du unveils entertainment platform du Live!

Special performances brought to life by du include Africa’s ‘Artist of the Year’ Tamer Hosny, guitar legend Eric Clapton, Tiesto, Atif Aslam, the epically talented Stevie Wonder and popular DJ Tiesto among others, as part of its sponsorship with Flash Events and Chill Out Productions

Whatever your choice in music, now you have a reason to celebrate. With ‘du Live!’ (http://www.du.ae/en/about/events/du-live), du’s new entertainment platform, the best music events and concerts will now be presented in a ‘live’ format throughout the year, including the first-ever World Music Festival, in association with Nokia.

du is also supporting a series of hotly awaited music events and concerts taking place over the next few weeks, which started with legendary guitarist Eric Clapton on February 11, followed by the popular DJ Tiesto on 17 February, and will be followed by 30 Seconds to Mars on 11 March, the epic Stevie Wonder on 18 March, as part of du’s sponsorship with Flash Events and Chill Out Productions.

Amit

du World Music Festival will take place at the Burj Khalifa steps in Downtown Dubai and The Walk in JBR from upto March 25, with performances by top-class artists from around the world such as Tamer Hosny, Mona Amarcha,  Janet Kapuya, Mashrou’ Leila, Amit Chatterjee Alliance, Spongecola, Wust el Balad and many more!

“Music is an important aspect of every culture, and is the common language across all regions and nationalities. It brings a great deal of pleasure and comfort to those that listen to it. For this reason – true to our  philosophy of adding life to life — we are introducing  the theme ‘du Live!’ that will keep music lovers engaged and entertained through our numerous events  — such as our World Music Festival,” commented Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du.

Mashrou’ Leila

As part of the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival 2011, du was also the Official Sponsor for this year’s much-loved du Jazz Garden – which took place from Feb 8 to 15 — featuring British and International bands, in addition to supporting the exciting main Jazz Festival from Feb 16 to 18. The unique venue for these events, located in Dubai Media City, featured two stages, an arts and crafts bazaar, an exclusive VIP area and many other activities.

Rabbi

About the artists performing at the du World Music Festival

Among the talented international music bands coming to perform during du World Music Festival are Mashrou’ Leila, the new sensation from Lebanon attracting audience from all walks of life around the region, Wust El Balad — arguably the best fusion band in Egypt, celebrated Kuwaiti Arabic fusion guitarist  — Kamal Musallam; Pakistani artist Sanam Marvi, Amit Chatterjee Alliance — a well-established US fusion band with strong Indian influence, Black Ghandis, Barcelona based Reggae superstars, Spongecola — the Filipino rock uber-band, Tunisian fusion legend Mounir Troudi accompanied by the highly appraised Lebanese Jazz/Fusion masters the Afif Brothers, India's most commended Blues and Rock ‘n Roll band Soulmate, Mona Amarcha, HFT, Rabbi Shergill, Miyah (Desert Heat), and the Uruguayan Tango diva, Janet Kapuya.

Also performing will be the sensational Tamer Hosny – live in concert, offering fans the chance to enjoy an exciting special performance by the talented star, voted artist of the year at the African Music Awards 2010. Hosny will be performing on March 25 at Burj Park, downtown Burj Khalifa.

Sponge Cola

Proving its commitment to providing the people with the very best in world-class entertainment, du has also supported a number of music events across the UAE. The company was the official telecom partner for Flash Entertainment’s Yasalam After-Race Concerts during the Formula One in Abu Dhabi, which saw performances by some of the biggest international stars, including Linkin Park, Kanye West, Prince, Sean Paul, Kelly Rowland, and Ahmed Al Sherif. du was also the official sponsor for Welsh singing sensation Tom Jones’ first-ever concert in the UAE.

Yogathon spreads awareness about Adopting Healthy Lifestyle

Over 200 Participants Perform 108 Synchronised Rounds of Sun Salutations to Raise Funds for Dubai Autism Center

Fitness First, announced more than 200 enthusiasts participated in the ‘Fitness First Wellness Festival – Yogathon’.

Organised to spread awareness about adopting a healthy lifestyle, the event saw people from all walks of life enthusiastically joining the 108 rounds of sun salutation at the Safa Park.

Participants were also offered free blood glucose level screening under the ‘Beat Diabetes’ programme, a Landmark Group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, along with the campaign’s medical partner Zulekha Hospital. The event was also used as a platform to raise funds for Dubai Autism Centre.

Gary Knill, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Fitness First, MENA, said: “At Fitness First, our continuous endeavour is to reach out to more people and educate them about the significance of adopting a healthy lifestyle. The overwhelming response to this event has encouraged us to offer many more similar platforms in the future and reach out to even more in the community. Fitness First is also privileged to donate the event’s proceeds to the Dubai Autism Centre.”

