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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, launched its 2013 Samsung Smart TV lineup during a press conference organized in Jeddah in presence and in partnership with Eng. Adnan Matbouli, CEO of United Matbouli Group, trusted distributors and esteemed media.

This press conference also announced the Samsung Fair taking place from May 18th to 28th in Red Sea Mall.

Samsung’s 2013 Smart TVs allow users to enjoy a more seamless and immersive entertainment viewing experience raising the bar with unprecedented and integrated special features for all and distinctive picture quality in each.Thanks to the quad-core CPU, the ultimate TV experience is now even faster and richer with enabled quick app launching, web browsing and multi-tasking.

During the ceremony, Mr. Jae Cheon Park, General Manager at Samsung Electronics Saudi Arabia said:”Our consumers’ dreams and expectations were grand and, as a leading company, we strive to see their dreams fulfilled and their expectations exceeded. At Samsung, we offer today a World of possibilities wherein our devices can work individually and just as well in synchronized connection to provide our customers with an everyday richer, easier and “smarter” life.”

From his side, Eng.Adnan Matbouli, CEO of United Matbouli Group added on: “At Matbouli, we aim to fulfill our digital society’s needs through our partnership with Samsung. We do not trust Samsung only because it is a global brand nor for being their official partner in Saudi; we believe in Samsung because we are witnesses of the evolution they have materialized over the years having invested, as it still does, in research and development.”

The newly designed flagship model S9 UHD TV, the S8 (F8000) & the S7 (F7000) come with an innovative technology enhancing lifestyle and simplifying consumers’ every day to “Live Smart”.

Triple Smart Concept: Content (Hub), Interaction & Evolution

The completely redesigned 2013 Smart Hub offers newly-designed panels with personalized content and an easy-to-navigate interface and vibrant thumbnails for instant previews.

The easy-to-navigate interface enables content to be managed from one central location and organizes it into five dynamic panels where up to 30 applications can be shown on one single panel. Previously photos, videos & music could be personally stored on Samsung cloud and accessed and saved on an external USB. This same feature has been enhanced and the contents can now be shared onto any device that’s connected to the TV. Social contents now include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Skype platforms to view popular video content shared across these social channels.

The Smart Interaction feature was also pushed to reach 300 voice commands available in Arabic, English and in French for the Saudi market; and in all languages around the globe. Next to the Swipe Control, the Advanced Smart Interaction allows consumers to use everyday language and casual gestures to control the TV as well.

In fact, the consumer can now use both hands in motion to zoom in and out, to go back or forth between pages or channels and at a distance going up to 12 meters. The hand gestures will be read by the Smart TV on a 60 degree angle left and right. For example, the customer can now like a picture or comment on Facebook by simply shaping the thumbs-up gesture or “Like” with his hand towards the TV.Smart Interaction took the Voice & Motion commands from 55 words in 2012 to 300 in 2013 developing the number of languages and the commands themselves. Thus on the same level, Samsung enhanced the Face Recognition which the TV can now track and recognize over a 60 degree angle both ways as well.

Samsung is delivering on its promise by offering consumers a way to stay up-to-date with the latest technology. The Smart Evolution Kit gives owners of flagship 2012 Samsung TVs the opportunity to update their models with some of the latest features from 2013 without having to buy a new set and will be available on Series 7, 8 and 9 2012 Smart TVs.

The Smart Evolution Kit will be made available soon in Saudi Arabia and provides both software and hardware updates that include access to the 2013 Smart Hub and AllShare feature. It will transform the 2012 set’s dual-core CPU to quad-core, resulting in faster internal processing speeds. Samsung’s flagship 2013 Smart TVs are also equipped with slots for future Evolution Kits.

S8 & S7 TVs for a vivacious, bright picture

The F series offers cutting-edge technologies that deliver more vibrant and richer colors, higher contrasts and a brighter picture quality than ever before. In addition to the Micro Dimming Ultimate technology, a slim bezel and a
quad-core processor lets users toggle between apps, online services and on-air TV quickly and easily without missing a moment of their favorite entertainment.

