3rd March 2011 - Cebit

Again, woke up, breakfast, cebit... etc etc.

COLD! etc etc.

Enjoy the pictures.


I tried 3 out of the 5 jams today, tomorrow i'll try the rest.

Frost from last night

This is BIG! WIRELESS POWER!!! Fujistu displayed a wireless monitor that isn't even connected to a power plug. How is it working? wireless power... the future is closer than we might think.

Panasonic's 3D technology showcased

Decorative aluminum/steel bars that have LED lights come out from behind.

Another color, another mood.

The Ford Focus replaced the TV/Monitor thingie and replaced it with an ipad machine. I think this will be more popular with other car makers as well. imagine, the customization possibilities!!!

Geeks playing World Of Warcraft

More MSi Windpads


a transparent TV from Samsung. Beautiful, the tv looks like a normal tv but is actually transparent once the tv is off.

Simply Amazing! that will be the future, transparent windows that can be tv screens... i hate to admit it, but day after day, the "future" that we saw in movies in the 80's and 90's is actually coming true.

ASUS's "Audio" centric laptop

Asus's ipad like product, it can be detached from the keyboard

I didnt notice before but apparently ASUS Lambo laptop has a back side that DOES look like a lambo!

Nintendo's 3DS was there as well... I saw it but didn't have a chance to test it due to these teenagers

The Sony Ericsson Play, i was amazed, actually, blown away at the graphics capabilities of the phone, and i found it to be lots of fun

i played with the Sony Ericsson's Arc. I believe it has Android 2.2. It was light, beautiful, responsive.

a company from Turkey used ipads to make a video wall. Beautiful

at Fujitsu's booth, as a sign of insanity, staff and partners cut their ties in half


lol i wonder if he knew that would happen today and wore a cheap tie for that reason

2nd March 2011 - Cebit

i don't know how i woke up after only 4 hours of sleep, but i did.

so i'll skip the boring stuff and directly go to Cebit.

But i repeat what i said yesterday, it was FREEZING.

lots of cool products (see pics below)

We entered the Intel hall first, and there were a couple of interesting things, the most interesting of course, and the high point of my day, was the scoring a goal game. People line up and shoot at the goal, but the goal keeper senses their movement and automatically tries to block the ball. We saw maybe 8 guys before me play and none of them scored... and of course, yours trully, was the exception.

Cebit was huge, we didn't finish half of it and we stayed till 6 pm almost.

after that, back to hotel, then to Old Town and dinner.

enjoy the pictures and the products

Intel's hall.

One of the people in front of me. Trying to score a goal, but it was impossible... well nearly impossible ;)

;)

Yes! Its GOOOOOAAAAL!!!

This Razor product is cool. Depending on your game, the bottom part (the keyboard) changes keys to accommodate the "game-specific" shortcut keys

Interesting Gaming Tournament. The crowds packed the place, o' the excitement :/

No IT expo is complete without some kind of racing cars right?

The HOT THING in this year's Cebit is CLOUD.

Afa! now i know where Zain took logo from

the famous Watson that was on jeopardy last month. the first respectable attempt at artificial intelligence.

This machine is cool, it scans by photography any book you place on it, and it automatically flips the pages, without ruining the book!

the infamous SAP apple

I've been looking for this product for a long time. keyboard sleeve for the ipad

whats with the apples ? and doesn't this robot look like Wall-e?

Yes, the ultimate lazy blogger chair

bloggers' lounge, some of them hated the fact i'm photographing them, what irony!

Yep, next time i shop at the TSC i'll use this for apples.

A new model from MSi FX series... very stylish and has a leather pattern finish

MSi are really pulling all the stops in terms of style. The start button is like a ignition button in a car.

The silver finish is nicer i think

a concept from MSi. A Pad with a built in projector that can also project a keyboard on the surface below

The duel windpad from MSi, together they can replace the need for the Razor product above.

A concept MSi Pad cradle docking

The MSi Wind Windows 7 addition. Not bad at all... but i am especially drooling over the next picture

The MSi Wind. i loved this device! This tablet is the bomb! Android Honeycomb 3.0 and Nvidia Tegra 2, HDMI and USB outputs and much much more!

If you don't like the iRobot, then you have a choice from MSi soon.

That robot was sooo realistic it was scary! the eyes are actually a screen visual.

Yeppp! I had a gillatte (sp) almost froze to death as a result :/

Hannover Old Town

Veggie pizza... not bad... but...


the pizza slice wasn't enough, so mcDonalds it was :D, thats a fish fillet and a veggie burger.

March 1st 2011 - Hannover Germany

Ok, actually its the 2nd of March, but i'm posting last night's post.

finally arrived in hannover. What can i say... its COOOOOOOLD!

The route was, Kuwait-Dubai-Frankfurt-Hannover. Too tired to write a long post, and i've got to wake up in about 4 hours to go to CEBIT! Yes! I'm excited about it.

anyway, some pictures from the trip.

lol the high light of the trip. those two guys next to us from Dubai to Frankfurt were just a handful of laughter. They were stone drunk, they were singing, stretching in funny ways, and not to forget, sleeping weirdly.

one of the many trains we took... it was PACKED

During the train to Hannover from Frankfurt (3 hours). We were only allowed to communicate using the word "psst"

finally... my room. not bad. but definitely not worth its cost.

Terrible Service = Lifefitness treadmill Kuwait

I am very surprised at the difference between the customer service levels in America and Kuwait.

Since the economy took a slow turn, companies are trying their best to keep their existing customers and other companies just don't give a damn.

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I have bought a Lifefitness T5i treadmill (1,100 KD) from Al-Khaldiya Co. and i am continually shocked at their low level of customer service.

- Delay in appointments.

- Its been almost 2 months now since my machine needed a new belt, and they don't have stock.

- Apparently, the whole company has only 1 staff (Mr. H) who handles residential customers.

- No enthusiasm in dealing with customers (when Mr. H was late to his appointment over an hour, and i said, that i have to go to work and cannot wait any longer, all he said is "Okay")

- No strong support from American company. (i have emailed the mother company in America, and they quickly replied apologetically and promised to solve the issue. That was 2 weeks ago.


You would think that customers who buy anything above 1,000 KD are important customers and companies should try hard to keep them.

Seriously, as a person who is involved in Retail, i am very surprised at this behavior.

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What are the other alternatives to Lifefitness?

1. TechnoGym (Dhia Behbehani Co.)
2. Precor (Dhia Behbehani Co.)
3. Landice (apparently, no agent office in Kuwait, but when i emailed them, they were very quick to reply and commit to delivering the treadmill)
4. Go to cheaper options available in many sporting outlets like Sears. (replace treadmill every 2 years)

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When you go to al-khaldiya's website and email the company address there, it bounces back! lol

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I seriously hope some other company (a retailer is better) takes the agency. They will serve the brand better.

Benefits of an electronics retailer taking the brand would be

1. more outlets
2. more committed installation and maintenance team
3. more traffic of residential customers
4. tie-up promotions with other "health" related products like Massage Chairs, Blood Pressures, Plasma and LCD TV's, et cetera, et cetera.

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As for my current situation. I emailed the American company again requesting a definitive answer as to when will the machine be fixed.

I will go visit Precor showroom and look for other treadmills.

All this... while regretting my choice of Al-Khaldiya and Lifefitness :(

I am a bit happier knowing that since i started voicing out my complaints, i have convinced one friend not to buy lifefitness (he was actually going the week after) and made 4-5 friends concerned about the brand for future purchase. I couldn't convince one person to switch, but i still have time. (if i buy precor and show him my satisfaction, he might be convinced)

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