News
KIOXIA Celebrates First Anniversary by Showcasing Stunning Display at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa
Toshiba Gulf FZE (the Regional Corporate Representative Office of Toshiba Corporation) has marked the first anniversary of the “KIOXIA” Memory brand launch in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) with a stunning display on Burj Khalifa on 22nd June 2021. Visitors at the landmark destination and thousands of viewers from across the world watching the live stream, witnessed the iconic Burj Khalifa projecting the dynamic colors of the KIOXIA product portfolio. The company hosted the celebration with COVID-19 protocols in mind, ensuring that all attendees have been vaccinated and are strictly adhering to health and safety measures.
The live event opened with a welcome address by Toshiba Gulf FZE Managing Director & Corporate Representative MENA region, Satoshi Kawada, and was attended in person by over 100 KIOXIA business partners from across the region. Santosh Varghese, Vice President, Toshiba Gulf, addressed the audience, highlighting the key regional achievements of KIOXIA in terms of marketing campaigns and distribution strategy over the past year. “Driven by our passion to push the boundaries and produce extraordinary innovations, KIOXIA has witnessed remarkable achievements in the past year,” said Santosh Varghese, Vice President, Toshiba Gulf. “While KIOXIA was rebranded in October 2019 from Toshiba Memory, our journey started way back in 1987 when Toshiba engineers invented the NAND flash memory. Our commitment to innovation did not waver since then, and in 2007, we unveiled the world’s first 3D flash memory. This strong legacy combined with our passion and market expertise is what empowered us to confidently launch KIOXIA in the region last year despite the global pandemic.”
Toshiba Gulf’s Regional Manager – Storage, Bastian James also gave a product presentation, sharing several key updates from the company’s portfolio. The evening saw the company present the KIOXIA Star Awards for Outstanding Performance to Memory Technology Company (UAE & KSA), Ashtel Electronics (UAE & KSA), Redington Gulf (GCC), Al Futtaim Electronics (UAE Retail), Roshini Enterprises for South Africa and Mitsumi Computers for East and West Africa, Carrefour UAE & Lulu UAE in the retail category. Global Computers in the dealer channel category.
KIOXIA, formerly Toshiba Memory, was officially launched in the region last year. It features a comprehensive portfolio of consumer products including microSD/SD memory cards, USB memory, and SSDs that are all uniquely designed to enable end-users to store their digital way of life wherever and whenever they want. With product marketing led by Toshiba Gulf across MEA, KIOXIA saw an exciting year of brand development. It achieved significant market awareness of 42% in UAE, 34% in Saudi Arabia, and 27% across the rest of the region, which the company attributes to its aggressive and holistic marketing strategy.
As part of its extensive marketing drive, KIOXIA implemented a 360-degree marketing strategy. It covered digital/print, OTT, social media, radio, TV, and outdoor advertising as well as a variety of Below the Line (BTL) activities. “Among the most notable aspects of the activation was our corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign, which focused on promoting COVID-19 health and safety awareness and supporting essential, frontline workers,” said Varghese. “We also conducted multiple virtual channel training programs to ensure that our partners are well versed with KIOXIA’s offerings. Last, but not least, we launched the KIOXIA SMART App, which provides an instant repository of content resources useful to consumers and sales staff.”
KIOXIA’s brand equity soared during the last 12 months, further differentiating its portfolio through innovation and strategic planning. “We are heading towards an increasingly connected world, where huge volumes of data will be generated, and great amounts of storage will be needed. Toshiba and KIOXIA, together with our highly driven and proven channel partners, are well-equipped to enable customers to address this global requirement,” added Varghese. KIOXIA was spun off from the Toshiba conglomerate as Toshiba Memory Corporation in June 2018.
Gadgets
Huawei to Launch Next-Generation Foldable Smartphone at Dubai Launch Event
Huawei is set to host a highly anticipated launch event in Dubai this December, where the company will unveil several innovative products that promise to redefine the tech landscape. The event marks a pivotal moment for the brand, unveiling groundbreaking products like the HUAWEI Mate X6, HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4, and HUAWEI nova 13 Series. The new products will set new benchmarks for design, functionality, and user experience in the mobile and audio markets.