The S8 (F8000) & the S7 (F7000) are now available in sizes of 46, 55 and 65 inches which all three respond to consumer demand for premium design, smarter features, superior picture quality and larger screen sizes.

UHD TV – The Highest Resolution on the Largest Screen

Samsung is also launching the S9 UHD TV, which represents the largest screen in home entertainment viewing with brilliant picture quality in ultra-HD resolution. The S9 comes complete with features to ensure the best picture quality possible regardless of video source. Samsung’s proprietary up-scaling engine can up-convert HD or Full-HD to UHD-level picture quality by restoring detail information to create greater precision and real-life picture quality.

With Samsung’s Precision Black Pro technology, the S9 delivers deep, real blacks as well as pure vivacious whites. It combines an extremely high contrast ratio and Ultimate Dimming control functionality – which utilizes hundreds blocks of LEDs and precise BLU control – to deliver sharp resolutions previously unseen on large format displays.

In addition to picture quality, the S9 combines a powerful sound system with a fast quad-core processor to ensure a premium experience and true multitasking capabilities between content and apps. The S9 comes with 3-way 2.2 channels of 120 watt sound for an audio experience six times better than a typical TV. This system provides a dynamic range of sounds in a commanding and outstanding experience to complement the UHD picture.

Part of its accessories the 2013 Smart TV line up comes with a Smart Touch Remote Control which pushed the barriers of the remote concept itself now enabling users to move wave the device itself to switch channels.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s contemporary art scene is buzzing. Collectors pay millions for the hottest works at exclusive auctions, high-end galleries are springing up by the dozen, and more and more Turkish artists are holding exhibitions abroad.

The clients are the usual family magnates and super-rich – Istanbul ranks fifth in the world on the Forbes list of billionaires. But they also include an expanding class of young professionals looking for investment opportunities and a touch of prestige.

The boom in Turkey’s modern art market has coincided with a decade of steady economic growth. Since a financial meltdown brought the Turkish banking sector to its knees in 2001, the economy has more than doubled in size and per capita income has tripled in nominal terms.

“There are many young professionals who make good money and really want to have a piece of art in their home,” said painter Yigit Yazici as he sipped an espresso at his studio in Istanbul’s upmarket Nisantasi district.

Traditionally, patronage of the arts in Turkey was left to wealthy industrialist families.

The Sakip Sabanci Museum, owned by the Sabanci family, opened in Istanbul in 2002. Two years later, the Eczacibasi family launched the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, followed by Suna and Inan Kirac Foundation’s Pera Museum in 2005.

The launch of Istanbul’s International Contemporary Art Exhibition, known as the Istanbul Biennial, in 1987 introduced many once-skeptical Turks to contemporary forms of painting and sculpture.

But it was the opening of the Istanbul Modern – Turkey’s first modern art museum – nine years ago that really changed the scene by creating a space for contemporary artists that combined permanent and temporary exhibitions, a photography gallery and educational and social programs.

“A museum is an orderly home for art and this is what we have achieved here,” said Levent Calikoglu, chief curator at the Istanbul Modern.

“For the artists it’s prestigious to be included in the museum, and for investors it creates a benchmark and a guarantee for their investments.”

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party has come under frequent criticism for curbing freedom of expression in Turkey and there are growing fears that the arts – and artists – could be affected.

Critics cite examples such as the recent trial of world-renowned concert pianist Fazil Say on a charge of insulting religious values with a posting on Twitter. He received a 10-month suspended jail sentence.

In 2011, a work by sculptor Mehmet Aksoy in the eastern province of Kars was torn down after Erdogan described it as a “freak”.

But the availability of patronage and influx of money have emboldened Turkish artists, integrating them increasingly into the global art world and giving them a sense of greater independence in Turkey’s often conservative environment.

“Political power and art have never been at peace in Turkey. The only difference now is that the conflict is now more visible and we discuss it openly,” Calikoglu said.

