Chinese electronic toymaker (pictured: VTech Tote ‘n Go Laptop) VTech, has been hacked, revealing the information of 5 million customers. The database of the company’s Learning Lodge app store, which allows customers to download apps, e-books and learning games, was breached on November 14 HKT (Hong Kong Time). The hack was discovered on November 24 and customers were notified on November 27. The customer database holds a […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Masdar announced the start of the operational stage of its pilot programme in Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, which will see 1,500 m3/day of potable water produced over the next 15 months using four unique technologies that demonstrate commercially-viable and energy efficient solutions for renewable-powered desalination. After launching the programme in 2013, Masdar partnered with four global industry leaders – Abengoa, Suez, Sidem (Veolia) and […]
Samsung [made] history of a sort by launching the first major consumer-oriented virtual-reality headset. (It comes with an asterisk; prototypes and other not-quite-mass-market versions have been available for a while.) And its Gear VR headset is pretty impressive as first-generation devices go. The biggest surprise after using the new Gear VR for a few days: There’s a lot of stuff to watch and play in the virtual […]
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. is the latest known hotel target of cyber attackers. The company on Friday announced that hackers had injected malware into point of sale systems at some of its hotels in North America. That malware ultimately made it possible for unauthorized parties to tap into the payment card data of some hotel guests. Starwood, which operates brands including Four Points by Sheraton, […]
|By Arabian Staff| Loan defaults and business owners fleeing the country leaving behind huge debts are becoming a routine affair in Dubai and other parts of the UAE, observers point out. According to EmiratesNBD, an increasing number of SME owners are being forced to flee and somewhat draws a parallel with the situation in the aftermath of the 2009 financial crisis. The problems of a slowing economy […]
Building on a connected-car technology it first introduced in 2007, Ford today launched an app that will let users remotely lock, unlock, start or locate their vehicles using their smartphones (pictured). The new Sync Connect feature will even allow car owners to, for example, schedule their vehicles to start up at 7:50 a.m. so the interiors are warm and comfortable when they get in to drive to […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai’s external debt continues to be at tight spreads, given still high leverage and refinancing challenges but this is somewhat offset by certain positive aspects, a Bank of America-Merrill Lynch research report said. The positives include still solid local bid on the shorter end of the curve and its low-beta defensive status within an emerging markets context. The Iran nuclear deal is another […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| A scenario of continued fall in oil prices, OPEC oil export revenue could fall by a quarter despite the higher output, according to International Energy Agency outlook for oil. In the Low Oil Price Scenario, the Middle East’s share in the oil market ends up higher than at any time in the last forty years, it says. According to IEA, lower prices are […]
|Arabian Post Special| The US Administration has commended the UAE Central Bank and the Government for taking prompt action against a Dubai-based money exchange for supporting a money laundering racket run by a syndicate led by Pakistani national Altaf Khanani. The Anti-Money Laundering Unit of Dubai Police worked closely with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to unearth the racket. The US Department of Treasury’s Office of […]
A security researcher who uncovered a high-risk exploit in Chrome for Android has received more recognition this week after demonstrating how the vulnerability works at a security conference in Tokyo. Late last year, Guang Gong, a researcher at 360 Total Security, uncovered a vulnerability that could be used by hackers to gain system server privileges on Android devices. Yesterday during the PacSec conference in Japan, Gong demonstrated […]
|By TAP Staff|An Emirati researcher has revealed the possibility of linking the rivers of Pakistan (rivers Dasht and Indus) to the UAE through undersea pipelines. The proposal is intended to support the world’s efforts in the face of climate change by helping to reduce the rise of sea levels and to fight desertification. Abdullah Al-Shehhi says, “The Pakistani river of Dasht is the closest river to the […]
|By TAP Staff| Air Arabia results have disappointed market consensus, due to lower margins, but analysts see the airline continuing to focus on expansions in the future. According to Mubasher Trade (MTRe) analysts, despite the disappointing Q3 2015 results, they maintain BUY/MODERATE RISK rating for the company with a price target of AED2.06/share and expected total return of +62%. Revenues increased by 6% YoY to AED1.12 billion […]