Type-2 diabetes, which is largely prevalent in the UAE, affects almost 20 per cent of the local population. Through its message ‘Beat Diabetes. Get Active’ Landmark Group seeks to support events that help spread awareness about leading an active, healthy lifestyle.

Bhuvana Acharya, Head of Corporate Communications and CSR, Landmark Group, said: “As a responsible corporate citizen in the region, Landmark Group believes it is imperative to spread awareness on diabetes and lead a healthy lifestyle. ‘Fitness First Wellness Festival - Yogathon’ is yet another step in the direction of persuading more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and combat medical conditions including diabetes.”

Sun salutations are usually done early in the morning facing the sun as sunlight is a major source of vitamin D-producing ultraviolet B radiation that has a wide range of positive health effects. A 10-minute exercise provides a complete workout for mind and body. It also stimulates and conditions virtually every muscle in the body and helps eliminate toxins.

Fitness First conducts a variety of yoga classes such as Hatha Yoga, Dynamic Flow Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Power Yoga and Gentle Flow Yoga to actively raise awareness on healthy living and as part of Fitness First initiatives.

Fitness First Wellness Festival - Yogathon

On Friday, 25 February, wake up early and participate in the Fitness First Wellness Festival – Yogathon, organised in association with Landmark Group’s CSR initiative Beat Diabetes. Get Active.

Regional yoga trainer Peewee Sanchez
to head the Sun Salutation demonstration

Register at Gate No.2 - Safa Park at 7am to absorb the benefits of yoga from regional yoga trainer Peewee Sanchez and 15 other yoga instructors from Fitness First.

In addition to performing 108 continuous routines of the Sun Salutation exercise, participants can avail of the free blood glucose testing conducted by Zulekha Hospitals.

Fitness First and Beat Diabetes get active to host Yogathon

Registrations are open at all Fitness First outlets at a fee of Dhs45 for members and Dhs55 for non-members. Yoga enthusiasts can also register at the venue on Feb 25, prior to the event. Proceeds collected from the registration fees will be donated to the Dubai Autism Centre.

Yogathon Details:

·     Registration at venue: 6.30am – 7.30am

·     GX Demo: 7.30am – 8am

·     Yogathon: 8am - 10am

·     Kids yoga in conjunction with Dubai Autism Centre: 10.30am – 11.15am

Recycle your mobile phone to win an iPad from Jacky’s

Jacky’s Electronics raises awareness on its Eco-exchange campaign via Facebook competition

Jacky’s Electronics, in connection with its Go Green campaign – ‘Eco-Exchange: Recycling that pays’ – is giving away an Apple iPad to one lucky Facebook Fan who will exchange his old mobile phone at any Jacky’s store. The old mobile phone could be in a working or non-working condition.

All Facebook fans of Jacky’s Electronics can enter the competition by taking interesting photos with a Jacky’s customer service executive whenever they exchange their mobile phones for a cash voucher from Dec. 20 to Jan. 19, 2011. Dubbed as ‘Go Green and win an iPad’, all photo entries must be uploaded on Jacky’s fan page – www.facebook.com/jackysuae/ – to get an entry into the draw for the Apple iPad.

“In October, we have enhanced our Go Green programme by launching the ‘Eco-Exchange’, which hopes to help in the proper disposal of electronic products in the country without any harmful environmental effects,” said Ashish Panjabi, Chief Operating Officer, Jacky’s Electronics. “Our partnership with The Green Foundation, a leading organisation specialised in electronics recycling, assures us that all devices including accessories are 100% reused or recycled to the highest industry standards through a strict zero landfill policy.

“This Facebook competition hopes to encourage more consumer awareness for recycling programmes such as this and to encourage recycling of old phones. The fact that you could be the proud owner of an iPad at the same time in addition to a cash voucher which you receive is a bonus for the customer,” he added.

Jacky’s Eco-Exchange scheme accepts up to five mobile phones in a single transaction as well as offers bulk recycling for larger quantities of mobile phones. In addition, customers can trade in their devices in whatever brand or condition. Jacky’s is offering value for non-working mobile phones, and if no value is available, the phones will still be recycled free of charge. 

“As the region’s full service recycling company, we are focused on partnering with leading electronic retailers in the UAE to ensure that all electrical items are recycled to the highest industry standards. With Jacky’s Electronics’ significant fans on Facebook, we are able to promote the recycling of electronic products which are generally being set aside by users,” Dominic Gothard, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, The Green Foundation said.

All registered Facebook users should become a fan of Jacky’s Electronics page and post their photos with a Customer Service Executive every time they exchange their old mobile phones at any Jacky’s outlets in the UAE. For the official competition rules, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/jackysuae/.

RIM unveils BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone in UAE

Research In Motion (RIM) announced the BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone for customers in the United Arab Emirates.

