Tag Archives: technology
Heavy rain lashes UAE, motorists warned
Heavy rain lashes UAE, motorists warned 9 February 2014 Residents and motorists have been warned to be attentive and cautious as weather conditions may cause a drop in visibility and roads may become slippery. Rain lashed various parts of the country on Sunday morning. Residents and motorists have been warned to be attentive and cautious as weather conditions may cause a drop in visibility and roads may become slippery. Dubai and parts of the UAE have experienced a slightly unstable weather. The weather became cloudy in certain areas accompanied by light to moderate showers, with a fall in temperature. According to the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology , the weather will be partly cloudy on Monday as well with an increase in the cloud amount in the northern and the eastern areas with chances of rain in the morning. Motorists driving on the roads should also be warned as a probability of a fog has also been predicted. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Phenomenal Phinney clinches Dubai Tour victory
Phenomenal Phinney clinches Dubai Tour victory Alex Leach / 9 February 2014 Kittel claims final stage as American cyclist Taylor clinches Dubai Tour. Taylor Phinney of the BMC Racing Team poses with the trophy after claiming the overall honours at the end of the four-day inaugural Dubai Tour on Saturday. — KT photo by Rahul Gajjar Taylor Phinney came away with the blue and white jerseys of the inaugural Dubai Tour on Saturday here having prevailed outright in the general and young riders’ classifications respectively. The American won Thursday’s time trial, which effectively meant he would be assured of both of his eventual prizes if he finished the subsequent three races among the first peloton to cross the finish line. That is exactly what he did too to deny the likes of Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark/Garmin Sharp), his team-mate Steven Cummings (Great Britain/BMC Racing) and Tony Martin (Germany/Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) in the main competition. Marcel Kittel (Germany/Giant-Shimano) claimed the red jersey in the points’ classification after his three stage successes, whereas Willem Jakobus Smit (South Africa/Vini Fantini-Nippo-De Rosa) took home the honours in the intermediate sprints. “I’m super honoured,” Phinney said. “I definitely owe this victory to the team, the MC and Andy Rihs for believing in me and this is a great start of the season for us at BMC (Racing). “I couldn’t be happier than to come here, win the first (time trial) stage and then have such great teamwork in stages two, three and four to cap off a great couple of days. I’m very happy to be the first winner. It’s a cool feeling.” Phinney’s triumph this early in the season also sets him and the rest of BMC Racing team up nicely for the rest of the year – one which could prove quite fruitful on this evidence. “I’ve come into the season for the last three years and always had some sort of issue – a knee injury or an illness – that didn’t allow me to be at my best,” he added. “This is the first year that I’m coming in and I’m really not playing catch-up at all, so it’s great to see that I can come in early season and win some races before the races that are really big. “It has been a stressful last couple of days, but it’s been a really good preparation for me going forward. “I couldn’t be happier to have won this race here. It’s definitely something that I thought I could do back when they released the profiles and the stages, so to come here and actually do it is a great feeling. I’m definitely relieved at the moment too. “Until now, I don’t think this team has entirely delivered the results we’re capable of, so this is a great start to the year and hopefully it can be the year that we really are able to thank Andy (Rihs) to the fullest.” alex@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Emirates Post launches e-PO Box service
Emirates Post launches e-PO Box service Staff Reporter / 5 February 2014 Users can now see the envelopes of incoming mails lying in their post boxes on their mobile phones. Emirates Post’s PO Box users can now see the envelopes of incoming mails lying in their post boxes on their mobile phones, thanks to a new mobile service launched by the company. The e-PO Box service, which allows users to see which all mails have arrived before physically visiting their post boxes, is available on mobile devices from February 3, said Ibrahim bin Karam, chief commercial officer, Emirates Post Group (EPG). “If your post box is in Karama post office and you need to know if at all any mails have landed or if there is any important mail that you need to collect urgently, you can check it on your mobile before visiting the post office,” he told Khaleej Times . All the envelopes are generally scanned by the mail-sorting machines. These scanned images are now supplied to the users, he explained. Other e-services made available on mobile devices include track and trace; location maps for post offices; submitting customer enquiries, complaints and suggestions; complaint tracking and rate calculator. Bin Karam said in a press statement that the project is inspired by the UAE government’s Smart Government initiative, as mobile phone penetration in the UAE is among the highest in the world. The next phase of the m-Services project will see Emirates Post venturing into e-commerce by the last quarter of this year. “We see immense potential for e-commerce as Emirates Post Group boasts a world-class mailing and delivery system,” said Bin Karam. Under the e-commerce venture, he said, the company is introducing a new concept of e-greeting, in which an online greeting card will be converted into a physical card and delivered by mail to the recipient. This service will allow users to select and customise e-greeting cards, which will then be printed by Emirates Post and delivered. Such cards can be delivered locally and internationally. Another service, e-stamps, will enable people to place orders for UAE stamps from any part of the world, and have them delivered to their doorstep after making payment online using credit cards. This service is expected to attract the interest of stamp collectors in a big way. Additionally, Bin Karam said a selected range of electronic products, flowers and other items would be listed on the website, and customers will be able to order them online and have them delivered through the postal and courier network of Emirates Post Group. “We are currently short-listing suppliers for the e-commerce project. We will keep adding new categories to the catalogue as time goes by and expand the product range, depending on demand,” he added. Emirates Post’s foray into Smart Government services is in keeping with the rapid increase in users of mobile devices and smart phones in the UAE. The m-Services are also offered in line with the government’s Smart City project in Dubai. According to figures released by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) in December 2013, mobile-phone penetration in the UAE stood at 181 per cent and smart phone penetration was 73.8 per cent, the highest in the world. sajila@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
