DUBAI // UAE BlackBerry users keen to get extra features and applications on their phones, long available in the rest of the world, will have to wait a little longer after the pre-release version of its application store was taken down amid complaints of bugs and crashes.
A beta version of the long-awaited BlackBerry App World was quietly released last month by Research In Motion, the company that makes the popular smartphones. However, RIM was careful to warn that it was intended for testing only – a warning that some users’ experience appears to have borne out.
The service, similar to Apple’s iPhone App Store, was launched in other parts of the world more than two years ago and enables users to search, download and update applications produced by third-party developers.
People who chanced upon the beta version were able to download App World and use it to download applications.
But yesterday customers who tried to use the service were presented with a message saying “BlackBerry App World is not currently available in your country.”
However, Apps that were downloaded while the beta was operating continued to work.
RIM said in a statement: “We are currently still validating BlackBerry App World in the UAE, but we will keep you posted on availability.”
Some BlackBerry fans who downloaded App World regretted doing so. Sara Bianchi, a Dubai resident, said: “The App World icon appeared on my BB and as I clicked it, it allowed me to download it and create a BB ID.
“I received six messages from the application informing me of upgrades available for BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, MSN, Twitter, AOL Instant Messenger and Google Talk.”
She upgraded three of the apps that she uses, including Facebook, and the handset asked her to restart it to complete the process.
“After I rebooted, all three icons, programs, history and contacts had disappeared from my BlackBerry. Gone! Nowhere to be found.
“I had to download and reinstall BBM and MSN again from my browser – and luckily the contacts reappeared.
“However Facebook can no longer be downloaded or upgraded or installed as from wherever I try, it takes me back to App World and then tells me it is not available! How frustrating!”
Usman Naeem is one of a number of residents who have turned to Twitter to express their anger at the continuing unavailability of App World. He tweeted: “It’s extremely frustrating that the Android Market and BlackBerry App World do not work in UAE.”
The delay in the arrival of the BlackBerry service – which had been launched in the US on April 1, 2009 – is understood to have been caused by the time taken to complete regulatory procedures.
Meanwhile the BlackBerry PlayBook, RIM’s answer to Apple’s popular iPad tablet computer, has gone on sale in the US and Canada to a muted response. There was no sign of the huge queues of buyers seen at the launch of the iPad.
csimpson@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
