Why is there an ‘e’ at the end of Pilote?

I wonder if the competition is implying one has to be James Bond to replace the minister for one day or make the 4G pilot dongle work. I entered the competition and will be hoping to be a minister for one day and test the 4G.

You can enter the competition [Here].

via Gino

Picture via LuxuryLaunches.com

The LykanHypersport is priced at 3,400,000 US dollars, making it the most exclusive and expensive sports car in the world, with only 7 units produced. I couldn’t find any news on the potential buyers but I am assuming the Qatari Emir already booked one to his name.

LykanHypersport 2013, the Arab world’s first high performance luxury sports car is all set to be introduced at the Qatar Motor Show, opening on the 29th January. Priced at $3.4 million, only seven units of the car will be produced making it the most exclusive sports car in the world. The salient features of the car are its uniqueness, high performance and luxury quotient. The car has the potential to go from 0 to 100 kms per hour in 2.8 seconds to reach the maximum speed of 390 kms per hour (242 mph), over 100 kmh (62 mph) faster than the take off speed of Airbus 380, the world’s largest commercial jet. [Source]

The exclusive car is the outcome of six years of hard work of distinguished names in the automotive industry including RUF automobile, Studiotorino, Viotti, Magna Steyr Italia and ID4MOTION; all of them Italy based, a land with the heritage of producing the most iconic sports cars. LykanHypersports 2013 by W Motors is said to make its first delivery in September this year and the seven lucky owners will be rewarded with a Special Edition Cyrus Klepcys watch, worth over $200,000. [Source]

via +961

[High-Res]
Graph via Executive-Magazine

Lebanon has the highest average price per minute for voice calls in the Arab world, followed by Morocco, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. It’s probably that high because we also have the best network coverage in the Arab world.

As most of you probably know, Truecaller is a popular phone app where you can look up anonymous numbers to see who they belong to. I honestly never used it because I don’t like the idea of sharing all my friends’ contacts with millions of Truecaller users as I am sure some value their privacy, including myself.

Having said that, there is an easy way to get your number unlisted from Truecaller’s database by simply going to the following [Link] and inserting your number. Once done, you get a notification like the one shown above. If you want to make sure your number no longer exists on their database, log in an hour later and search for it on the main page [TrueCaller].

via 248am.com

[YouTube]

This hologram was part of the launch event of MBC Egypt in Cairo. It’s not as cool as the Tupac one but it’s still pretty cool.

Via MissD5

Mobile version of BlogBaladi.com is now enabled. This will allow users to load the blog faster on their smartphones and surf more easily on any mobile browser.

Suggestions are more than welcome.

Top 10 pictures of 2012. Picture taken by Goran Tomasevic. Azaz, Syria. Aug. 15, 2012.

I always enjoy reading Time’s Top 10 lists from year to year. Check out the 55 wide-ranging lists [Here].

The HuffingtonPost has a bigger album of 2012′s best pictures that you can check [Here].

I wanted to write a detailed review on the LG 42″ Cinema 3D TV but after posting my first impression, I thought it would be better to summarize my whole experience based on a list of pros and cons, and provide links to more detailed explanations for those interested.

Pros:
- Design is simple and attractive. LG 42″ Cinema 3D is a beautiful TV and an ultra-slim one. All buttons and ports are hidden from the front and it’s light-weighted.

- Picture and sound quality are great. You have the option to change the settings that suit you best but I think the default ones are more than good enough. Pictures are clearer and brighter with full HD 3D quality.

- Watching in 3D mode was much better than I thought it would be. I wasn’t a big fan of 3D technology specially in theaters but I saw 3 movies (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Resident Evil, and Avatar) and it was great and flicker-free but tiring to the eyes. After all, 3D technology is not perfect, neither for Active nor Passive 3D. LG uses Passive 3D.

- Aside from the 3D picture quality and experience, It’s easier for everyone to enjoy 3D TV since LG comes with 6 pairs of passive 3D glasses, which don’t have any batteries and are inexpensive to replace.

- Dual Play is awesome! You can check why [Here].

- LG Smart TV features are easy to use and the remote control buttons are very helpful. LG apps and settings are very easy to navigate through. Wireless is also very easy to set up with the USB Dongle that comes along with the TV.

- Price-wise, it costs around 1000$ which is a great price for a SMART 3D TV with all these features.

Cons:
- Browsing the internet is not very convenient using the remote. You can always plug in a keyboard but I don’t see why I would do that. I read the LG Magic Remote makes it easier to visit websites and use other SMART features but it wasn’t available for me to try. You have to buy it as it’s not part of the package.

- You have to sit at the same level as the screen to get the optimal 3D experience but that’s the case for all Passive 3D TVs not just LG.

Moving on to the part that interests you most, I will be giving away the TV as promised but the competition this time will be different and somehow challenging. For that purpose, I decided to use various social media tools, mainly Facebook and Twitter, to allow the biggest number of people to participate and win.

