Search: “apple digits”

When the iPhone 13 Pro launched a couple of weeks ago I pre-ordered one from the Apple store along with a silicon cover. This is how much it cost me with shipping:

iPhone 13 Pro 512GB (Sierra Blue)
Apple Silicon Cover (Blue Jay)
Total = KD 404

Shipping – MyUS (so I don’t pay US tax)
FedEx 1-3 Days Priority
Customs and clearance fees
Total = KD 16

Total cost = KD 420

I’ll be actually selling this one since I accidentally ordered the 512GB instead of the 256GB. And since the shipping time from Apple is now 3-4 weeks due to high demand, I’m just gonna wait till Digits gets their phones and buy one from them. But, the prices above should give you an idea of how much it generally costs to get a phone directly from the States. There were two cheaper shipping prices with MyUS, but both would have resulted in the iPhone arriving in around 10 days’ time and I’m traveling soon so wanted it to arrive before.

Thursday night I passed by Digits in Marina Mall and picked up the new iPhone XS a few hours before the official launch. Digits always hook me up with a phone ahead of launch and even discount the phones for me because they know they’re going to get publicity from me. I like this arrangement because it means I don’t need to wait in line or worry about the phone getting sold out. This year I actually had another company approach me with a better deal on the new iPhone, but my history with Digits goes way way back.

I’m a very nostalgic person and I’ve got a lot of nostalgia with Digits. I’ve been a customer of theirs since before they were called Digits, since before they were called Mac&More, since way before the iPhone or iPod ever existed, back when their store was simply called Apple Computer. Back then they were located across from Salhia and had beautiful beige Power Macs on display which I sadly never got to own. But, since the very beginning, they’ve been hooking me up with stuff like when I got my Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh from them or when they let me take their Think Different banners after their Salhia store closed down. And then I got my 15 seconds of worldwide fame because of them when my pictures of their abandoned store made their way around the web. So yeah, I’m a big fan of Digits and very loyal. I think their service center is great and I just love dealing with them which is why I’m always promoting them.

This year I had two options of phones to choose from, the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. I was pretty tempted to get the Max but I already thought the regular XS was too big and so I knew I’d struggle with the Max. Since I sold my water damaged iPhone X around 3 months back I’ve been using an iPhone 8. I loved how small it felt and how I could easily reach all four corners of the screen with my thumb, but I did miss the full screen and I majorly missed the ability to switch between apps by just swiping left or right at the bottom of the screen. Although I was tempted to get the Max because it was a new phone and would give me more to write about on the blog, I knew the regular XS was the one I really should get. Judging by the poll I held on my instagram story though, it looks like the majority of you would prefer the Max.

The XS and X are virtually the same phone. Even though Apple could spend an hour talking about the differences, in reality, there isn’t that much of a difference. The only thing you might notice being different is the camera, the new camera is an improvement over the previous one but unless you’re taking two photos with the two different phones in the same spot and then compare them side by side… you won’t really notice a difference. Battery life still isn’t that great, when I went from the X to the 8 I was kinda surprised at how much better the battery life on the 8 was, I could spend all day on the phone and the battery wouldn’t drop down past 50%. With the X and now the XS, I could be down to 50% by lunchtime.

But truthfully, I’d rather be on the X or XS over the 8 any day. The iPhone 8 and any non-fullscreen iPhone really do feel and look outdated compared to the new iPhones with the fullscreen. Although I loved the battery life on the 8, I don’t mind the sacrifice for a larger and better screen. So moving from an iPhone 8 (or 7, 6, 5 etc..) to an XS is a no-brainer, the question really is if you have an iPhone X now, is it worth moving to an XS? The answer is no, not at all.

As many of you already know starting October 17th Kuwait is shifting from 7 digit numbers to 8. Zain numbers will get a 9 added at the beginning, Wataniya a 6, landlines will get a 2 added and commercial numbers that start with eight will get a 1 added to the front. Already over this weekend Zain and Wataniya started adding the extra numbers so its basically time to start converting all your phone numbers as well.

