We have been stuck with the term “benchmarking” for a while when doing our SWOT analysis or merely analyzing our competitors. Very often we associate benchmarking with an offline business. Digital benchmarking, on the other hand, is determining the online performance of the company regarding online marketing, online sales, online orders, online branding, etc. Consider…
After a hiatus of 35 years, Saudi Arabia opened its first movie theatre to a full house as it screened the Marvel block buster Black Panther on April 18 in Riyadh. Located in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, the Kingdom’s new cinema is operated by AMC Theatres. Tickets to the show were sold out in…
Indonesia’s Citarum River, blackened by debris beyond recognition, has been dubbed the most polluted river in the world. The situation has gotten so bad that the army was recently called in to remove the plastic waste -- and prevent further dumping in the waterway, according to media reports. It’s just one sliver of the massive pollution problem…
Count this as another great week for e-commerce titan Jeff Bezos. On Wednesday, the Amazon founder and CEO released his latest annual shareholder letter, announcing that Amazon's Prime subscription service has more than 100 million members globally. The news, disclosed for the first time by Bezos, sent his net worth soaring further. The fortune of the world’s…
Avicii, the Swedish DJ and producer who was found dead today at age 28, had already helped define the sound known as Electronic Dance Music when he released his debut album in 2013. And even back then, he was striving to redefine the genre. Fresh off the success of "Levels," the 2011 smash that became his first song to…
Retired ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is re-opening as a floating hotel that will be docked permanently in Dubai- 10 years after completing its farewell voyage around the U.K. The ship had a soft opening on April 18, ahead of the full grand opening on October 2018. It is now officially open to the…
Ride hailing app Uber has announced that it is doubling its investment in India, following its exit from the Southeast Asia market. India accounts for more than 10% of Uber's worldwide trips. It has a market share of 45% of India's taxi market, but it is yet to reap any profit, according to Counterpoint Research. "Our…
FMCG giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire the German Consumer Health business of Merck KGaA for approximately $4.2 billion. P&G is targeting to close this deal during the 2018/19 fiscal year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances. German company Merck KGaA provides a broad…
Japanese car giant Nissan Motor Company’s premium car brand Infiniti is planning to introduce four-locally produced car models to triple sales in China—the world’s largest auto market—over the next five years. The company will focus on producing more electric vehicles to expand its sales from 48,000 cars last year to roughly 150,000 vehicles a year.…
General Motors has appointed Steve Carlisle to the post of senior vice president and president, Cadillac as its current chief Johan de Nysschen departs. Travis Hester, who currently is the vice president, Global Product Programs, as president and managing director, will replace Carlisle and will be the GM of Canada division. The transition will begin…
SpaceX has successfully launched the Falcon 9 rocket, which carries NASA's TESS planet-hunter spacecraft, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday, following a delay due to problems with the guidance-navigation control system. NASA tweeted on Wednesday “The @NASA_TESS spacecraft has successfully separated from the @SpaceX Falcon 9, which carried this planet hunter from Earth…
Chipmaker Qualcomm is cutting jobs in California and select global locations as it looks to deal with mounting costs, media reports indicate. The company, which was recently in the news for its failed takeover by Singapore-headquartered Broadcom, is reportedly slashing thousands of jobs in an effort to sustain growth in its operations, it has confirmed…
Saudi Aramco has awarded a contract to install additional facilities for a major gas processing plant to infrastructure firm SNC-Lavlin. The deal value was not disclosed but SNC-Lavlin said that it was a “multi-million dollar contract”. Under the scope of the work, SNC-Lavlin will construct the Arabiah Condensate Handling Facility and Sour Water Disposal Unit…
Wrappup, a Dubai startup that has built an app for note-taking, has been acquired by U.S.-based Voicera, in a deal announced this week for an undisclosed amount. A startup itself, Voicera has developed a voice assistant for enterprises designed to be used in meetings, making Wrappup's app a natural extension of its platform. Wrappup’s app…
After Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Yas Waterworld, Abu Dhabi is set to open one more theme park as it looks to expand its leisure and entertainment sector. Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the very first Warner Bros-branded theme park, is set to open on July 25, 2018, the park operator Miral said in a…
The U.A.E. could soon witness the world’s first commercial hyperloop that could revolutionize travel for commuters between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, slashing travel time between the emirates. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi’s largest real estate developer Aldar Properties to build a hyperloop system between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The…
Facebook announced new privacy protection options to comply with the new European privacy law known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is coming into effect on May 25, 2018. The social network giant said that it is introducing new privacy experiences for everyone on Facebook as part of the EU’s GDPR, including updates…
Internet facilitates our daily activities but it also provides a set of challenges and leaves us vulnerable to cyberattacks. Hacking provides broader opportunities for the cybercriminals to get access to confidential information like credit card details including pin numbers, bank account details, email account details and all other personal information. Malware is one of the…
Storytel, the first audiobook subscription service, has launched its operations in the U.A.E. with a focus on both Arabic and English languages. The company provides audio streaming service for books, allowing its users to listen to unlimited audiobooks of all kinds through an App installed on the mobile phone. "The Arab-speaking region has a great…
The world’s biggest coffee company Starbucks will be closing more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States on the afternoon of May 29 to conduct racial-bias education, geared towards preventing discrimination within its stores. The announcement comes after two black men were arrested in a Starbucks’ branch in Philadelphia while trying to use the bathroom. The incident…