To take part in the competition:
1- You have to be a BlogBaladi fan by liking our page on Facebook. [BlogBaladi]

2- You have to guess the location of the 4 pictures I will be posting on [Facebook] and sharing on Twitter [@LeNajib] today. Pictures will be posted every 2 hours starting 9 am (Beirut time) and are all taken in Lebanon.

3- Once you have ALL answers, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post with your answers and a proper email address. You need to have at least 3 correct answers to enter the draw. Competition ends on December 23 at 10 am. I will pick a name randomly (Using random.org) and post the name of the winner at the end of the day.

NB: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

NB2: I will be posting hints to help you with the pictures and updates on the competition, so make sure to follow me on twitter [@LeNajib]

Many Instagram users were upset by the policy change and blamed Facebook for ruining Instagram

It took less than 24 hours for Instagram to post a new update on its privacy policy and deny having rights to sell our photos without our permission. The new Instagram rules aren’t set to go into effect before January 16 but a lot of people have already deleted their Instagram accounts after yesterday’s announcement.

Personally, I didn’t like the idea that Instagram would be able to use my pictures and sell them without my permission, not because I am a photographer or anything, but out of principle. However, I thought I should hold a bit before opting out of Instagram and see if they clarify this new privacy policy, which they did.

PS: My Instagram account is [LeNajib]

To quit or not to quit Instagram?

Instragram just updated their new terms of service today, and the fine print, while not shocking, certainly is concerning especially if you use the service to show off your work. Instagram has stated that starting on Jan. 16 the service will be able to use and sell your images for advertising without your knowledge and without offering compensation leaving users with the short end of the stick. [Link]

You can read more about it [Here].

Onlivery is a new Lebanese app developed by ELIXIR that allows you to order food online from over 55 restaurants. I was a bit skeptical about trying the service at first but it turned out to be real easy and practical. Upon downloading it, you get both an email and an SMS (Since SMSes can take forever to come in Lebanon) with a code to activate your account. Once registered, you have to enter a valid mailing address and a list of restaurants that deliver to this address will automatically show under “Restaurants”. Of course you can enter as many addresses as you want and every time you select one, you are redirected to the corresponding restaurants based on the location.

Upon placing your order, there’s a cool feature that allows you to customize your dish/salad/sandwich/burger or whatever you are having. For example if you don’t like onions or pickles in your sandwiches, you can tick them off. You can also specify before submitting your order if you need cash change. I noticed there’s a delivery charge of 1500LL for most of the restaurants I chose but I am not sure if it applies to all. The only drawback I found was that you can’t place many orders from different restaurants at once but I am sure they’ll work on improving it if the app picks up and the list of restaurants grows bigger.

Onlivery is free of charge and available for iOS and Android devices. [iOS] [Android]

I got a call from LG a week ago asking me if I was interested in reviewing their 42″ Cinema 3D TV. I haven’t bought a TV in years but I’ve started looking for one lately as my house will be finished in 6 months time so LG’s call came at the right time. To make it even better, I asked them if I could give away the TV to BlogBaladi’s readers as an early Christmas gift instead of returning it and they were kind enough to accept!

When I picked up the TV, the first thing that caught my attention was how light it is. The TV without the stand only weighs 28.9 lbs (around 13 kg) and is 35.5 mm thick. After I took it out of the box and set it up, I went through the menu quickly and noticed it has a considerable number of in-built apps and online tools, including a web browser, and shortcuts to various social media tools. While having so many services may sound like a good thing, it’s sometimes hard to toggle through those options using the buttons on the TV remote but the LG remote is very practical and has a “Home” button as well as “My Apps” and “Settings” buttons that make it very easy to access the various features. The “Home” button is the most useful one as it takes you to an LG Dashboard that contains everything you might need to access. I read online about a “Magic Remote Control” that usually comes with LG Smart TVs but mine didn’t have any.

I tried next connecting the TV to my WI-FI network but I wasn’t able to as it asked me to insert a WI-FI dongle into the USB Port. I connected using a LAN cable for now but I am sure there’s a way to do it wirelessly without a dongle as I’ve read it on some reviews. I will hopefully have an answer for that when I post the full review.

Using the browser or social media tools is not very practical using the Remote Control but you could easily plug in a keyboard and use the internet and all the features. You don’t have to worry about empty slots as there’s a handful number of AV Inputs/Outputs, including 4 HDMI™/HDCP Inputs and 3 USB 2.0 ports.

As far as the picture and sound are concerned, the quality is superior and there’s nothing much to say about that. I’ve already watched movies and tested the sound quality and 3D in one of LG’s showrooms and it’s more than you could ask for. For those of you who like to make changes, there’s a lot of flexibility in enhancing the picture and sound capability.

