executive Board member responsible for Global Consulting and Support. “This allows customers to revolutionize the way they improve their processes, resulting in a maximum return on investment and minimal time-to-value. This gives organizations the competitive edge needed in today’s economic climate.”

Customers do not need to start on the green field, but have access to 30 industry specific out-of-the box best practices and more than 2,500 detailed processes. Industry.PerformanceREADY is a comprehensive end-to-end solution for process optimization and fast as well as cost-effective SAP implementation with embedded governance and process controlling.

To minimize both time and cost of model design and solution configuration, Industry.PerformanceREADY ships with an industry reference model in ARIS and pre-configured SAP ERP application. These are based on best practices from extensive practical experience across many different projects.

In addition, pre-defined Key Performance Indicators and process monitoring parameters allow customers to focus on delivering real and measurable business value for each project. Identifying and delivering business value is supported by solution specific ROI calculators that identify the customer time-to-value before the project starts.

As SAP global services partner, Software AG has implemented over 1,500 successful SAP projects world-wide. Industry.PerformanceREADY SAP Business All-in-One solutions are fully process-oriented, end-to-end solution sets. They combine a pre-configured SAP ERP solution, industry expertise and process models mapped in ARIS to save time, money and ensure project success.

Customers include NEC corporation of Japan with a 20% reduction of operational costs, AB Vovlo  reduced SAP project implementation times by 30% and Brenntag by 25%.

For more information about effectively leveraging SAP for your business go to:

http://www.softwareag.com/corporate/service/sap_consulting/overview/default.asp

Domestic routes outside the Middle East increase the costs considerably to the end-user, says international charter expert

Dubai, UAE, 27th November, 2011: Private Jet Charter, one of the world’s largest independent private jet charter brokers and consultants, says the costs of private jet flights from the GCC to multi-destinations in Europe and North America could be 50 percent lower if a global private jet company is used. This is because a regional company does not have presence in other parts of the world, thus adding hidden costs to the customer.
 
Private Jet Charter founder and Chief Executive Hugh Courtenay said that big corporates and high flying customers cannot afford to waste time and pay double the fees because their local private jet company has to send them a jet from the Middle East to transport them from two domestic destinations inside Europe, for instance. This cost is passed on to the customer.”

Courtenay emphasised: “Private jet business highly depends on high net worth individuals and affluent families, but that doesn’t mean that these people should pay double the amount or more, if they move internationally through a local private jet company.”

Air charter business is expensive because of jet rental fees and the crew, but it is big on convenience and time savings and that is why royal families, CEOs, and the region’s affluent segment use it.

Courtenay added: “If a customer on Paris-Dubai route wants to proceed from Paris to Rome and then to Mexico or Las Vegas and then to Beirut, he will pay triple the bill if he uses a local private jet company because these companies don’t have presence nor partners in these destinations which requires them to either keep the private jet with the customer for a longer period, or despatch a jet from their home base, with the customer paying for the back and forth costs.”

Specific benefits that the Private Jet Charter offers its customers include 24 hour service round the year, multilingual and expert staff, competitive free quotations and advice, unique CATS aircraft sourcing technology, flight watch monitoring on all executive air charter flights. This involves keeping the PA or travel organiser informed of every stage of the journey, from limousine pick-up to take-off, progress of the flight and landing.

Other benefits of Private Jet Charter include state-of-the-art private jets, experienced pilots and cabin crew, the use of private business and VIP terminals, check-in only 15 minutes before departure, fast but secure immigration procedures, take off from an airport of the customer’s choice at their specified time, ‘meet and greet’ facilities, as well as comprehensive airport information and limousine ground transportation, when required.

Private Jet Charter offers quality charter flights to its customers. The company looks at convenience and quality for its customers especially for those who have regular meetings and needs the flights on a daily basis to move from a region to another on a business trip.

Courtenay concluded: “The problem of the private jet business is that players in the industry are not all up to the level in terms of knowledge, global accessibility, outreach, counselling capabilities and adherence to quality. We meet dissatisfied customers from other companies every day who regretted using the wrong private jet company and have lost a lot of money and time because of it, realising that their decision to use our services instead meant that they would receive the best service available.”

Dubai, UAE 27th November 2011: In line with its pledge to combat people’s inability to save and assist its customers in clearing their debts, National Bonds Corporation PJSC, the leading Sharia compliant saving scheme, has announced the launch of the second part of its highly successful “Live a Debt Free Life” campaign.

