Two airlines from the Middle East are coming to the rescue of fliers that have been effected by President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning the use of tablets and laptops on flights to the United States.
Both Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways launched new electronics loaner programs for passengers this week, giving customers the option to rent an iPad while their own device is safely stored inside checked baggage.
The lifting of sanctions on Iran could turn into a gold mine for American companies, and Apple is set to be one of the first through the gates as the country plans to lift is ban on iPhone sales.
Former Apple CEO John Sculley has launched a new lineup of budget smartphones in the Middle East — although he admits Steve Jobs would like not be enamoured with them.
“Steve being Steve would say, you can do alot better,” he told Gulf Business.
The range includes various animal-themed devices, including the Octopus S520, the Falcon S451, Hornbill S551, Wolverine S501, and Obi F240. They are being launched by India’s Obi Mobile, a budget smartphone brand, which John Sculley co-founded.
Apple doesn’t have an official retail presence in the Middle East… yet. Recent job listings spotted by ifoAppleStore indicate that the company is looking to open at least one store in the United Arab Emirates by next year.
When the iPhone 4 launched in the Middle East — specifically in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar — it did so without support for FaceTime. Needless to say, this prompted some speculation. Why would Apple have dropped theFaceTime capability only from Middle Eastern iPhone 4? Was it a carrier restriction… or was Apple trying to sidestep Middle Eastern governments getting interested in regulating the new video chat standard?
It now seems like the real explanation probably has more to do with carrier restrictions than anything else. According to iRamadah, FaceTime works in the Middle East on the new iPod Touches, despite the fact that even on the iPhone 4, FaceTime is a WiFi-only standard. Seems at this point more likely that the carriers kicked for whatever reason than anything to do with Big Brother.