One of the best things about this TV is the 3D. I will not go into the details at the moment but LG uses passive 3D technology that is based on cheap polarized 3D glasses, the ones that are given to you in movie theaters today. It’s almost as good as active 3D and is a cheap and user-friendly solution. To make it even better, LG gives you 6 pairs of 3D glasses that don’t need to be recharged, which are more than enough and far better than other TVs that require 100$+ glasses.

Having said that, the question that comes to your mind is: Who’s gonna watch 3D everyday? Well I most definitely won’t be doing so but what I am dying to try is Black Ops II using LG’s Dual Play Technology. Instead of having a split screen, you can now play on the full screen. I’ve already tried it with a car racing game and it’s amazing!

To cut it short, there are a lot of features that I haven’t tested yet but my first impression of the TV is a very positive one. Here are some of the stuff I will be testing thoroughly in the next few weeks:

- Watching 3D movies every 2 days or so to see if I could get used to it.
- Call of Duty®: Black Ops II Dual Play
- Linking storage devices/PC/Tablets or Smart Phones to the TV
- Trying to play around with picture/sound settings.
- Installing and Using LG’s SMART TV Remote App

As far as the competition to win the TV is concerned, and given that it’s a a big prize this time, I am thinking of making it a bit more challenging and complicated this time and will be posting about it soon.

As far as I know, Independence day is for all the Lebanese, not just the army. So it wouldn’t hurt if Alfa & Touch did something for all their users, such as doubling those ridiculously low 3G caps for everyone free of charge or lowering the 3G plans prices. Is that too much to ask?

Alfa mobile network has launched the “Army Line,” an exclusive offer to the Lebanese Army with preferential rates on its calls, SMS and data, the state-run National News Agency said Wednesday. The Army Line offers price cuts on phone calls, SMS and Internet access for fixed lines that reach up to 80 percent. [Naharnet]

4G Live Test reaching peak of 100Mbits/s – Picture taken by @NicolaSehanoui

“Let’s Connect” took place yesterday at the Beirut Digital District where Telecom Ministry Nicolas Sehnaoui talked about the progress done by his ministry between June 2011 and June 2012 and announced plans for the launch of the 4G service next year. You can read the one-year report [Here].

I was unfortunately unable to attend the event but I have to say there’s been a significant improvement in the 3G and DSL services over the past year not just in Beirut but also outside it. In fact, I had major issues with the DSL in the first few months (I live in Jounieh) whereas it would disconnect for no reason or slow down but I haven’t had any noticeable problems for at least the past 3-4 months. As far as the 3G is concerned, the coverage is much better and the service is more reliable but there are still a lot of areas without a decent 3G coverage and I am not talking about villages in the middle of nowhere but major cities like Jounieh and some areas inside Beirut (Achrafieh Sioufi for example).

In July 2012, Touch network already consisted of 5,612 antennas and 15 mobile stations, while Alfa’s had 4,505 antennas and 15 mobile stations.

This being said, no one can deny the improvement in the internet service over the past year but there are still few points I’d like to highlight:

- I’ve had DSL for almost a year now but cannot upgrade from the 1 MBPS I have because that’s the maximum speed my phone line and the “Centrale” in Jounieh can handle.
- There’s a major problem related to the availability of landlines in some areas like in Jbeil where you can’t apply for a new phone number because the network is full.
- There should be a decent alternative to DSL as there isn’t any at the moment. Mobi and Wise are terribly slow and the 3G dongles and routers plans are ridiculous.
- The 3G launch in Lebanon could have been much better had the infrastructure been ready for such a thing. I hope that we won’t be facing the same problem with the 4G launch.
- 3G prices are great but the caps need to be increased.

On a last note, I am glad the Ministry of Telecommunications’ website was taken down and is now under construction. [Website]

I really wasn’t interested in the iPad mini when it was first announced and didn’t think it made sense until I took it out of the box and held it in my hands. Now I’m wondering if there is a purpose for the regular sized iPad. The new iPad mini feels a lot lighter and slimmer than my now huge iPad 3 and I really LOVE the black anodized aluminum finish on the back.

Once I downloaded Zinio and the latest issue of Backpacker Magazine I realized why I’d rather have my iPad 3 over the mini. The problem with most of the magazines on Zinio is that they were originally intended for print in sizes similar to that of the regular iPad. Since the iPad mini is smaller, all the text in the magazines become smaller as well and makes it a lot more difficult to read. The fact the iPad mini doesn’t have a retina display isn’t helping its case either.

But for a first impression, other than the issue I would have reading magazines on it the iPad mini does make sense. I’ve stopped carrying my iPad when I travel and instead have been carrying my 13″ MacBook Air and my Kindle because it didn’t make sense to carry iPad 3 and MacBook Air at the same time. If I had the iPad mini on the other hand I wouldn’t mind taking it along since it wouldn’t be adding that much weight or size.

No idea if anyone in Lebanon has the iPad mini yet, mine was a review unit from Xcite.