Slouched on the sofa wearing space-age specs and watching a 55-inch Samsung smart TV, I concentrated on a colourful, animated chameleon trying his best not to act like a fool.
Q&A:Melding of television and Wi-Fi the wave of the future
What is a smart TV? Smart TVs integrate internet features and those of a television, offering the types of applications you would see on a smartphone or tablet computer. These TVs also now tend to have 3D capacity.
Do the TVs only come in 3D? No, the TVs can flick between 2D and a 3D picture.
Is Wi-Fi usually built in or do you have to pay extra?The TVs are usually Wi-Fi-enabled to connect to an existing Wi-Fi network, in the same way a smartphone can.
Where is the Samsung Series 7 available?Samsung has stand-alone stores in the UAE and also sells through most of the major electronics retailers. Eros Electricals is the brand's local distributor in the UAE.
Are smart TVs popular in the Middle East?In the three months after the Samsung smart TV was launched, the brand sold 170,000 units across the region. The company claims to hold 45 per cent of the market.
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And when Rango eventually beat the bad guy, got the girl and won the day, it was I who felt somewhat sheepish at having lost nearly two hours of my life in front of a kid's film, while wearing ridiculous 3D glasses.
Not to worry though, the experience was not about a well-constructed plot or looking cool; it was about sitting in my pyjamas to understand a smart TV set.
The colour, quality, look and feel of this sleek TV were a long way from the box we had in the family room when I was a child. That TV was akin to a small car with 1980s wood panelling, and I am pretty sure my dad had to knock through the side of the house just to throw it out.
No, this Samsung smart TV is different. It is the future, because it can do almost everything a computer can, while transporting you to the heart of the action during a 3D film. The TV connects to your home Wi-Fi network and away it goes. You can giggle at YouTube clips in wide-screen, log on to Facebook, check the weather or upload photos to see your beautiful mug in life size.
Then there is watching sport, which is taken to a whole new league when the high-definition shows up such fine detail as individual blades of grass.
Even when your team loses, you put your pain aside to acknowledge that sport is ultimately the winner here.
But winning does not come cheap, as Manchester City football club will attest.
The Samsung Series 7 normally sells for about Dh12,999 (US$3,538). Unfortunately, it could also be extinct if a manufacturer manages to create a 3D TV with no glasses needed, which many brands are looking to do. But there are no guarantees that such a TV will eventually be available, and anyway the Series 7 is just so versatile.
Top 5: 3D TVs.
1 Samsung 8000 58-inch HDTVUS$2,300.
2 Sony Bravia 55-inch LED-backlit $2,000.
3 Vizio 65-inch XVT3D650SV $3,400.
4 LG Infinia 47-inch LX9500 $2,500.
5 Mitsubishi WD-60738 $1,100.
Source: PCMAG.com
If you were really stuck for talking points at a dinner party, you might even describe it as the TV equivalent of a particularly adaptable chameleon.
The Quote: "If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace." John Lennon
rjones@thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S24%20ULTRA
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The National selections
Al Ain
5pm: Bolereau
5.30pm: Rich And Famous
6pm: Duc De Faust
6.30pm: Al Thoura
7pm: AF Arrab
7.30pm: Al Jazi
8pm: Futoon
Jebel Ali
1.45pm: AF Kal Noor
2.15pm: Galaxy Road
2.45pm: Dark Thunder
3.15pm: Inverleigh
3.45pm: Bawaasil
4.15pm: Initial
4.45pm: Tafaakhor
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
Schedule
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GROUPS AND FIXTURES
Group A
UAE, Italy, Japan, Spain
Group B
Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Russia
Tuesday
4.15pm: Italy v Japan
5.30pm: Spain v UAE
6.45pm: Egypt v Russia
8pm: Iran v Mexico
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Company%20profile
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