There are now a number of ways to convert all your numbers automatically. Zain and Wataniya both are offering this service. For Zain you need to send the letter B by SMS to 99509 and for Wataniya users you need to SMS the same word BACKUP but to 1618 instead.

Now if you would like to take matters into your own hands some guys have created applications that will do the conversion automatically.

For Windows users the blogger Q8ba7th has created an application that will take all your numbers and convert them with the new digits. You can download his application from his blog [Here]

For Mac users the blogger Q8i has created an Apple script that will also convert all your numbers to the correct format. You can download his script from his blog [Here]

Finally, iPhone users, you’re in for a treat because the local blogger Bojacob has created an iPhone application that will convert the numbers for you directly on your phone. To find out how to install his app visit his blog [Here]

Update: Here is the link to the Zain Mobile Backup site [Link]

My dog woke me up this morning at 5:30AM for his morning walk, and as I was leaving the house I noticed I had 6 new SMS messages from last night. When I opened them, it took me a few seconds to make sense of it.

The messages all came in at around 10:58PM Kuwait time when I was already fast asleep.

• Your account has been debited with GBP 0.00 at 19:58:32PM

• Your OTP for card ending with XXXX at Microsoft, 1249.99 GBP is XXXXX. Do not share etc..

• There is insufficient funds in your account to authorize your transaction at 19:59:24

• Your account has been debited with GBP 279.99 at 20:00:32

• Your account has been debited with GBP 279.99 at 20:02:12

• There is insufficient funds in your account to authorize your transaction at 20:03:15

Being half asleep because it was so early in the morning, I had to really work my brain to try and figure out if this was me or not. I’ve placed pre-orders before on things that get charged and shipped months later, and so I was trying to figure out if I might have ordered something from Microsoft months ago. I logged into my NBK bank app, clicked on my credit card and saw I had 0 pending transactions. I then assumed maybe this was my work’s credit card (I get those messages to my number as well) and that one of the employees might have been trying to purchase something for work.

But, I looked at the last 4 digits and it wasn’t the work credit card. Then it hit me, this wasn’t my credit card, it was my debit card! So I went back into the app, clicked on my debit card and checked under pending transactions, and sure enough there were two. This wasn’t me, so I called my bank up right away to report the fraudulent transactions.

The call lasted exactly 20 minutes which I think was a bit too long, at least for me that early in the morning while walking the dog. The first thing the bank did was lock my cards, lock my access to the app and online banking website, write a report up after asking me a bunch of questions, and then submit a request for a new debit card. In the next 24 hours, someone from the fraud claim request department is going to call me for more information.

I guess this was bound to happen eventually even though I’m really careful and smart about where I use my cards. But, I didn’t think it would happen with my main debit card since I never use that online. I don’t even use my debit card to withdraw money from ATM machine’s when I travel, I don’t even physically use it anymore since Apple Pay became available nearly 2 years ago! And thats whats confusing about all this.

If this was my credit card I can at least try and imagine how it might happened. I don’t use my credit card on dodgy websites, but I do use it online a lot so I can come up with plenty of scenarios on how someone could have gotten my credit card number. But my debit card? I have questions!

• This is a brand new card I was issued around 20 days ago

• I don’t have my debit card number saved on any website since I use my credit card for subscriptions or online purchases

• I just got back from a trip to Greece but I only used Apple Pay while there

• I don’t use my cards to withdraw money from ATM machines when I travel so a card skimmer couldn’t have been used

• Based on the messages I got, the bank requested an OTP number for the large 1249.99 GBP transaction. But the message right after says the order couldn’t go through because I had insufficient funds. Does that mean whoever tried using the card had somehow gotten the OTP number but the order didn’t go through because I didn’t have any money? Or does the bank ask for the OTP first and at the same time check to see if I have funds which is why I got both messages? I’m curious about that.