The campaign was first launched by National Bonds in September 2010 following the results of the first ever National Bonds UAE Savings Index, which showed that 71% of UAE residents do not save money regularly. During the three-months of the campaign, National Bonds saw a 48% rise in its sales which was higher than average as customers flocked to increase their savings for chances to win weekly prizes.

The second ‘Live a Debt-Free Life’ campaign will run for 10 weeks, beginning 20th November until 31st January 2012 and aims to help bondholders clear their debts. This year, the campaign’s weekly rewards are tailored to provide customers with flexibility and choice to further enhance their savings experience as weekly National Bonds winners will be rewarded with an AED 120,000 yearly saving plan structured as monthly payments of AED 10,000 that will be credited to their accounts, to automatically reduce or clear their debts.

During the promotion period, existing bondholders or new customers depositing savings of a minimum of AED 5,000 or more in National Bonds will automatically enter a special weekly draw with the chance of winning the grand prize of 1 Kilo of Gold at the final draw that will be held on January 31st, 2012.

Commenting on the campaign, Mr. Mohammed Qasim Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer, National Bonds Corporation PJSC said:”Our scheme’s mission is to help people improve their future and that of their families, and one of the things that place itself as a barrier to them achieving that is the whirlwind of loans and debts that they find themselves drowning in.”

“Based on the results of our 2011 UAE Savings Index, 73% of the customers blame high expenses and multiple loans as a hindrance between them and savings. The Live a Debt-Free Life campaign is one way we reach out to our customers to empower them to lead a healthier financial lifestyle. It’s a win-win situation for them – if they win the prizes then that helps them clear their debts, and if not, then they have still been incentivized to increase their savings over the three months of the campaign.”

National Bonds certificates are available for purchase in over 580 outlets nationwide including, National Bonds website, Emirates Post offices, exchange houses and banks. For more information, visit www.nationalbonds.ae  or call 600 522 279.

Dubai, UAE - 31 October, 2011

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced the latest details for its approved programme for pre-owned cars in the Middle East market. Rolls-Royce Provenance offers unrivaled peace of mind with its industry-leading programme which includes fully inclusive servicing.

Each car has to meet exacting criteria set by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Factory-trained technicians conduct a painstaking inspection procedure, including a full road test, to ensure that every Provenance car reaches the highest standards prior to delivery. Cars must have been maintained in strict adherence to Rolls-Royce servicing requirements to be considered and are only sold through the international network of authorised Rolls-Royce Motor Cars dealers.

When buying a Rolls-Royce Provenance motor car, customers are protecting their investment. As well as successfully completing a rigorous pre-delivery inspection and preparation, each Provenance Rolls-Royce offers the reassurance of an independently obtained vehicle history and unlimited mileage verification, together with a minimum 24 month warranty, fully inclusive servicing and 24-hour roadside assistance.

Jolyon Nash, Director, Sales & Marketing, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said, “We are delighted to announce the latest details for Rolls-Royce Provenance. Our customers expect the very best motor cars in the world and we are pleased to be able to offer the same support and peace of mind for approved pre-owned cars that we offer for new vehicles.”

RAKBANK has announced the launch of its latest creative value-added platform, www.RAKBANKdeals.ae, which will provide the Bank’s Credit and Prepaid Card customers with exclusive weekly deals offering discounts of 50% and more.

The first of its kind in the banking industry, the website also provides one access point to all of the Bank’s deals for Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cardholders. This includes RAKfeast, a dining discount programme, Lifestyle Privileges, a programme for diverse benefits and privileges from more than 80 outlets, the Prepaid Card promotion, buy 1 get 1 free, as well as RAKBANKdirect.ae and smartshop.ae discounted deals.

“The launch of this website is just another way of appreciating our loyal customers and making their banking experience an even simpler one,” says Graham Honeybill, Chief Executive Officer of RAKBANK. “By a click of a button, they visit a one stop shop for an array of exclusive deals from dining, entertainment to fashion and fun.”

All deals on www.RAKBANKdeals.ae provide customers with necessary information to help them reach a decision. They get to know the merchant, where to redeem the offer, deal expiry date and any other conditions listed by the merchant to avail of the offer.

The new website allows RAKBANK customers to post the deal on their facebook and twitter accounts hence alerting their friends and followers to the exciting offer. Interested Bank customers can simply click on the “Buy Now” button and pay using any of the bank’s Credit or Prepaid Card. They then receive the deal coupon via e-mail which they can print and present at the merchant outlet.