ART AS INVESTMENT

In the absence of significant government support, private-sector sponsorship has become the mainstay of art through the purchases and commissions of major banks like Ziraat Bankasi, Garanti, Akbank, and Yapi Kredi, and art-savvy corporations.

Recently, independent collectors have also started making inroads as prominent buyers of sculpture. Central Istanbul has seen dozens of new art galleries in just the past few years.

“Ample global liquidity and negative real interest rates have had a great impact on increasing investment in art,” said Saltik Galatali, Akbank Deputy General Manager in charge of Private Banking.

“Art investments have become a tool for protecting the value of assets,” said Galatali, whose team manages a 17 billion lira ($9.5 billion) portfolio for 4,500 clients.

Pelin Sandalli has seen her business boom since she set up her Linart Gallery in Nisantasi in March 2011, exhibiting a full range of contemporary art forms, including video art, installations, photography, paintings and sculpture.

More and more of her clients are young professionals who are first-time buyers.

“The number of more conscious collectors who are highly educated, make extensive research and devote their time and energy to art are increasing day by day,” Sandalli said.

Sotheby’s was the first major international auction house to hold an exclusively Turkish contemporary art sale in 2009. British auctioneer Bonhams has since joined the competition with its own dedicated Turkish sales.

Such events have seen record prices for modern Turkish art.

At a Sotheby’s sale in 2010, highlights included Fahrelnissa Zeid’s “Untitled”, the first modern Turkish work to exceed $1 million at auction. Rising star Taner Ceylan’s painting “1881″ was sold for over 100,000 pounds ($154,900).

“We started off collecting art as a hobby, but now we see it as a good investment and something to leave to our son,” said ex-banker and marketing manager Burcu Egene as she flashed her card at an auction in one of Istanbul’s smartest hotels.

The Koc, Sabanci and Eczacibasi families, leading Turkish industrial dynasties, are pumping millions of lira into building art collections.

Two years ago, Murat Ulker, chairman of Yildiz Holding, a leading Turkish food and beverages group, paid 2.2 million lira for Burhan Dogancay’s “Blue Symphony”.

He also recently bought a controversial work by contemporary artist Bedri Baykam.

The eclectic tastes of the Ulker family, a pillar of the conservative business establishment, as well as the price tag, caught attention: “Empty Frame”, a suspended empty frame, sold for $125,000.

($1 = 1.7975 lira)

($1 = 0.6454 pounds)

(Editing by Jonathon Burch, Nick Tattersall and Sonya Hepinstall)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy showed fresh signs of slower growth in the second quarter, with factory activity slipping in the mid-Atlantic region while groundbreaking declined at home construction sites.

Other data on Thursday showed a spike in new claims for jobless benefits last week as well as soft underlying inflation that could point to weak demand in the economy.

“We are seeing a soft start for growth in the second quarter,” said Sam Bullard, an economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The data could raise concerns over the impact of a government austerity drive that began in January and the fallout from a recession in the euro zone.

It could also increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep its money printing press running on overdrive to support the economy.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its gauge of factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region fell to minus 5.2 in May. Negative readings in the index point to a contraction in activity.

Drops in new orders and in employment weighed on the index, which covers factories in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

The report added to recent signs that weakness in manufacturing in March and April extended into May.

“We are not rebounding from the recent swoon,” said Jacob Oubina, an economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York. “We are just muddling along.”

U.S. economic growth picked up in the first three months of the year after a dismal fourth quarter, but the April-June period is expected to show a more lackluster expansion as Washington’s push to trim the budget deficit weighs on consumers and businesses.

The federal government hiked taxes in January and initiated sweeping budget cuts in March. Signs of consumer weakness were evident in a report by Wal-Mart that sales fell 1.4 percent in the first quarter at its U.S. stores open at least a year.

The data put downward pressure on U.S. stock prices, which were little changed at midday. It also pushed down yields on U.S. government debt, while the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies.