• Finally, why did NBK allow the two other transactions without requiring an OTP or Pin code? It’s not like they were small amounts, they were 100KD+ each and I’ve been asked for an OTP for much smaller amounts

It’s really really odd, only because this was my debit card AND it’s brand new, I got it issued earlier this month. It’s the same old debit card number I’ve had for years, but with a brand new expiry date and CCV number. It’s been around 20 days since I got this new card so it isn’t difficult to know where exactly I’ve used it. Physically, like actually taking the card out and touching or inserting it into a machine, I think I’ve only used it at a couple of ATM machines, and only locally. That’s it. The rest of the time I’ve used it through Apple Pay. So, brand new debit card, with a brand new CCV number, how did they get it? I have a lot of questions to ask the fraudulent department when they call me!

Right now I’m leaning towards the idea that one of the ATM’s I used must have had a skimmer installed. I think I only used two ATM machines with this new card, a Warba machine inside a Trolley near me, and a Burgan Bank drive thru machine. So I might pass by them today and try and see if there is a skimmer installed, in case the bank’s hasn’t already found it.

Update: So I just got a call from the fraud department. The amount is still pending so they’ve submitted a claim to release it back into my account and I should get it in around a week. That’s the good news.

I then discussed how this could happen and although they’re still investigating, the person I spoke to seemed to be leaning towards the fraud happening online. He made it seem like ATM skimmers weren’t a thing anymore or at least they weren’t a thing in Kuwait because our ATM machines are newer and more advanced. I told him that it’s a new card issued just 20 days ago and I hadn’t used it online. He said he could see I used it with Talabat and PayPal. When I asked if they would inform me after their investigation where the fraud happened, he said they wouldn’t.

The bank would inform the other party about the fraud but not me. So for example if the fraud was due to Talabat having some sort of security leak, they wouldn’t tell me about it. I thought that was very odd.

Anyway, if I get more information I’ll update this post but I think for now they’ve considered the issue sorted with me. Other than my new ATM card and the amount refunded back to me, I don’t think the bank will be communicating anything else with me about this.

Update2: Looks like the issue might be with Talabat! A friend just sent me a link to an article on @dailyarabi that points to an article about a database belonging to Talabat being leaked.

Update3: I got my money back a week later.

The pre-orders for the new iPhone 15 and 15 Pro will go live tomorrow September 22nd, but some authorized resellers like Xcite are going to go live from midnight tonight.

So if you were hoping to be one of the first to get the new iPhones at retail prices, you most likely need to pre-order to get your hands on one early. Here are the list of authorized Apple resellers in Kuwait according to Apple:

Alpha
Carrefour
Digits
Eureka
Gait
Lulu Hypermarket
Virgin
Xcite

The new iPhone 12 was released by Apple recently but there hasn’t been any announcement of a local launch date yet. I figured it might be related to logistics and production issues due to the pandemic so I checked with a contact of mine who told me that the telecoms, Apple Premium (Gait) and Apple Authorized Resellers (Digits, Xcite, etc.) hadn’t received their unit allocations yet.

But, looks like they finally did because yesterday some resellers started announcing a pre-order date. Starting this Friday, November 13th pre-orders for the new iPhone 12 will begin. Previously you’d have super long lines outside Apple resellers on launch day but with the pandemic right now that wouldn’t be the best idea which is why most likely the only way to get your hands on the new iPhone 12 on launch day would be by pre-ordering online. If it’s going to be anything like the iPhone X launch then there will also be a very limited number of units at launch.

Oddly, there still isn’t an official launch date for the devices, maybe that will be revealed on Friday as well. I’m personally going to be trying to get my hands on the iPhone 12 Pro to replace my 11 Pro. I always loved the way the iPhone 4 looked like and the new phones look basically the same.

