05/08, 3:55pm
Argentina, Brazil among major launch regions
Apple is bringing the third-generation iPad to 30 more countries this weekend, the company has announced. The bulk of launches will happen on May 11th; for that day the list includes Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Curacao, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malta, Martinique, Mauritius, Morocco, Peru, Taiwan, Tunisia, and Vietnam. Several Middle Eastern countries will get the tablet on May 12th, those being Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
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12/16, 11:45am
Brazil, Russia, South Africa among major regions
The iPhone 4S is now available in over 20 more countries, checks show. A list includes Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The expansion coincides with expansions of the iTunes Store and iTunes Match.
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09/19, 10:25am
Reduces dependence on resellers
Apple has expanded the reach of its online store to four more countries. Of the group, all but one are European, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The sole exception is the United Arab Emirates. For each country, welcome graphics have been edited to reflect colors of the national flag.
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06/10, 11:00am
LTE version generally considered unlikely
A United Arab Emirates carrier, Etisalat, is claiming that the iPhone 5 will be shipping later this year, according to Gulf News. "We are in talks with most smartphone manufacturers including Apple on the rollout of the 4G handset, iPhone 5 later this year," says the carrier's chief corporate communications officer, Ali Al Ahmad. "As the first telecom organisation to roll out the 4G network, LTE, in the Middle East, we have already started talking to them for the handsets and chipsets in them."
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03/10, 11:00am
Region mostly devoid of full-scale Apple Stores
The first Apple Shop in the United Arab Emirates will open at 5PM on March 16th, Virgin has confirmed. In particular, the shop will actually be located within the Virgin Megastore at the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. An Apple Shop is notably distinct from an Apple Store; instead of a full-scale operation, a Shop is simply a dedicated Apple section within a third-party outlet.
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01/28, 12:00pm
Top-end UAE option costs in excess of $1,000
The iPad is now officially available in the United Arab Emirates, Apple has announced. As the region lacks online or retail Apple Stores, the main way of buying the tablet is through an authorized reseller. One vendor, iStyle, is selling Wi-Fi models at prices running from 2,199 AED (about $599) for 16GB through to 3,099 AED ($844) for 64GB. The cost of a 3G iPad scales from 2,799 AED ($762) on up to 3,699 AED ($1,007), imposing a high premium versus the US, where the most expensive iPad is still only $829.
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09/24, 6:10pm
Apple blamed for preemptive action
Apple allegedly holds sole responsibility for restricting FaceTime access in countries throughout the Middle East. An unnamed source has told The Next Web that Apple preemptively omitted the feature, unbeknownst to the regional carriers. The company reportedly believed the technology would face roadblocks with local VoIP regulations.
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07/26, 8:30pm
Government cautious of using RIM's networks
The United Arab Emirates is currently mulling the possibility of restricting or monitoring BlackBerry handsets. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority reportedly informed the government that the devices fall outside the jurisdiction of local laws related to mobile phones.
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04/28, 4:05pm
Shufflegazine grows in UAE
In the UAE a new, Apple-based magazine called Shufflegazine has launched at a time when many magazines are closing down. Omran al Owais, the founder and creative director of Centimetercube, based in Dubai, believes that Apple is a product that is recession-proof, and that Apple coverage will generate enough interest to allow the magazine to survive and hopefully grow.
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02/23, 12:05pm
Saudi, UAE iPhones
The Saudi Arabian version of the iPhone is doing unusually well, claims a local newspaper. The phone went on sale Sunday through some 500 Mobily outlets, and is said to have already accumulated over 25,000 subscribers, in spite of the relative poverty of most of the country and a lack of Arabic support in text messaging or the web browser. The region does have considerable oil wealth however, and the Saudi Gazette cites a Mobily spokesman as saying Arabic support is due within three months.
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