The Macworld show opened in the US yesterday, and despite the absence of Apple’s Steve Jobs, the opening keynote seemed to pass without a hitch.

As expected there were only a couple of major announcements, and minor upgrades to the upgrades to iWork and iLife applications, and the big news was not particularly geared towards Apple hardware junkies, but its interesting nonetheless.

Firstly was a new Macbook, which claims to be the thinnest and lightest 17 inch laptop available, and also packs a pretty fat battery - which Apple says will give 7-8 hours of operation.

The issue with this new Macbook is that the battery is built in, and, like the iPhone and Macbook Air, won’t be user replaceable. While I haven’t noticed too many people carrying spare batteries for laptops these days, the scramble for power outlets in airport lounges and meeting rooms to get that quick top-up seems more popular, but having the option to swap batteries is always useful. Apple claims that battery will have a five year life span, but in my experience virtuall y all devices have battery issues within 2 years top. Still, its more service revenue for Apple Stores to replace batteries…

The other big announcement, and this is possibly the most significant, is the decision to make music available through the iTunes store free of Digital Rights Management software. Tracks will be more expensive, but users will be able to share them across all of their devices without Apple’s usual fussy controls. Not only that, but Apple has the backing of three major record lables - Universal, Sony BMG, and Warner - and will make 8 million tracks available DRM-free.

The battle over DRM controls spread into the PC gaming last year, with controversy over the game Spore and what many saw as restrictive controls, having a negative impact on sales. The game’s publisher eventually put out a DRM-free version, such was the opposition to it.

There’s no doubt that Apple is facing increased competition in the downloadable media market, but as this market expands into movies, TV and other media, its good to see that one of the market leaders is finally taking a more user-friendly approach to downloads.

As ever, the usual caveat applies - iTunes store isn’t available in most of the Middle East.

(and commiserations to Alex Lee of Dubai who apparently went all the way to San Francisco on the off chance that Jobs might put in an appearance).

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It’s traditional at end of year for those journalists who haven’t escaped away for the holidays to write stories looking back on the year just gone, and making predictions for the year ahead. And who am I to break with tradition - so here it is, my round-up of the top stories for the region and the world of IT in 2008.

1. Abu Dhabi buys up AMD (well, most of AMD).

In a move that caught most of the tech market completely by surprise, the Abu Dhabi government built on its 2007 investment in AMD by buying up the company’s chip manufacturing business completely. The new technology investment company will own around half of a new joint venture that will focus on processor manufacturing, while the Mubadala investment fund doubled its stake in AMD stock.

2. Yahoo! turns down Microsoft.

A story that’s most likely already being taught in business schools as a lesson in bad timing and belligerence, Yahoo! turned down a $46.6 billion offer from Microsoft, only to see its market cap sink to $16.6 billion by year end. I bet Jerry Yang hears those numbers in his sleep.

3. Cable breaks turn off the internet.

Undersea cable breaks brought internet connections to a standstill for most of the Middle East and India. I’d still like to know exactly how four cables all got damaged at once, and why, even though operators and cable companies spent the rest of 2008 telling us that they were investing to make sure that it could not happen again,  did it all happen again, ten months later?

4. Card fraud sweeps the Gulf.

Banks across the Gulf, but mainly in the UAE, forced every single customer to change their PIN after a massive outbreak of card fraud. The UAE central bank kept quiet about how such an attack happened, but most of the industry knows that an unnamed (and unpunished) bank in the UAE made a major cock-up and had its systems compromised. Another ‘win’ for the bankers in a year in which their greed brought world financial systems crashing down.

5. Apple launches the iPhone 3G.

Despite the best efforts of many other handset manufacturers  Apple’s iPhone 3G still sets the bar for smartphones and sheer ‘must-have’ factor. Most of the Gulf is still waiting to get an official release however, and it seems that you can’t have GPS on your iPhone in Egypt.

6. Netbooks everywhere

Small, cheap computers ruled the roost in consumer hardware this year, with just about every vendor launching products into this new market. Netbooks have been such a success that some vendors are believed to be discussing having them listed as a separate category of the hardware market with analyst companies like Gartner and IDC. While Intel’s Atom processor lies at the heart of the machine, there are netbooks available with a wide variety of specifications, including a supposedly sub-$100 model.

7. Gulf telecom operators expand everywhere.

In another sector that saw too much action to mention every deal, Gulf telecom operators racked up the airmiles in the race to buy up new licences in the Gulf, the wider Middle East, Africa and just about anywhere they could find them for sale. Presumably using the profits they’ve made from their ridiculously expensive internet charges.

