Today in a world beeping with joy and redemption:
Nabil Alyousuf, a former right-hand man to Sheikh Mohamed of Dubai, is now working on one of the Middle East's
newest, and most interesting, hybrid venture fund / business incubators
. One new company will act like a VC, but connect entrepreneurs directly with investors - a model designed to appeal to Gulf investors who want a closer connection to the business they are buying into. The advisory / support / incubation side will be handled by a sister company. All in all, a
.
Forget smartphones. I want a smart toaster, and Abu Dhabi's Masdar City is
. And speaking of smartphones, Gulf News reports that
Etisalat is having more BlackBerry issues
.
The UAE's first phone powered by Google's Android operating system will be launched on Wednesday, according to a press release sent out yesterday. Etisalat will partner with HTC to release the HTC Magic handset,
which has been getting pretty solid reviews
. I'm getting pretty bored with my iPhone, could this be the one to switch to?
The keynote speaker at Gitex this year will be
the head of Microsoft's OEM division, Steven Guggenheimer
, who will be talking up the launch of Windows 7 (due to happen a couple of weeks after Gitex.)
Fear it!
Nanotechnology is coming to Abu Dhabi, Khaleej Times reports
. Neopharma, a local pharmaceutical company, will use tiny tech to manufacture, among other things, "
nutraceuticals," defined as "nanotechnology-based food supplements. Hail to our new shape-shifting nano-overlords.