As Huawei continues solidifying its position as a leader in the tech industry, this launch will underscore the company’s expanding influence in international markets. Huawei’s latest flagship foldable, the HUAWEI Mate X6, will be unveiled during the Dubai launch. The phone is expected to redefine the future of foldable smartphone technology. It is among the company’s most advanced foldables to date. The Mate X6 is expected to take mobile photography to new heights, building on Huawei’s legacy of pioneering smartphone cameras of the Mate Series.
Besides the Mate X6, Huawei will unveil its next-generation audio products, including the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4. These earbuds will be the first to feature HUAWEI SOUND, offering an immersive audio experience. They will also include AI-driven noise reduction technology, designed to isolate the wearer’s voice during calls while eliminating environmental noise. This feature significantly enhances call quality, particularly in noisy environments.
Consumers can also look forward to the launch of the HUAWEI nova 13 series, a new midrange smartphone that brings a unique interweaving design and an array of exciting features. The nova 13 series offers significant upgrades over its predecessors, including enhanced camera capabilities, a performance boost, and more. The new HUAWEI MatePad 11.5 will also deliver a paper-like experience, perfect for light office productivity, efficient learning, and everyday tasks.
The Dubai event, scheduled for the 12th of December, will mark the global unveiling of Huawei’s several innovative products. The MEA market is one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic regions for technology, and Huawei is committed to strengthening its regional presence. By continuing to introduce groundbreaking products, Huawei is positioning itself to shape the future of mobile technology while reinforcing its role as a global tech powerhouse.
News
The Browser Company Unveils Dia, Its AI-Powered Browser
The Browser Company, known for its Arc Browser available on desktop and mobile, has unveiled its upcoming web browser called Dia, which focuses heavily on AI tools. Having previously launched Arc on Mac and Windows, and Arc Search on iOS and Android, the company is now working on a new product aimed at a broader audience.
Scheduled for an early 2025 release, Dia promises to bring a host of innovative features. The company recently launched a new website showcasing a video about Dia and listing various open roles within the company. The website states, “AI won’t exist as an app. Or a button. We believe it’ll be an entirely new environment — built on top of a web browser.” This vision for an integrated AI environment is a key component of Dia’s development.
In a video presentation, CEO Josh Miller demonstrated some of Dia’s early prototypes. One tool operates at the insertion cursor, aiding users in writing the next sentence or retrieving facts from the internet about topics such as the original iPhone’s launch and specifications. Additionally, the tool can fetch Amazon links opened in the browser to include in emails with basic descriptions.
Another feature allows users to type commands into the address bar to perform various actions, such as fetching documents, sending emails through the preferred email client, and scheduling meetings using natural language prompts. While some of these features may seem similar to existing browser-based writing and calendar tools, the true uniqueness and usefulness of Dia will only be known upon its release.
A more ambitious demo showcased Dia’s ability to perform actions on the user’s behalf, such as adding items from an email to an Amazon cart. In the demo, Dia browses Amazon, finds the specified items, and adds them to the cart autonomously. Another example demonstrated Dia’s capability to email participants listed in a Notion table for a video shoot. The Browser Company is not alone in envisioning an AI assistant capable of understanding interfaces and executing tasks. Many startups have showcased similar concepts and demos of AI models and tools designed to control users’ screens.
In a recent video, Miller hinted at developing new products for a wider audience while assuring current users that Arc’s design and functionality would remain largely unchanged. He acknowledged that although Arc has a dedicated and growing user base, its complexity might not appeal to everyone. The challenge for the company will be to create a browser with AI features that work seamlessly and potentially generate revenue.
Apps
Google Maps Integrates Waze Incident Reports for Enhanced Navigation
Google Maps has started to display Waze incident reports during navigation, allowing users to contribute by confirming road conditions via prompts. This integration follows Google’s July announcement that both apps would share more data, including Waze-sourced road closures, construction updates, speed cameras, and police presence information.
Over the holiday weekend, a Reddit user shared a screenshot of a prompt indicating “Police reported ahead” based on Waze driver reports, as reported by 9to5Google and Android Authority. Users can update these reports to reflect current conditions, similar to other incident notifications in Google Maps.
This is the first confirmed sighting of the feature in action, but more reports are expected. Despite merging the teams behind Maps and Waze, Group Project Manager Can Comertoglu told The Verge that the apps will continue to operate separately. Waze’s 500,000-plus contributors prefer some features of Waze over Google Maps, and vice versa.
This new feature enhances Google Maps’ functionality by leveraging Waze’s real-time incident reporting, providing users with more comprehensive and up-to-date information on their routes.
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