Thumb-power

SMS remains a technology with lots of potential applications waiting to be discovered and implemented — for everything from payment systems to information on demand. Given the mobile network operators' strong desire to maximize profits, and the need for, say, Etisalat or Du to differentiate themselves, a good idea from a start-up has an excellent chance of getting heard.

The trend-spotting site Springwise has a good example from the Philippines, where text messaging has caught on in a huge way.

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Connecting with the right excuse

For commuters using the UK's rail network autumn mornings would be sprinkled with late running trains. The standard, slightly baffling excuse would be that there were leaves on the line. Retailers, explaining a poor season's sales, often fob off investors with the excuse that the weather was 'wrong', either too rainy or too sunny.

For Middle East telecom providers there is standard go-to line when services are disrupted: 'damage to underwater cables'. A cable in the Mediterranean was damaged last week causing a slow down in internet connection speeds across the region. This was followed by damage to a cable off the coast of Dubai, and then another off Qatar. If one is bad luck, and two is careless, what does that make three?

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Do the math

In a meeting with Coca Cola senior management a couple of years ago, the company's regional md revealed how his life is governed by a continuous check of Coke's retail presence. Every day, in shops, on planes, in bars, at vending machines, was spent checking whether Coke was beating Pepsi?

In this morning's Emirates Business 24/7, Osman Sultan, CEO of Du, admits to a similar compulsive disorder: he says he feels a "quiet sense of achievement" every time he answers a call from an 055 prefix.

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