Every year right after Apple announces a new iPhone, Digits get in touch with me asking me if I’d be interested in one. They always make sure I have a device on launch day so I could review it for the blog, and they always hook me up with a good discount on top of that. But, this was the first year I was a bit hesitant to say yes to them. I got the iPhone XS from them last year and it has been my favorite iPhone to date. The battery life was great, the camera was amazing and the OLED screen incredible. My phone was in great shape and I really didn’t have any issues with it so I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to plunk down money on a new one. But, since I take so many photos with the iPhone for the blog, the new ultra-wide lens and the new night mode would be really helpful, so I decided to get the iPhone 11 Pro in the new midnight green color.

When it came to choosing a color for the phone, any color would have been fine with me. I actually didn’t know what color my XS was until a friend asked me and I had to take it out of the silicon case to check. But since I wanted to feel like I got a new phone, I got the midnight green with the new matching silicon case. A lot of people online have mentioned how the green doesn’t really look green in real life, not sure what they’re on about but I can clearly tell its green. Its a grey green, not a bright or saturated green, but still green. I took the photo on top in front of my grey wall and you can clearly see how green the phone looks. I like it a lot and it sucks that I’m too clumsy or else I would have really enjoyed the color instead of having it hidden behind an iPhone case.

The changes in the new iPhone compared to the previous XS aren’t that noticeable and the only time you really can tell the difference is when you use the phone side by side with an older one. I found that out because whenever friends with iPhone XS’s ask me about the new 11 Pro, I downplay it a lot. I tell them there really isn’t much of a difference but then they take my phone and start playing with it and you hear sounds like “oooh” and “ahh” either because my phone launches apps a lot faster than theirs or because the new camera takes pictures that are noticeably better and because of the new ultra-wide lens.

After personally using the iPhone 11 Pro for a week now, here are the three things that really stick out for me compared to my XS:

Battery Life
Not sure how many extra hours my new iPhone battery lasts, but I used to leave the office before at around 3PM with my XS battery at around 40% full, now I leave the office with the battery at around 70% full. So a pretty noticeable improvement.

Ultra Wide Lens
Yes the three lenses do look a bit weird on the back of the phone but it also does help differentiate the new iPhone from the older ones. As soon as people see the three lenses they ask me if that’s the new iPhone 11 Pro and want to play around with it. The third lens on the new iPhone Pro is an ultra-wide lens and I’m generally a big fan of these kinds of lenses. I have a 12-24mm ultra-wide lens for my Sony A7 III camera and I tend to use it a lot so I love having a similar lens on my phone which is always with me, unlike my Sony cam. It’s going to make capturing interior shots a lot easier and I love shooting cars with ultra-wide lenses. Below is a photo of my apartment I took using the three different lenses for comparison.

Night Mode
This is a new feature that I’m really liking at the moment even though the effect is very subtle. The new iPhone 11 Pro has a feature called night mode that activates in low light situations. The camera then takes different exposures of your photo and combines them into one brighter and better lit photo. The result looks great but because this process all happens in the background, it doesn’t feel like the phone did anything special. It’s only when you compare the photo with the same image with night mode turned off do you notice the magic. This is why I said the effect is very subtle, not because the phone doesn’t do much but because the result looks natural and more real lifelike. Below is a perfect example of this, I took the shot at Peacock, the first with night mode off and the second with night mode on. In reality, the scene looked closer to the second shot (night mode on).

I do have one big issue with the new iPhone and that is the lack of 3D touch. Not a lot of people know this (which is why it’s a feature that got removed) but with the iPhone X and XS the phone recognizes hard presses on the screen. This was a pretty cool feature that allowed me to do various things quickly. If I was typing something and wanted to move the cursor to a previous word or area in the paragraph, I could just press hard on the keyboard area and then move the cursor that way. But now with 3D touch gone, I need to change my habits. Instead of hard pressing on the keyboard to move the cursor around, I have to now long press on the keyboard space key to move the cursor which is just more awkward and slower. Even something so simple as opening the camera from my lock screen requires me to relearn the button press timing right because I’m used to hard pressing the camera button and opening it up instantly. Instead, I now have to press the camera button for a short time to open the camera and after a week I still haven’t gotten the timing right.

