News

Saudi Telecom Company Partners With Cubic Telecom To Deliver In-Car Services

Published

6 years ago

March 12, 2021

saudi telecom company partners with cunic telecom to deliver in car services

Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the largest mobile network operator in Saudi Arabia, has recently announced a partnership with Irish company Cubic Telecom, a leading enabler of automotive connectivity. Together, the two companies will develop in-car services for Saudi drivers, making the country’s vision of a connected future a step closer to reality.

“Partnering with Cubic enables STC as a digital enabler to simplify the delivery and management of advanced in-car services and gives us a foundation for innovating and meeting the changing needs of customers as new services evolve,” commented Dr. Sultan bin Saeed, VP of Business Development at STC.

The suite of tools provided by Cubic, called Connected Car, includes a solution that makes it possible for drivers to remotely monitor and control their vehicles via a smartphone app. It also includes an emergency calling system capable of automatically notifying emergency services in the event of a car crash.

Currently, Cubic’s in-car connectivity solution can be found in more than five million vehicles across 100 countries. The solution is embedded into vehicles at the manufacturing stage, and it gives car manufacturers the ability to collect data on cars’ performance and issue remote software updates.

“Cubic’s connected software is driving performance for carmakers and providing in-car services in key markets. We are delighted to be working with STC to help car manufacturers activate new opportunities in a very significant market,” said Barry Napier, CEO of Cubic Telecom.

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Saudi Arabia has been making significant investments to improve its telecommunications infrastructure and prepare it for the era of the Internet of Things, enabled by 5G connectivity.

In the future, connected cars are expected to be part of a larger ecosystem consisting, among other things, of smart road infrastructure, such as intelligent traffic lights that are aware of real-time traffic conditions and are able to communicate with self-driving vehicles to help them safely reach their destinations.

News

Abu Dhabi’s Robot Kitchen Is Serving Up Biryani, Not Burgers

Circus SE wants to put a tiny automated factory inside the buildings where Gulf residents live and work, bypassing part of last-mile delivery.

Published

4 days ago

October 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

abu dhabi's robot kitchen is serving up biryani not burgers

Circus SE

The most telling thing about a new autonomous kitchen now running in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Square is what it won’t cook:

“We don’t do fast food,” says Nikolas Bullwinkel, Founder and CEO of Circus SE. “We’ve actively decided not to build a machine that can only do burgers”.

Instead, the CA-1 system is built around pot-based cooking: curries, pastas, soups and rice dishes. After experimenting with highly personalized recipes, Circus deliberately leaned back toward recognizable food. “We’re going with a chicken biryani because you know it,” Bullwinkel says of the AED 40 dish.

circus se ca-1 robot system

The Germany-based robotics and food technology company operates across eight countries, and Abu Dhabi is its first deployment outside Europe. More locations are expected there and in Dubai.

In Germany, its units can be placed in supermarkets, gas stations, airports and hospitals. In the Gulf, Bullwinkel wants them inside residential and office buildings, replacing some of the complexity of last-mile delivery. “We’re basically bringing a very tiny factory a few square meters into your building,” he says. Catering company Royal Prestige supplies the ingredients and knowledge of local tastes.

The CA-1 manages up to 36 refrigerated ingredient silos alongside automated induction cooking, robotic plating and a self-cleaning dishwasher. Two robotic arms move ingredients through the system with minimal human intervention. It can produce up to 120 hot meals an hour, and a meal such as rice and curry can take around three to four minutes.

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Five cameras and multiple sensors monitor heat, temperature and consistency, an attempt to approximate what a chef perceives. “You can hear something gets burned, you can smell it, you can see it at some point,” Bullwinkel says. CircusOS, the company’s operating system, adjusts recipes in real time.

You might think of the platform as a threat to kitchen staff, but Bullwinkel frames Circus as a way for chefs to develop recipes and distribute them at scale. With that being said, rising labor costs and shortages are also part of his case for automation.