As for non-customers, the website provides a link to apply for RAKBANK Cards and get access to a world of privileges. The Bank gives its customers a choice of six Credit Cards, all of which are free for life, come with a Cashback feature of up to 5%, and entitle their holders to multiple dining and hospitality discounts in addition to a chance to win a million Dirhams every 6 months on select Cards. RAKBANK also offers its customers two Prepaid Cards, RAKBANK Bling and RAKBANK Loaded, which offer various promotions from over 50 merchant outlets in the UAE.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - October 30, 2011- Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the availability of significant enhancements to its JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform, JBoss Enterprise Data Services Platform and JBoss Enterprise Business Rules Management System (BRMS) product lines. Together, updates to the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), data and business rules platforms enable a more intelligent, integrated enterprise by connecting applications and complex event processing (CEP) services across the enterprise.

“Five years ago, most executives didn’t see why they needed to shift to an event-driven style of business operations. Today, cycle times are much faster, customers are much more expressive about their dissatisfaction, and management cannot afford to be a step behind,” according to Maureen Fleming, vice president of IDC Business Process Management and Middleware Research. “Building event-driven systems with an ESB, event processing, and business rules enables a business to gain advantage by predicting, deciding and acting at the tip of a problem or opportunity.”

“In response to competitive pressure, organizations are updating their IT infrastructure to become more agile, and leverage active decision making,” explained Craig Muzilla, vice president and general manager, Middleware Business at Red Hat. “With the next versions of these platforms, we’re offering tools for businesses to automate rules-based decisions, business process execution and complex event processing, helping to improve the speed and quality of their business operations.”

Real-time responses for real business decisions
JBoss Enterprise BRMS 5.2 empowers customers to streamline and improve operations with automated, real-time rules-based decisions. Active decision-making that is “situationally aware” takes into account conditions that influence how rules execute, in order to improve the quality and speed of the response. When integrated with JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform 5.2, JBoss Enterprise BRMS 5.2 presents business rules, integrated via an ESB, to a wide range of applications, services and business processes.

New features in JBoss Enterprise BRMS 5.2 include:

•Complex Event Processing (CEP) – enables the detection and correlation of events within a business rules application. The integration of event processing and business rules allows the creation of sophisticated rules-based solutions which incorporate awareness of relevant business events, allowing decision-making to be more truly “active”.
•Enhanced Business User Interface – the new, web-based Decision Table further enhances development access to business analysts, expanding the array of tools that are available to build rules-driven applications. The tools can be used collaboratively and fit the needs of varying levels of technical ability.
•Enhanced Rules Logic – this technical preview supports the use of “goal-seeking” logic within rules applications through support for backward chaining. By defining desired end results, the rules engine can identify the facts and conditions that can deliver those results.
“JBoss Enterprise BRMS and the JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform are key elements in the technology strategy at OSDE,” noted Gustavo Aguirre, CIO at OSDE, an Argentinian health insurance network. “The combination of rules and complex event processing in the latest release of JBoss Enterprise BRMS enable us to add active decision making to our business users and quickly address any changes in our business environment. Together, with the JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform, we’re driving improved IT responsiveness and business value.”

Improved applications and services integration across the extended enterprise
JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform 5.2 features an ESB that optimizes business execution and responsiveness in a cost-effective, open platform. With new web and cloud service orchestration capabilities, IT can more fully utilize these services to organize and execute business processes. This new release of JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform now supports Red Hat Enterprise MRG-Messaging, a high-speed AMQP-based message system, to improve integration of applications and services across the extended enterprise.

New features in JBoss Enterprise SOA 5.2 include:

•Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) support – support for this standard for orchestrating processes across web and cloud services automates workflows, improving business productivity and IT responsiveness.
•MRG-Messaging integration – new support for Red Hat’s Enterprise MRG-Messaging, built on the open Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) messaging standard, enhances both ESB and data services interoperability with non-Java platforms, and mobile devices.
New features in JBoss Enterprise Data Services Platform 5.2 include:

•Additional data source support – Teradata, Ingres, Mondrian, JSON sources expand the range of data sources to encompass demand for data virtualization in the enterprise.
•Tooling to generate Representational State Transfer (REST)-based data services – tooling features take advantage of the widely used REST software architecture in order to deliver data services.
•Additional artifact support in metadata repository – Web Services Description and XML Schema Document files now enable enterprises to manage and govern data services in these popular formats to deliver additional flexibility.
New JBoss Enterprise BRMS Training
Red Hat Training has created the JBoss Enterprise BRMS Implementation (JB433) course to offer developers the required skills to effectively develop and administer BRMS in an enterprise environment. This course provides comprehensive job- and project-based training and explores how to author, test, debug and control business rules using the JBoss Enterprise BRMS 5.2 technology. Delivery of JBoss Enterprise BRMS Implementation (JB433) includes corporate team on-sites and classroom based training.