But, the biggest question everyone wants to know the answer to is if it’s worth the upgrade?

If you have an iPhone XS
Probably not, not unless you really want the ultra-wide lens. If you travel a lot or post to instagram a lot then you’re gonna really appreciate the new opportunities the ultra-wide lens will give you. The night mode is a great feature but not nearly as fun or obvious like the new ultra-wide lens.

If you have an iPhone X
You probably should, the camera quality difference between X and XS was big, and the difference between X and 11 Pro is even bigger. Plus the new phone is a lot faster and because your X’s battery probably doesn’t hold as good as a charge now as it did 2 years ago, you’re gonna notice an even bigger jump in battery life.

If you have an iPhone 8 or older
Yes, for sure! The larger OLED screen is the biggest reason you should upgrade but the excellent camera and much faster processor are also really good reasons to upgrade.

Let me know if you have any questions below and thank you Digits for the hooking me up again!

The new Apple iPhone 11 launched in the US a couple of days ago but the official launch date for Kuwait is currently set for the 27th of September unless there is a delay with shipping. Some of my favorite Apple Authorized Resellers where you’ll be able to purchase the new iPhone are Alpha Store, Digits, Gait and Xcite. All four are expected to sell the phones for the same price, but some might include additional freebies with the phone. Below are the expected prices of the new iPhone 11:

iPhone 11
64GB: KD250
128GB: KD268
256GB: KD303

iPhone11 Pro
64GB: KD358
256GB: KD411
512GB: KD483

iPhone11 Pro Max
64GB: KD393
256GB: KD446
512GB: KD519

Back in October I picked up an iPhone XS from Digits. My previous iPhone X had failed due to water damage and so wasn’t covered under warranty even though the iPhone X is meant to be water resistant. Anyway, last month I noticed the volume on my iPhone XS wasn’t that loud. Turned out the bottom speaker had stopped working. Since it was covered under warranty, I decided to take it back to Digits to get repaired. But Digits wanted to keep the phone for a few days and since I didn’t feel like wiping everything off my phone and handing it over to them, I decided I’d just live with the speaker issue or maybe take it to an unauthorized Apple repair shop and have them fix it for me while I wait. It would void the warranty, but it would also be a lot more convinient.

I called up my favorite iPhone repair shop to see if they stocked the iPhone XS lower speaker but they didn’t, which ended up turning out to be a good thing! Around a week after passing by Digits, my iPhone XS modem started to fail and I was getting a weird cellular update message. My phone stop connecting to my cellphone network and removing or reinserting my sim card wouldn’t make a difference. The modem would just stop working, I’d get an onscreen update error, then my cell coverage bars turn into a warning triangle. All I could do was wait for it to start working again.

So I backed up everything on my phone, wiped it clean and dropped it off at Digits for them to repair. Around 10 days later, I get a phone call from Digits telling me that they’ve replaced my phone with a brand new one under warranty, and to come by and pick it up.

If I had gone to my usual unauthorized repair shop to fix the speaker, my warranty would have been voided and my phone would not have been replaced for free when the modem failed. This whole experience has changed my view on iPhone repairs. I usually replace my cracked screens at unauthorized repair shops because they’re a lot cheaper and a lot quicker, but after this incident, I don’t think I’m going to do that anymore. Something to keep in mind next time you crack your phones screen.

In case you’re curious about the cost of repairing a water damaged iPhone X at an authorized dealer, here is what I found out when I took mine to Digits.

– They opened my phone to find the interior still wet even though I had my phone in a bowl of rice for three days. They dried out the interior and put the phone back together, the cost of that was KD10.

– My rear cameras were still fogged up. Because the camera assembly is enclosed they can’t open it up themselves to dry it out. The solution they offered me was to replace the whole camera assembly which costs KD55. I decided not to do that.

