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Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
News
GluCare Rebrands To Metabolic, Dropping Diabetes-Only Identity
The Dubai health player is widening its scope and setting sights on UK and US expansion.
Dubai-based Metabolic has rebranded from its former moniker of GluCare.Health, stepping beyond its roots as a diabetes-focused clinic to position itself as a broader metabolic health platform.
Launched in 2020 by Ali Hashemi, Dr. Ihsan Almarzooqi and Zeina Abdalla, the company says the name change reflects how its clinical model has widened over five years in the UAE. Instead of centering solely on glucose control, it now targets metabolic syndrome as a web of linked risks — from obesity and cardiovascular disease to fatty liver disease, PCOS and chronic kidney disease.
The core product is what the company calls “Metabolic OS,” a hybrid care operating system that connects diagnostics, continuous remote monitoring and AI-driven decision support inside a clinician-led model. The pitch centers on delivering fewer disconnected tests, and more coordinated oversight between visits.
“Over five years we’ve built what we wish the healthcare system had from day one: an operating system for metabolic risk,” said Ali Hashemi, CEO and co-founder. “Not a collection of apps, devices, and disconnected tests, but an integrated model where data becomes signal, signal becomes action, and action translates into outcomes. AI is most powerful when it supports great clinicians and helps patients stay engaged between visits. That’s the DNA of Metabolic OS”.
The shift comes as the Middle Eastern health sector grapples with some of the highest diabetes and obesity rates globally. In the UAE, many people with type 2 diabetes remain uncontrolled, while the same underlying drivers spill into heart disease and endocrine disorders.
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“[Those] metabolic drivers are fueling obesity, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, and hormonal disorders,” said Dr. Ihsan Almarzooqi, managing director and co-founder. “The clinical need is clear: earlier detection, better risk stratification, and longitudinal support. The technology now exists to do this well, but only if it’s integrated into a coordinated care model. That’s what we’ve built”.
Metabolic’s services now span endocrinology, cardiology, obesity management, sleep-related metabolic disorders and hormone care for men and women. Preventive health and executive risk assessments are part of the mix.
The company cites 2025 real-world publications showing HbA1c reductions of up to 2.3 percentage points, around 10% weight loss within three months, and improvements in triglycerides and blood pressure. It also reported stronger muscle preservation among patients using GLP-1 therapies.
GluCare.Health will remain as the group’s research and evidence arm.
