Here are the first Speedtest results I got using 3G on my iPhone. Pretty cool!

I finally received today an SMS from MTC Touch notifying me that the “3G will now be active on my phone for a 1 month trial period”.

I quickly put my MTC Touch SIM in my friend’s Nokia N8 and tried connecting but was unable to. I called MTC and they told me there are few settings needed to be done and told me to check my email in 10 minutes time. This was 6 hours ago and I didn’t receive anything yet until two minutes ago I received settings for iPhones!

The only reason I didn’t use the SIM on my iPhone yet is that I need to cut the SIM to be able to plug it in, (My original line which I am using on the iPhone is an Alfa line) so I will fix it at a nearby mobile store and attempt the 3G once again back at home.

If anyone already received the settings for a Nokia from MTC Touch, I would appreciate if you share them.

As planned, the testing phase for the 3G technology started today and I was contacted, along with Mark & Chahe, by MTC Touch to take part in that testing.

I still did not receive any SMSes as the process might take few days, so we will have to wait before knowing how fast it is.

I was promised by a friend that he will activate the 3G feature on my Alfa line as well, which is great as I will have a chance to compare both.

Lebanon-based Birdy Nam Nam launches a new version of their iPhone app game today, an answer to the extremely popular “Angry Birds”– in Arabic. While you may remember the clever video that referenced Angry Birds in light of the Arab Spring, transforming Arab dictators- Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gaddafi- into pigs that the birds tried to oust, Birdy Nam Nam offers a different take that is no less addictive.

The game was created by two Lebanese brothers, Lebnan & Arz Nader, as well as Jean-Christophe Hoelt. It was downloaded more than 300,000 times since its launch. [Article]

I don’t know why they are comparing it to Angry Birds. It’s a whole different game with different rules. I gave it a try yesterday and it’s not that great.

It is true that internet prices are going to drop in a month time and we will finally have decent speeds, and that we might finally have the long-awaited 3G technology in 2012, but that doesn’t mean “Lebanon is gonna become one of the most advanced countries in the field of Information Technology and Multimedia Creativity.” [DailyStar]

We appreciate all the efforts done by the Ministry of Telecommunications, but let’s stay on earth for a second.

The average Mbps for the top 15 countries in the world is about 6 mbytes while the peak Mbps rates range between 20-25 Mbytes for the leading ten countries. [Stats]

We are still far far away from achieving such rates and our newly announced Internet monthly caps are a joke, so let’s rejoice for now by not being the slowest internet in the world anymore.

PS: There’s no need to bookmark those quotes Mustapha, as if this were ever to happen, we won’t be alive to witness it.

I saw one of my colleagues at work with a brand new iPhone 4 but as I was checking it out I sensed there’s something wrong with it. Turns out it’s the Chinese version of the iPhone4.

You might not notice the difference if you are looking from a distance but it’s very different and a crappy version to say the least.

The icons look funny, the touch is horrible and the phone is very slow. Nevertheless, it has USB, takes two Sims and costs only 150$.

Unfortunatelly for those interested, there are no news as to when a Chinese fake Apple store will open its doors in Lebanon.

Internet will NOT change drastically within few weeks and we will NOT be getting 3G technology before 2012. That’s what the miniter of telecommunications claimed today correcting rumors that were alleged to him in Assafir.[Link]

The article states that there are three phases for the 3G switch:
- First Phase in September 2011: Testing.
- Second Phase in October 2011: 3G in Beirut & Mount Lebanon.
- Third & Final Phase: 3G all over Lebanon start of 2012.

I thought they already did the necessary tests few months back?

I have a feeling we’re gonna be hearing about more delays as we get closer to the deadline.

I registered first on Twitter back in September 2010 but it didn’t work out for me. Even until today, I still can’t find any use for it but there are lots of Lebanese on it and many are linking the blog’s posts and discussing them, so I am going to give it another shot.

Feel free to add me, or in Twitter terms follow me. My username is LeNajib.

PS: After Maya, it is Gino this time who convinced me of rejoining in.

Now that we have it, what do we do with it?

PS: Najib, I got the 3G right outside Skybar :)

That’s what our minister of telecommunications promised yesterday. Lower prices and a much faster internet. Let’s hope for the best.

When I bought my PS3 almost two years ago, I paid for it 485$, including two joysticks and one game from the Beirut Duty Free stores.

My friend wants to buy one now and for some reason PS3 prices are up, but the funny thing is that when we called some stores to ask for prices, they would not give it to us over the phone.

At the Beirut Duty Free, PS3s are priced at 425$ including one joystick, and 529$ including two joysticks and one game.

The Sony dealership is selling it at the same exact price, even though they hesitated to give me the price over the phone at first.

Khoury Home are selling it at the same price as well. Mazen World would not give us the price over the phone.

It doesn’t make sense that PS3s become more expensive with time, nor that some stores keep its price to themselves, but I guess there’s not much price regulation to anything in Lebanon.

Of course, it is always cheaper to buy it from Bestbuy or Amazon if you have someone coming from the states. New Games are also at least 20$ cheaper outside than in Lebanon and there are great discounts on old games.

[Source]

A submarine cable which will give Internet service providers the capacity they need to supply high-speed Internet services, including 3G, was put into action Monday, after months of waiting. “The tap was closed, and now it’s open,” Antoine Boustany, an adviser to Telecoms Minister Nicolas Sehnawi said Tuesday. [DailyStar]

So we should be hoping for a faster and cheaper internet soon.

Ever wondered why the internet is that expensive?

Unlike government-owned Alfa and MTC, ISPs currently pay some $3,000 for a line which costs the government $100 to supply, and Tarabay said that this is prohibitive to ISPs being able to provide affordable fast Internet to users.

“At the moment it’s as if they were inviting you to buy property in Downtown [Beirut],” he said. “There’s a lot of land, but nobody can afford it.”

We should call it a national holiday the day we get a decent internet connection in this country. Nevertheless, I am not buying this story and won’t believe a word they say until I have a proper connection at home.

Apple is rumored to begin selling unlocked versions of the iPhone 4 in the U.S. starting at $649 on Wednesday. MacRumors is now reporting that unlocked iPhones have “shipped to Apple Stores this week” and will be priced at $649 and $749 for 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. [Link]

Hoping that this will put an end to the fluctuating and unrealistic iPhone prices that we have in Lebanon. I remember iPhone 4 was being sold as high as 1500$ in Lebanon when it was first launched.

Via Stateofmind13

A Lebanese hacker known as Idahc dumped another user database at Sony Europe containing approximately 120 usernames, passwords (plain text), mobile phone numbers, work emails and website addresses. The attacker claims that he used standard SQL injection techniques to acquire the database. [Link]

Seems like this hacker is really bored or has some serious grudge against Sony.

Via BeirutSpring

I travel to Dammam a lot for work. I recently downloaded the Trip Advisor app to see if there is anything to do in Dammam… I got my answer…

BTW, I checked in to Beirut Airport using Foursquare, to see if I could get the 10% discount on perfumes as I mentioned in an earlier post.

I was a bit worried that the salesperson wouldn’t be aware of the promotion and I’d have 10 people causing a commotion, trying to figure out what I was talking about. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that everyone knew about the promotion! I showed the saleswoman my iPhone screen and the manager came over and gave me the discount.