– My front facing camera was working perfectly now (not foggy anymore) but Face ID was still disabled in the settings with no way to turn it back on. According to support if the problem didn’t resolve itself, then the only way to fix it would be to replace the internal phone board. That isn’t something Apple does instead what they do is allow you to swap your damaged phone for a brand new one. The cost of that? 230KD. For a phone that’s badly damaged, I can see that being worthwhile but not in my situation.

Anyway I took the phone home and dumped it into telephone rice again. By evening time the rear cameras were no longer fogged up but Face ID still didn’t work. I’m just gonna keep it in rice for a few more days and if Face ID still doesn’t work I’ll just use the phone without it.

Thursday night I picked up my iPhone X from Digits in Marina Mall. They’d given me early access to buy one so that I could review it on the blog, but they made me promise that I wouldn’t turn it on until Friday morning 8AM. Apple is pretty strict with these things so I understood their concern. I know someone who had gotten an iPhone X a few days earlier, and when they turned it on, Apple sent the authorized reseller he had gotten the phone from a warning that they had 2 hours to shut it down or else. I wasn’t in a rush, I didn’t mind waiting till the next morning to play with the iPhone X, I was just glad I had my hands on one and didn’t have to wait in any line to get it.

I’m not the kind of person that upgrades phones every year, I was actually using an iPhone 6S until last week and was perfectly fine with it until my company handed me an iPhone 8. The iPhone X is the first iPhone in years that I’ve really wanted, and after using it over the weekend, here are my first impressions:

No Home Button
The iPhone X no longer has a home button and I was worried it would take time to get used to the new swipe up to go home gesture. But, I got used to it within the first few minutes of using the phone. To me it feels natural and so much slicker and faster than clicking down on the home button. So goodbye home button, you won’t be missed.

Face ID
This is probably my favorite feature in the iPhone X. It just works. The best way to describe it is that it’s as if your phone doesn’t have a passcode. To unlock your phone, you pick it up and then you swipe up to go home. Super simple, super fast. If for some reason your phone doesn’t wake up when you pick it up, you just tap the screen to wake it up and then swipe up. Again super fast. But Face ID has other advantages than just using it to log into your phone. When I get to a website that asks me to log in with my username and password, the phone checks my face and when it recognizes me automatically fills in my username and password. Another cool feature of Face ID is with notifications. When you get say a whatsapp message on your phone, you won’t see a preview. Pick up the phone and Face ID will recognize you and then show you a preview of the whatsapp messages [Example]. That’s a really smart feature because it means you can leave your phone out in the open and not worry about anyone reading your notification previews, but it also means you yourself can still read those previews. If you’re also wondering, Face ID works under different lighting so if you’re in complete darkness or out under bright sunlight, Face ID will still be able to read your face. Face ID was still able to read my face even though I had sun glasses on and even when my face was half stuffed deeply into my pillow.

The Screen
It’s huge and I’m loving it so far mostly because the blacks are so black. One of the biggest advantages of OLED screens (which is what the iPhone X uses) is the blacks are pure black. That’s because unlike LCD’s, to get the color black on an OLED screen it shuts off the pixels that are supposed to be black. So black is parts of the screen not lit up. Am I making sense? Imagine a room with no windows and one light bulb, to turn the room black you just turn off the bulb. No light = complete darkness = black. The “notch” on top of the screen isn’t annoying at all by the way, in fact I barely notice it. I mean its there, but it doesn’t hinder the experience of using the phone in any way. For those of you who are also concerned that not all apps are yet adapted to take full advantage of the iPhone X, from all the apps I use I think only 2 or 3 still display a black border on top and the bottom of the screen. The rest of my apps all display full screen and so it’s not really a big issue, and whatever apps don’t display in full screen I’m expecting them to by their next update.