SLOW STARTS

Groundbreaking for new U.S. homes fell more than expected in April, plunging 16.5 percent to a 853,000-unit annual rate, the Commerce Department said in a separate report.

Still, permits to build new homes rose, lending support to the expectation of analysts that housing will contribute to the economy’s recovery this year. In addition, most of the weakness in starts was in the volatile multifamily homes segment.

Separately, a report from the Labor Department showed a sharp drop in gasoline costs in April led to the biggest drop in U.S. consumer prices in more than four years.

The Consumer Price Index slipped 0.4 percent, the biggest decline since December 2008 when America was suffering some of the darkest days of its financial crisis. Analysts had expected a more modest 0.2 percent drop.

In the 12 months through April, consumer prices rose 1.1 percent. That is well below the Fed’s 2 percent inflation goal. The U.S. central bank targets a different gauge of prices that tends to run cooler than the Labor Department’s index.

Gasoline costs plummeted by 8.1 percent, the biggest fall since December 2008.

However, the weakness in the price index extended to a measure of underlying inflation that strips out volatile energy and food prices. That gauge rose just 0.1 percent, and was up only 1.7 percent from a year earlier – its smallest 12-month advance since June 2011.

“Further falls in U.S. core inflation in the coming months may make some Fed officials concerned about very low inflation, or even deflation,” said Paul Dales, an economist with Capital Economics in London. Deflation entails spiraling declines in prices and wages and is difficult for policymakers to combat.

Inflation has held low in large part because of weakness in the labor market, which has kept a lid on wages and spending.

Last week, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits climbed at the fastest pace in six months, although analysts said one week’s data was not enough to derail the labor market’s slow but steady recovery.

“If you get another week or two over 350,000, then you might be more concerned,” said Craig Dismuke, chief economic strategist at Vining Sparks in Memphis, Tennessee.

(Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn in Washington and Luciana Lopez, Richard Leong and Leah Schnurr in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

The Republic of Ingushetia in the Russian North Caucasus borders on Georgia to the south.

Its neighbours within Russia are Chechnya and North Ossetia. The overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim and clan links are an integral part of society.

The Ingush and Chechen peoples have close historical, cultural and linguistic ties, although the Ingush have not shared in the fierceness of the resistance to Moscow put up by the Chechens over the past 200 years.

Part of the Russian empire since the early 19th century, Ingushetia was formally joined to Chechnya under Soviet rule in 1936 when it formed around one-fifth of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic within Russia.

Like the Chechens, the Ingush, despite their history of relative loyalty to Moscow, were deported to Central Asia towards the end of World War II by Stalin who accused them of collaborating with the Nazis. They were allowed to return only in 1957 when Khrushchev was Soviet leader.

When Dzhokhar Dudayev came to power as Chechen leader in 1991 and declared Chechen sovereignty, the Ingush resisted. A brief conflict ensured, and the Ingush subsequently voted in a referendum to form a separate republic within the Russia Federation.

The Ingush and North Ossetians have a history of rivalry. Ingushetia lays claim to the neighbouring Prigorodny district which was included in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia when Stalin deported the Ingush in 1944. For many years after their return, the district had a substantial Ingush population.

In late 1992 violence erupted. The North Ossetians say it was sparked by Ingush radicals seeking to include Prigorodny in the newly formed Republic of Ingushetia. The Ingush assert that the North Ossetians attacked first and that they acted in self defence.

After hundreds were killed in the clashes, Moscow sent troops to establish order. The Ingush population was expelled from the district, causing a refugee crisis in Ingushetia.

Another refugee crisis presented itself when thousands of Chechens fled into Ingushetia when Russian troops returned to Chechnya in 1999.

In the years since, a radical Muslim insurgency has spread from Chechnya across the entire North Caucasus region, and militant attacks have become a frequent occurrence in Ingushetia.

In June 2004, several dozen people, including the acting Ingush interior minister, were killed in attacks reported to have involved hundreds of gunmen. The incident, and subsequent clashes, prompted the Kremlin to order a change of leadership in a bid to reduce the level of violence.

