Apple fans plan Steve Jobs tribute in Dubai

A tribute to Steve Jobs, who was described by President Obama as one of "the greatest of American innovators", will be held this evening in Dubai.

The UAE this morning awoke to the news that the great technology innovator has died, prompting an outpouring of emotional responses to the man who brought the world the Apple Mac, iPad and iPhone.

The social networking site Twitter briefly broke down earlier under the weight of tributes to Mr Jobs. News of his death is the main trending topic in the UAE and worldwide.

An event to commemorate Mr Jobs, who died after a long battle with cancer, will be held at 6pm this evening, according to one Dubai resident.

"We're doing an event to commemorate him," said Prashant 'PK' Gulati, a Dubai-based technology investor.

Mr Gulati said the tribute will be held at The Shelter at 6pm this evening, organised by local Apple enthusiasts.

He paid tribute to Mr Jobs.

"Everybody's sad," said Mr Gulati. "There's no doubt about it that it's a great loss."

Bringing good design to the masses was one of Mr Jobs' most notable successes, added Mr Gulati.

"The biggest thing he did was that he made design cool," he said.

Mr Jobs inevitably attracted critics during his business career, with accusations that Apple wielded too much control over its iTunes and mobile-applications stores. Mr Gulati said that such control was integral to Apple's success.

"In the end, everyone understood that to have an experience that everyone loved, you need to control it," said Mr Gulati.

Amid a flood of tributes to Mr Jobs, President Obama said in a statement that the Apple innovator was one of "the greatest of American innovators", according to press reports.