Wireless Charging
I picked up a Belkin Qi charger from Xcite for around KD6 and have it on my bedside table. I noticed compared to the iPhone 8 the iPhone X has a larger wireless charging sweet spot. With the iPhone 8 it wouldn’t always start charging when I placed it on the charger but I haven’t had that issue with the iPhone X. If like me you use a magnetic mount for the phone it can still work with wireless charging. I have the metal plate sandwiched between my silicone cover and the phone, but I moved the plate all the way to the bottom of the phone and turned it sideways. That way the center of the phone is clear and the metal plate won’t interfere with charging.

Size vs iPhone 8
The iPhone 8 and X are virtually the same size. The iPhone X is slightly taller and thicker but too minor to even notice.

The Camera
Finally the camera, probably the most important aspect of the phone for me. I was always jealous of iPhone Plus owners since they had two lenses on their phones, the regular wide one and a more zoomed in one. Other than the added advantage of being able to zoom in closer to a subject (while maintaining the image quality), having two lenses allowed Apple to create the “portrait mode” feature in which it blurs the background making it look like it was shot with a DSLR. The iPhone Plus is too big a phone for me so I never considered getting it, but the iPhone X has the same camera system as the plus, with more features like a brighter aperture (f/2.4 vs f/2.8) and optical image stabilisation for both lenses not just the wide one. I haven’t really taken that many shots with it, just a few of my brothers cats and some of my friends and so far I really am loving the portrait mode.

So yeah as you can tell, I’m really loving the iPhone X so far. Although it was a big chunk of change to spend on just a phone, I think its worth it. If you’re looking to pick one up, Digits sold out their stock on launch, but are getting another shipment in around a weeks time. They currently have a waiting list so you can go and reserve a phone. The prices of the 64GB version is KD353 and the 256GB version KD405. A friend also just picked up a phone from Zain this morning but I think you have to sign up to a plan or something to get it (i.e. don’t think you can just straight up buy it from them).

Digits(an Apple Authorized Reseller) will have the the iPhone X available to purchase at all their stores this coming Friday, November 3 at 8AM. They’ll be selling the iPhone X at the following prices:

iPhone X 64GB – 352.9KD
iPhone X 256GB – 404.9KD

The phones will be sold at their following locations:

Marina Mall – Salmiya
The Avenues – Rai
Yaal Mall – Fahaheel

They have a limited number so it’s first come first served.

A couple of years back I put together a list of local online shopping stores and ever since I’ve been quietly updating it. But now it got to the point where I also felt I needed to organize the list properly which is why I decided to create a new updated list.

Below are all the local online shopping websites I am aware of. If there are any missing let me know in the comments, the websites have to be based in Kuwait and allow you to purchase items directly from it.

A redditor started a list of online shopping websites in Kuwait and I decided to add a few more and share the list here. I’m sure there are a bunch of places I’m missing so let me know about them in the comments. To qualify on the list below they need to be locally based websites.

Gaming
Games Q8
Digumz
Game Center Kuwait

Electronics
X-Cite
Blink
Best
AAB World
Eureka
Yeeeba

Computers
Q8 Quadra
Smartek
Cameo Computer Services
Want it Buy it
Personal Computer Center

Food Products
Taw9eel
SaveCo
Natureland
Lulu
FAME
Gourmet Shelf
Gourmet ME
One Stop
Prime Cuts
Kuwait Fresh Fish
On Cost
Sultan Center

Ready Made Food
6alabat
Alshaya Delivery
I Eat Online
Nespresso
Maachla
Tadco
Bilbayt

Variety of Products
uBuy
Quick
Mr Babu
Fen’Teg

Fashion
Yacob Behbehani Sons Co.
The Yard
Pink Moon
Thouqi
Grain
Shop #4
Soccer Scene
Nables

