New apps and great deals excite thousands at Gitex

There’s 20,000 feet of display, 100,000 smartphone applications and discounts of up to 50 per cent — the numbers may boggle the mind, but tech heads will know enough to understand there is plenty to indulge in at Gitex’s first spring edition.

Gitex Shopper Spring 2013 — the Gulf Information Technology exhibition — opened its doors on Wednesday at 11am sharp, with Dubai Municipality acting director-general Hussain Nasser Lootah inaugurating the event before making his way around the Dubai World Trade Centre’s Hall 3, checking out the latest gadgets and gizmos on offer.

Intrigued by one of Samsung’s latest Galaxy smartphones, Lootah playfully quizzed a representative from the retail giant about the ins and outs of the product.

The yet-to-be-launched “Cyber Bike” app at the Samsung stage turns the argument that video games are bad on its head, as gamers use legs on bikes — instead of hands on gaming consoles — to cycle their way to gaming victory, while BlackBerry has come out with something to ease the shakiest of camera hands. New ‘timeshift’ technology captures a range of photos before and after the intended shot, to ensure shots of half-shut eyes no longer need to adorn Facebook pages.

And with hundreds more attractions on offer, including the jaw-dropping 100,000 apps, many of which are being given away for free, this is yet another geek haven for the remaining three days it lasts.

kelly@khaleejtimes.com