Saeed Al Khotani Saudi Gazette RIYADH – BlackBerry Limited launched in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday its BlackBerry10 platform and the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone at a press conference held at the Kingdom Tower. Speaking at the event, Khaled Kefel, Senior Country Director, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, BlackBerry, said “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is driving innovation in the region and together with the government and our carrier partners we continue to support this growth.” He added: “Our commitment to KSA extends from ensuring that our latest smartphones like the BlackBerry Z10 are available for customers here, to providing local entrepreneurs with training and resources to help them achieve success.” He pointed out that based on the re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry 10 platform, this smart phone gives customers a powerful and unique new mobile computing experience by constantly adapting to their needs. Kefel said that BlackBerry customers will also have access to over 70,000 apps on BlackBerry World. Arabic apps available for customers in the Kingdom include MBC, Al Arabiya news service, Sharq Al Awsat, Sayidity, Holy Quran, Anghami music services and Kitabi Arabic eBooks. Further its commitment to local developer partners, Kefel said BlackBerry will also organized BlackBerry 10 Jam event in the Kingdom next month. He also said the BlackBerry Z10 is available across Saudi Arabia through carrier partners and leading retail outlets. The unsubsidized pricing of the BlackBerry Z10 is SR2,599. Kefel told Saudi Gazette that the Kingdom was the sixth country in the world to see the launch of the BlackBerry 10 platform and the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, after Canada, United Kingdom, France, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates.
