STC has released a carrier update that finally enables the personal hotspot function on the iPad (third and fourth gen) and iPad mini. iPads with an STC data SIM had the personal hotspot feature disabled unlike Zain and Mobily.

Personal Hotspot enables you to share an Internet connection with other devices via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB.

Thanks Waleed and Muhannad.

Thanks Wail for this screenshot:

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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Umm Al-Qura newspaper, a newspaper mainly used to publish trademark registration announcements, posted an announcement by the ministry of commerce and industry regarding the registration of the “APPLE” trademark in Saudi Arabia. [Thanks Bander.]

That’s good news and soon we will finally have an official Apple service center and online Apple Store in Saudi Arabia.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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Apple recently released iOS 6.1 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. One of the features of this update is enabling 4G LTE in many countries including Saudi Arabia.

Here is how to enable LTE on your device. Share your experience in the comments.

Supported Devices

You will need a device that supports LTE Band 3 (1800Mhz). The supported devices are:

• iPhone 5 with model A1429
• iPad mini with model A1455
• iPad with retina (iPad 4th gen) with model A1460

Zain

Send 4G as an SMS to 959 to enable 4G on both prepaid and billed SIM cards. Speed 4G data SIMs should work.

On iPhone: settings then general then cellular then set enable lte to on.

On iPad: settings then cellular data then set enable lte to on.

Mobily

You must go to Mobily and issue a new SIM card that supports 4G.

STC

STC hinted that their 1800Mhz LTE network will launch after 2 weeks. But for now you can “activate” LTE by sending 4466 to 902.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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Apple has released iOS 6.1 yeterday for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The iPad mainly enables LTE on many networks including Zain and Mobily in Saudi Arabia.

From Apple:

This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:
• LTE support for more carriers (complete list of supported carriers at www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/)
• Purchase movie tickets through Fandango with Siri (USA only)
• iTunes Match subscribers can now download individual songs from iCloud
• New button to reset the Advertising Identifier
For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

4G LTE in Saudi Arabia will only work on specific models of the iPhone 5, iPad mini and iPad 4 (with LTE band 3 support).

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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Apple has started offering movies and music for sale in the Saudi Arabia iTunes Store. Starting with music (and gift cards) last week and movies today.

You can buy movies from Disney, Pixar, Columbia and some Arabic movies as well.

Movies are currently sold for between 19.99 and 49.99 SR. Some movies are available for rent for 9.99 SR.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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Mobily has started taking orders for the iPhone 5 using Souq.com e-commerce site. They also announced the contract-free iPhone 5 prices. The phone will be available in Saudi Arabia next Thursday.

Here are the prices:

• iPhone 5 16GB 2799 SR
• iPhone 5 32GB 3199 SR
• iPhone 5 64GB 3649 SR

Compared to the original prices of the iPhone 4S from Mobily, the iPhone 5 32GB is 30 SR cheaper and the iPhone 5 64GB is 10 SR cheaper.

Mobily has also launched the official iPhone 5 webpage. Please note that the iPhones are sold with FaceTime disabled.

To buy the iPhone 5 visit this web site, English website is not currently available.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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Zain Saudi Arabia has started taking pre-orders for the iPhone 5 scheduled for release next Thursday December 13th.

Zain’s 4G LTE network is the only network that currently supports the iPhone 5. To begin the pre-order process visit Zain’s website. Zain also launched the iPhone 5 website.

As with all Saudi-issued iPhones, FaceTime will be disabled.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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STC, Mobily and Zain all has announced via Twitter that they have moved the iPhone 5 launch date in Saudi Arabia from December 14th to Tuesday the 13th of the month.

The iPhone 5 will most likely be the A1429 model and currently only supports Zain’s 4G LTE network. FaceTime is expected to be disabled on these iPhones as well.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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STC has started taking pre-orders for the upcoming iPhone 5 that will be released in Saudi Arabia on Friday December 14th.

If you’re interested in an iPhone 5 from STC then register this form.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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Apple released iOS 6.1 beta 3 to developers today. The update enabled 4G LTE on iPad minis and 4th gen iPads on Zain’s 4G network. Zain’s 4G LTE band (band 3 or 1800Mhz) is supported on most global iPad 4 (model A1460) and iPad mini (model A1455) units as well as iPhone 5 (model A1429).

Attached is a screenshot of my iPad mini running iOS 6.1 beta 3 on Zain’s 4G LTE network.

STC and Mobily’s 4G LTE currently do not support LTE 4G band 3 (1800Mhz). We have to wait until these companies change their network to support these devices.

You can find the author of this post on twitter: @khaled.

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