Availability
JBoss Enterprise BRMS 5.2 is scheduled to be available by the end of October, on a global basis, while JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform 5.2 and JBoss Enterprise Data Services Platform 5.2 is scheduled to be available by November 2011 on a global basis. The new JBoss Enterprise BRMS training course is available today.

For more information about the updates to JBoss Enterprise BRMS, JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform and JBoss Enterprise Data Services Platform, visit here. For more information about Red Hat, visit www.redhat.com. For more news, more often, visit www.press.redhat.com.

New branches reflect leading company’s move to create stronger market presence in the UAE

October 26, 2011

Al Ansari Exchange, the UAE’s largest exchange house network that provides worldwide remittance and foreign exchange services, has affirmed its commitment to provide their growing customer base with easier access to its offered services with the opening of new branches across the UAE for the last quarter of 2011. The opening of the new facilities reflect the company’s strategic expansion initiatives and move towards providing its customers with strategic and essential financial services through convenient and easy-to-access methods.

The new branches are expected to provide high quality remittance and foreign exchange services combined with unique product and services offerings for UAE residents, nationals and tourists visiting the country. The presence of strategically located branches also helps local businesses by providing a secure and convenient way of disbursing salaries. The new branches include the Mega Store-Mussafah; Al Raha Gardens; ADNEC and Electra Street in Abu Dhabi; Union Cooperative-Al Barsha and Souq Extra-Al Quoz in Dubai and Sharjah Cooperative, Al Khan Sharjah, Kalba, Khorfakkan, Marco Emirates-Industrial Area No. 6, Carrefour Market Al Khan in Sharjah, and Union Cooperative- Al Naimiya, Ajman.

“We are currently embarking on an expansion initiative that widens our reach and further improve accessibility to our services. To date, we have opened numerous new branches across strategic locations in the UAE and are set to open more branches in the weeks to come. These new branches not only reflect our strategic move to mark a stronger presence in the UAE but also demonstrate our commitment to being the customer’s first choice when it comes to money exchange and remittance services.” said Rashed Ali Al Ansari, General Manager, Al Ansari Exchange.

UAE, Dubai :

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) participated in GITEX 2011, with two exhibition stands. The main stand showcased the new customer oriented e-service initiatives undertaken by DEWA while the second booth was located on the e-government stand.

Speaking on GITEX 2011, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer Managing Director & CEO, DEWA said: “At DEWA we are working to regularly develop our services according to the latest international standards to fulfill our customer needs. This is in-line with our strategy and the strategy of Dubai government to achieve ongoing development in the field of customer service. Through our presence this year in GITEX we were able to meet and talk to our customers on the latest e-services available and provide help, advice and direction on the best services to meet their needs.”

HE Al Tayer added: “We are committed to achieving environmental sustainability as well as communicating this to our society. By increasing the number of e-services users, this will not only enable the customers to save their own time and money, but will also help save the environment by way of reducing the carbon dioxide emission into the air as well as decrease the number of people traveling to our customer service centres by vehicle.”

On the last day of GITEX, Engineer Marwan Bin Haider, Vice President - Head of IT Division at DEWA, distributed the prizes to the winning customers who paid their bills electronically during the period between July 2011 till 12 October 2011. The prizes included two Galaxy Tabs, three iPads and three Blackberry Playbooks. DEWA also announced on the first day of GITEX in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai the grand raffle prize of a Lexus ‘green’ car, as encouragement for customers to register to use e-services. Customers qualified to enter the draw will have to pay their full DEWA bills for the months of October, November and December through mPay or the DEWA website.

Furthermore, DEWA also showcased a number of smartphones and devices on its stand in addition to Etisalat e-payment machine, and the e-services through the DEWA website.

Bringing the week to a close, DEWA also announced its latest partnerships by signing an MOU with Etisalat that aims to activate and increase the use of alternative payment channels such as electronic payment machines (Kiosks), IVR service and (IPTV) e-Life service, NFC service. DEWA also signed an MOU with Samsung electronics, to announce the partnership of DEWA bill payment services through a special application that has been developed to be used on Samsung Smart TV. The application provides the customers with the ability to inquire and pay bills, browse DEWA news and events, and to identify more than 200 payment locations by using (Google Maps).

It is worth mentioning that DEWA is reinforcing its cooperation with different ministries, companies, Governmental bodies to offer the best customer service standards and to expand services to reach all segments of society.