Other
Sheeel (Daily Deel)
Beidoun Online (Perfumes + Cosmetics)
Timeless Baby (Baby Stuff)
K7L (Cosmetics)
Pet Zone (Pets)
Pet Pal (Pets)
Pet House (Pets)
Oleana Boutique (Baby Stuff)
Boutiqaat (Cosmetics)
Dowa (Pharmacy)
Craft and Company (Lifestyle)
Bleems (Flowers, Chocolates, Gifts)
NHE Group (Satellite Receivers)
ProSports (Sporting Equipment)
Pharmatee(Pharmacy)
Page Turner (Books)
Cavaraty (Phones)
Mobile 2000 (Phones)
KWT Cover (Phones)
Digits (Apple Products)

Update: I’ve reorganized and updated this list under a new post [Here]

Over the weekend I picked up three different speaker docks from the Digits Apple Store to review. Even though all three do the same thing they’re not really direct competitors, either because of the price difference or because of their abilities as you’ll see in my short reviews below.

Logitech S715i
The Logitech speaker was the smallest and most portable of the three. It’s also the only one that comes with built in rechargeable batteries which makes it really convenient to take to the beach and other places where power outlets aren’t available. The speakers are loud although the sound isn’t the greatest with pretty weak bass but that’s to be expected due to the size. One thing that really bugged me about the speaker dock is that I couldn’t connect my iPhone to it unless I removed the iPhone bumper which was annoying. Overall a fairly decent speaker that doesn’t win on style or sound but is priced competitively at KD35. Personally I’d check out the Jawbone Jambox first if I was looking for portability but that also costs twice as much.

Altec Lansing iMT800 Digital Boombox
When I first pulled out this boombox from the box I was a bit disappointed. I had just finished with the Monster Beatbox and compared to it, the Altec Lancing felt very plasticky, light and flimsy. It also didn’t sound as good nor was it as pretty. But it did have some features the Beatbox lacked and one of them is the built-in FM radio tuner. If you’re a fan of Linda on the Superstation you’re going to really want this. Another feature is the fact that it has three inputs, one iPhone/iPod dock and two auxiliary inputs so you could hook up 3 iPods if you want. Finally and more importantly is that the Altec Lansing can run on 8 large D-cell batteries which actually is a useful feature. Now because of the size of the Altec Lansing I thought it was competing with the Monster Beatbox but turns out they’re currently selling this for KD34 which suddenly makes this not so great speaker dock a really great deal. It sounds a lot better than the much smaller Logitech, it also has a small digital screen that shows you details like artist and album name as well as having the ability to run on batteries if needed. I actually emailed Digits back to confirm they hadn’t mixed up with the price. Turns out they’re having an offer on these and I’m guessing because of the newer iMT810 version.

Monster Beatbox by Dr. Dre
This by far was the best sounding speaker of the three. Even compared to my Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 the Monster Beatbox sounded really great with a lot more deeper bass. It was also the easiest of the three to operate and it also had the most solid build. The Beatbox is pretty simple with just an iPhone/iPod dock in one corner and a volume knob on the other. To give you an idea of how big a sound the Beatbox has, I live in a two story apartment and while I was sitting upstairs Nat was listening to music downstairs and I couldn’t tell if she was listening to music off our home theater or the Beatbox (turned out to be the Beatbox). The amount of bass it gives out for it’s size is just ridiculous, it really does shake the house. I did have one big issue with the Beatbox and that is the fact the dock can’t hold an iPad. I know you’re probably wondering who would want to use an iPad as a music dock anyway and the answer is anybody who’s tried the iPad version of Spotify. I use it with my BeoSound 8 and it’s unbelievably cool so much so that while I’m home I no longer listen to my MP3’s. The iPad Spotify app is fantastic plus I prefer to keep my phone on me and not plugged into a speaker dock. But that’s nit picking a bit which is fine since this is a review. Price-wise if you’re interested in the Beatbox, Digits are selling it for KD100 to my readers. Just tell them you saw this price on my blog and you’ll be able to get it for KD100 which is around KD20 cheaper than Amazon (not including tax and shipping).