BlackBerry Bold 9780

As the newest addition to the BlackBerry Bold series of smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a compact and stylish smartphone that offers a compelling blend of features, performance and design. It supports 3G networks around the world, includes Wi-Fi and GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging. It comes with a 5MP camera with a full complement of high-end features including continuous auto focus, scene modes, image stabilisation, flash and video recording. The new smartphone also provides 512MB Flash memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32GB of additional storage.

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is the first BlackBerry Bold smartphone to come with the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, which retains the familiar and trusted features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that’s powerful and easy to use. It integrates a new and rich WebKit-based browser that renders HTML web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. The browser offers fluid navigation using the handset's optical trackpad, includes tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously and provides a zoom feature that can intelligently auto-wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page's key elements for easier viewing.

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone will be available from Etisalat, du and leading UAE retailers.

Research In Motion introduces three new BlackBerry smartphones in UAE

 Research in Motion (RIM), the designer and manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones, recently celebrated its exciting new product and service introductions to the UAE, including the arrival of three new BlackBerry smartphones at Prive in the Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa, Dubai.

BlackBerry Pearl 3G: This powerful smartphone is compact, smooth and un-put-downable. It lets you chat in real time, not next time, with BlackBerry Messenger and listen to music for upto 30 hours. There's a flash on the camera, apps and even BlackBerry Maps with GPS in case your best friends are really bad with directions.

BlackBerry Torch 9800: The new BlackBerry Torch 9800 features a full-size touch screen on enhanced media player, 5MP camera with flash and apps to download to your hearts desire. In addition it comes with a combined 8 GB of media storage out-of-the-box and includes a microSD/SDHD memory card slot that can bring the total storage memory to 36 GB for customers that want more.

Blackberry Curve 3G: The new Blackberry Curve 3G smartphone is fully and completely dedicated to helping you master your everyday. It is better for browsing, fast attachment viewing, quicker downloading etc. With 3G you can talk and surf at the same time, so multitasking is even easier. Wi-Fi helps you stay connected wherever you are. And with built-in-GPS, wherever is remarkably easy to find. In fact, navigating with GPS is almost as effortless as navigating the BlackBerry curve 3G with touch-sensitive optical trackpad.

RIM Unleashes BlackBerry 6

Research In Motion (RIM) recently announced BlackBerry® 6, a new operating system for BlackBerry® smartphones that retains the trusted connectivity features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that is both powerful and easy to use. BlackBerry 6 features a redesigned interface that seamlessly works with a touch screen and trackpad, expanded messaging capabilities that simplify managing social media and RSS feeds, an advanced multimedia experience that rivals the best in the industry, a convenient new Universal Search tool, and a new and efficient WebKit-based browser that renders web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience.

“BlackBerry 6 is the outcome of RIM’s ongoing passion to deliver a powerful, simplified and optimised user experience for both touch screen and keyboard fans,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-ceo, Research In Motion.  “Following extensive research and development to address consumer needs and wants, we are delivering a communications, browsing and multimedia experience that we think users will love, and we are thrilled to debut BlackBerry 6 on the amazing new BlackBerry Torch smartphone.”

Visual, Fluid Interface
BlackBerry 6 has been redesigned making it easier and more intuitive, with clean, sleek visuals and natural, fluid navigation. Designed to be both fresh and familiar, the new interface enables a productive, fun and highly satisfying user experience whether using a touch screen or trackpad and keyboard.

Fast Rich Web Browsing
BlackBerry 6 integrates a new and efficient WebKit-based browser that renders web pages (as well as email) quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. It features tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously, a double-tap to zoom feature that can intelligently wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page's key elements, and pinch to zoom.

Social Feeds and Text Messaging
The new Social Feeds application simplifies the management of social networking and RSS feeds and provides integrated access to the native BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), Facebook®, Twitter™, MySpace™, AOL® Instant Messenger™, Google Talk™, Windows Live™ Messenger and Yahoo!® Messenger applications for BlackBerry smartphones. Social Feeds streamlines the user experience, provides an integrated view of friends’ activities across multiple social networks, and let's users post updates across multiple networks simultaneously. Users can also easily add their favorite RSS Feeds from the Social Feeds application or directly from a website while browsing.

Engaging Multimedia Experience

The multimedia experience in BlackBerry 6 is designed to give users a more engaging and streamlined experience with album art everywhere in the new music and video players. The new BlackBerry® Desktop Software 6 integrates media sync for easily syncing photos and videos as well as iTunes® and Windows Media® Player music with the smartphone*.

Compatibility with Existing BlackBerry Smartphones
BlackBerry 6 will debut on the new BlackBerry® Torch™ smartphone (announced recently) available from AT&T on August 12 and it is also designed to run on select BlackBerry smartphones already in market. Subject to carrier certifications in the months ahead, the new OS is expected to be available for the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9700, BlackBerry® Bold™ 9650 and BlackBerry® Pearl™ 3G, as well as future BlackBerry smartphones.