8. The Gulf gets a taste for Supercomputing.

While the oil companies may have been sitting on some big iron for a while, supercomputing in the region looks set to take off, with IBM signing a deal to provide Saudi’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) with a supercomputer that should rank in the world’s top ten when its switched on. The computer will be used primarily for research into supercomputing, and the university hopes to attract world-class scientists and engineers. IBM also partnered up with Intel in the UAE for more commercial supercomputing research.

9. Bill Gates steps down at Microsoft.

Regardless of how you feel about his company, there are few people that have been as influential in the IT industry as Bill Gates. Gates stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft in June this year, and while he might be a bit disappointed that no-one seems to want Vista, his legacy in the software industry will live on. Gates was also one of the CEO’s who has paid a fair bit of attention to the region, visiting several times during his tenure at Microsoft.

10. Cisco spends big in the Middle East.

The start of the year saw another familiar CEO, Cisco’s John Chambers, back in the region and going on something of a spending spree. Chamber’s visit saw Cisco announcing new investments and projects in Palestine, Qatar, and a $1.5 billion package for the UAE. Given the economic climate, I can’t help but wonder if they are actually going to spend that money though…

That’s enough for one year, there will be more bad tempered rantings from me in 2009, so it only remains for me to wish you all a Happy New Year!

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Could the advert for Mobinil’s Apple iPhone package, currently being shown on Showtime, be the same advert that’s been banned in the UK for giving a false impression about the speed of service?

Well, yes, just about. While there’s different localized versions of the advert for different countries and operators, the Mobinil ad mixes together the same elements with an Arabic voiceover - an iPhone is seen being used for a range of tasks including email, surfing the web, checking maps and taking calls, all in rapid succession.

UK advertising authorities said that the advert was misleading, and banned it from being shown in its present form, after 17 complaints that it made the iPhone’s 3G performance look much faster than is possible.

Given the quality of advertising in the Middle East, I don’t suppose that the ad will get banned here anytime soon, but it might be interesting to see if Mobinil’s new 3G network could outpace the Uk’s creaking legacy infrastructure.

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AMD has no intention of trying to compete with Intel in the netbook segment, according to this story from Information Week.

The processor company has said that its new Yukon platform is intended for ultra-portables, rather than the smaller netbook form factor, and that for now, it’s not getting into the netbook sector.

I’m not sure that it’s a good move for AMD. The difference between ultra-portables and netbooks is small, and definitions change, but broadly ultra-portables have screens of between 11-13 inches and a full-size keyboard, while netbooks are generally 10 inch screens or less. That might not sound like a lot of difference, and consumers might not be able to tell the difference, but the market is still evolving, and I think that AMD shouldn’t be too hasty to distance themselves from the segment.

For one thing, the netbook sector is showing phenomenal growth. Gartner predicts that over 5.2 million netbooks will ship this year, rising to 8 million next. In a slowing market, netbooks have been the hardware success story of the year so far.

The netbook form factor is also still finding its market. While Gartner says that around 70% of netbook sales will be to consumers, the original idea of small, cheap, portable computers that would suit younger users, or second-PC owners, the netbook sector has changed up a gear, and rapidly attracted attention from business users, who like its compactness. In particular, the ‘pocket-sized’ netbook is more attractive than a ‘full size’ ultra-portable for business travellers.

The players in the netbook sector have also expanded, from the initial wave of cheaper consumer devices from Chinese and Taiwanese brands, the form factor has now attracted the big name vendors. Support from HP, Dell or Lenovo will drive sales of netbooks to more users across different sectors.

And with no AMD competition, if the big vendors wants to do netbooks, then they are going to be doing them with Intel’s Atom processor. AMD should think twice before shutting the door on a sector that hasn’t yet shown its true potential.

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After a lot of rumours suggesting that AMD would sell off its expensive chip fabrication plants, sure enough, they did - but in not many pundits had predicted the manner of the sell off, or that it would involve quite such a big investment from Abu Dhabi.

The deal has been well received by analysts though, and by Wall Street, with AMD stock up 18% on the announcement. AMD has proven in the past that it can steal a march on technology versus Intel, so freeing itself of the expensive plant will allow it to focus its efforts on catching up to Intel in design terms.

The really interesting bit of the deal though, is the new owners of the fabrication facilities - namely the AMD-Abu Dhabi Government joint venture ‘The Foundry Company’.

The state of New York will get a shiny new fab - but will Abu Dhabi?

Continue reading … ‘A fab in Abu Dhabi?’

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