However, there was a renewed spate of attacks in 2009, including a suicide bombing at a police station that killed at least 25 people – the deadliest attack in the republic since 2005 – and an attempt on the life of President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

Moscow reacted by announcing another overhaul of security in the republic, and in June the following year, security forces announced the arrest of a leading militant linked to the assassination attempt, and several other attacks.

In October 2010, Mr Yevkurov said militants had killed more than 400 members of the security forces and wounded more than 3,000 civilians in the past five years.

Dnata, one of the world’s largest air services providers announced the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Servair Airchef in Italy, taking its total ownership to 100%.

Founded in 1995 as part of Chef Italia Group, Dnata’s subsidiary Alpha became a shareholder of Servair Airchef in 2001.

Servair Airchef is a leading in-flight caterer in Italy with a presence in 23 airports including Rome, Milan and Venice, employing around 700 employees, producing some 40,000 meals daily.

The company also provides aircraft cleaning services at seven Italian airports.

“The full acquisition of this business reflects Dnata’s long term strategy to further invest in its core business,” said Stewart Angus, Divisional Senior Vice President, Dnata.

“The Italian business complements our existing in-flight catering and cabin cleaning operations around the world. The company has a strong, dynamic management team and I am confident that together we can develop the business further, in line with the outstanding service and quality for which Dnata is renowned,” he continued.

“Our customers are the real wealth of our company,” said Michele Mezzatesta, Managing Director of Servair Airchef. “We have always strived to deliver the very best service combined with consistently high quality products. The drive and commitment of our dedicated staff has earned us a solid reputation for exceeding our customers’ expectations and we look forward to continuing to work with the management team at Dnata to further develop the business,” he added.

An independent review of a man's death in custody has criticised the police watchdog's investigation of the case.

Mr Rigg was recorded on police systems as having a mental illness – but officers did not establish who he was despite taking his passport from him.

In 2012, an inquest jury said police had used "unsuitable" force and the manner of restraint had contributed to Mr Rigg's death.

The original Independent Police Complaints Commission report, prepared before the inquest, ruled out disciplinary action.

But an independent review of that report, led by criminologist Dr Silvia Casale, said it had been seriously flawed.

It said: "Based on the accumulated evidence following the inquest, the review recommends that the IPCC reconsider the conduct of the police officers involved in the apprehension, restraint and detention of Mr Rigg, in relation to possible breaches of their duty of care, with a view to determining whether to bring misconduct proceedings."

It said the IPCC had made basic mistakes, including failing to properly investigate CCTV footage at the police station. Investigators also failed to get full answers to their questions about the officers' perceptions of Sean Rigg's behaviour.

Marcia Rigg, Sean Rigg's sister, said: "Almost five years after our brother's unnecessary death this report shows just how badly we were failed by the IPCC, not to mention the police.

"The fact that the IPCC has accepted all the report's recommendations is incredibly encouraging for us. We recognise the importance of a body like the IPCC to hold the police to account. But that is exactly what it must do. We hope that a complete reinvestigation of the issues identified by the review, with new consideration of police misconduct and criminal proceedings, will take place as quickly as possible."

Dame Anne Owers, chairwoman of the IPCC, said: "The Rigg family has demonstrated determination and dignity over a long period of time. I am conscious that the shortcomings identified in this review, and the length of time it has taken to get to this stage, have added to the distress and grief of the Rigg family and I have apologised to them for this.

"Some things have already changed since 2008. As Dr Casale recognises, we now have critical incident management processes in place and we have clarified and strengthened the role that Commissioners play in overseeing investigations."

In March, the IPCC arrested two serving and one retired police officer on suspicion of perverting the course of justice over evidence given at Mr Rigg's inquest. The officers remain on bail.

A separate independent review, partly prompted by Sean Rigg's death, recently called on the Metropolitan Police to improve how it deals with people with mental illness, saying they are too often treated like criminals.