San Francisco-based mobile security company Lookout said it has uncovered a new threat to the Android operating system in the form of malware that disguises itself as a variety of well-known apps — but that actually exposes devices to root attacks and is virtually impossible to remove. The new malware has been found in software available from third-party app stores. The malware program insinuates itself in legitimate […]
|By Matein Khalid| I was in a pensive-philosophic mood last week as I decompressed from a trip to a hauntingly beautiful post Soviet country in the Caucasus, the land that produced Koba from Gori and Prince Pyotr Bagration, the fallen hero of Tsar Alexander’s imperial guard at Borodino. Yet Georgia gave me time and perspective to think about the financial firestorms on Wall Street, Marounuchi, the Gulf […]
|By TAP Staff| Dutch bank ABN Amro said it has paid fines to regulators in the Netherlands and Dubai over “serious shortcomings” in vetting clients and managing risk at its private banking operations. The statement comes a week ahead of the bank’s proposed IPO. The Dubai investigation had put a shadow over the bank, which naturally had a bearing on the forthcoming IPO. ABN said on Wednesday […]
AUCKLAND, New Zealand The next revolution in space, making humdrum what was long the special preserve of tax-funded giants like NASA, will be launching next year from a paddock in New Zealand’s remote South Island. The rocket launch range is not just New Zealand’s first of any kind, but also the world’s first private launch range, and the rocket, designed by Rocket Lab, one of a growing […]
The price range for mobile payments company Square Inc’s initial public offering will be set this week and its shares will start trading in the week before Thanksgiving, CNBC said in a tweet on Monday, citing sources. The company, headed by Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, filed for an IPO on Oct. 14. Square’s roadshow, which will likely take Dorsey across the globe to drum […]
|By Matein Khalid| Saudi Arabia has fascinated me since I first met Hani AZ Yamani as a teenage student all those years ago at Wharton. Hani’s father was Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, legendary Saudi Oil Minister (1962-86) under Kings Faisal, Khalid and Fahd. Sheikh Yamani managed the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks, survived a terrorist assault in Vienna by Carlos the Jackal, midwifed the birth of Saudi […]
|By TAP Staff| Union National Bank reported third-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates as impairment charges rose and fee and trading income declined. Net income fell 12 percent to 480.6 million dirhams ($131 million), the Abu Dhabi-based bank said in a statement to the stock exchange on Sunday. Impairment charges jumped 57 percent to 199.8 million dirhams. Fee and commission income dropped 16 percent and the lender […]
|By TAP Staff| According to an assessment of the post-sanctions situation for Iranians to invest in Dubai’s real estate, Dubai homes are 4.4 times more expensive compared to five years ago. “This is simply a matter of economics,” Jesse Downs, managing director of Phidar Advisor, was quoted as saying. The rial will take time to appreciate and until that happens, Dubai property will be very expensive for […]
The world is awash in crude, but big oil companies are lining up to develop new fields in Iran even as they slash spending and abandon exploration elsewhere. One thing explains this paradox: cost. The Middle Eastern country is one of the cheapest places in the world to tap new oil fields and pump from existing wells. The slump in crude prices makes Iran even more attractive […]
Singapore Air’s decision to restart direct flights to New York is an ominous sign for the future of aviation hubs like Dubai. Singapore, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Dubai became hubs from the 1970s to the 2000s for a simple reason: Commercial aircraft of the era struggled to travel more than about 10,000 kilometers without stopping to refuel. That put swathes of the Americas off-limits to direct […]
|By TAP Staff| Investors are expressing growing skepticism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates this year amid fragility in the global economy and earnings, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for October. Fewer than half (47 percent) of investors believe the Fed will raise rates in 2015, down from 58 percent in September. A net 19 percent of the panel says […]
| By Yaroslav Trofimov| Despised by some, admired by others, the U.S. has been the Middle East’s principal power for decades, providing its allies with guidance and protection. Now, however, with Russia and Iran thrusting themselves boldly into the region’s affairs, that special role seems to be melting away. As seasoned politicians and diplomats survey the mayhem, they struggle to recall a moment when America counted for […]
