doobye

Ever wanted to buy something online but gave up because the store does not ship to Dubai? There’s actually a couple of companies that let you buy almost anything from the US or the UK and have it shipped here on your behalf. They offer you a mailing address abroad, and then ship whatever arrives in that mailbox to you here, and charge you a shipping fee.

The first company is actually a division of Aramex (the courier company) — their service is called Shop & Ship. They give you a mailbox in the US and the UK for a lifetime setup fee of $35.00. The only other charges you pay are when they ship something to you. They ship the contents of your mailbox three times a week.

The second company is called U Shop We Ship. Similarly, you pay a one time membership fee of $25.00 and then for every package they ship. They give you a mailbox in the US, the UK, and Dubai (ironically). They can ship your mailbox’s contents on a pre-determined weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly basis. Additionally, they offer an immediate shipping option at a extra charge. Another nice feature these guys offer is they give you a pre-paid credit card with your US mailbox’s billing address which you can use for all those online stores that only accept credit cards with a US billing address.

So now you can get that 2007 product while it’s still 2007!

Here at doobye.com, we are all fans of “Think Different”. Apple’s products are simply superior to their competition in every industry they exist — be it the best-selling line of iPods, the line of desktop and notebook Macs, or the recently announced iPhone and Apple TV. But until recently, finding up-to-date gadgets from Apple was close to impossible. Thankfully, IMC Middle East (the agent for Apple in Dubai and the Middle East) got their act together, and Apple products are now available in quite a few locations.

The best place is the Apple Center at the China Court in the Ibn Battuta Mall [Tel: 04-366-9797]. They have the widest range of products and can take your order if you want to custom build a computer. The staff there are the most knowledgeable out of the other retail locations. If you have a more technical question though, address it to the manager or supervisor since the sales people tend to make up information if they don’t know the answer (as is common in any store in Dubai).

Other retail locations include:

(more…)

iZone is the eCompany (Etisalat’s Internet division) monopoly on answer to WiFi hotspots. While it is ridiculously overpriced, it does let you connect to broadband Internet in quite a few locations. When you’re in an “iZone”, you have a few methods of payment to get you going. You can charge the session to your:

• Credit Card or iZone Prepaid Card (15 dhs for the first hour)

• GSM Account (10 dhs/hour)

• Dial-Up Internet Account (10 dhs/hour)

• Al Shamil Internet Account (6 dhs/hour)

Once you have secured your payment, you will receive an SMS (you must have a cell phone) with a password that will allow you to login and begin your Internet session.

Optionally, you can sign up for a monthly iZone plan. The ‘iZone Single User’ plan gives you 12 hours a month for 95 dirhams, and charges you 6 dhs/hour if you exceed those hours. The ‘iZone Multi User’ plan gives you 40 hours a month for 250 dirhams, and charges the same 6 dhs/hour if you go over.

More information on Etisalat’s website, under ‘Home > Home & Personal > On the Move > Data and Internet > iZone’.

iZone service is available in the following locations:

(more…)

Finally, a clear and detailed map of the entire emirate of Dubai! The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing has recently put together an updated map of the emirate, and has made it accessible online.

The map comes in two formats. The first, a Java-enabled interactive map, could have been designed a bit better. It looks cluttered, loads slowly, and navigates with difficulty. It does, however, sport some nice features. There is a directory with most of Dubai’s malls, restaurants, hospitals/clinics, streets, parks, etc. You can also search for nearly anything that is registered, and it will pinpoint it on the map. You can then print the part of the map that is zoomed in. The second format is a downloadable PDF file. This 1.8 MB file lets you view the whole area of the map, zoom, and move around quickly since the file is stored on your computer, rather than over the Internet. This is a great option if you want to take it with you on your PDA or e-mail it to anyone. The downside though, is that the file is secured by encryption and doesn’t allow you to print it.

doobye.com was launched today. This blog will write about any and every useful topic that our editors come across as residents of Dubai. Many hours can be spent looking for relevant information in Dubai, and turn up nothing meaningful. If we come across something interesting online, we will write about it here to save you the effort the next time you are looking for it. The topics will range from technological issues (which are very scarce in Dubai) to everyday things that take forever to find online.

In the coming months, the site will go through some major enhancement upgrades to suit the audience’s liking. We will set up a feedback form so you can let us know if there are any features you would like to see here. After all, this blog is designed for you to make the process of finding relevant information in Dubai a bit easier.

We are always looking to add content to this site and your contributions are warmly welcomed. If you have something to contribute to doobye.com or would like to become an editor, feel free to contact us and make yourself heard.

We hope you have a great time surfing doobye.com,

The Editors