Category: United Arab Emirates

Ayna Launches Beta Of Online Map Service for the Middle East & North Africa

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AynaA few days ago, Arab search engine Ayna launched a beta version of Ayna Maps, a service that provides interactive maps of places and businesses for all major Arab capitals in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Ayna is one of the first Arabic search engines in the region, and now aims to grow its search services by providing more types of information like its new street level map service covering 26 cities in 17 countries and presented in Arabic and English.

Ayna maps aims to provide detailed street level mapping that is not available through any other online service, including Google, Yahoo, and MapQuest; in order to give businesses and individuals alike the possibility to easily locate and add points of interest. As of the launch, Ayna Maps are preloaded with over fifty thousand searchable points of interest available in Arabic, English and French to meet the needs of local audiences.

Businesses will be able to mark their physical location on a map to guide their customers, and easily embed the marked map in any web site along with their contact details, such as name, address, phone, email, and a descriptive summary.

Doha Ayna Map

Cities covered by Ayna maps include: Beirut (Lebanon); Damascus (Syria); Baghdad (Iraq); Amman, Aqaba (Jordan); Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Madina (Saudi Arabia); Kuwait City (Kuwait); Doha (Qatar); Manama (Bahrain); Dubai, Abu Dhabi (UAE); Muscat (Oman); Sanaa (Yemen); Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurguda (Egypt); Khartoum (Sudan); Tripoli (Libya); Tunis (Tunisia); Algiers (Algeria); Rabat, Marrakech (Morocco).

Ayna Maps future releases include providing routing and directions, updating map data, and publishing submitted points of interest for businesses in the region. A mobile version of the map service will also be launched soon.

The idea is a very useful one and really needed in the region, and for an initial beta release it is pretty good; Hopefully future versions will have more detailed and revised maps, with more integrated points of interest.

# Ayna Maps

Next: The Simple, Intuitive And Limited To-Do List Application

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NextA couple of days ago, as covered here, the teams from SpinBits and CloudAppers launched a really interesting and exciting experiment called Zero2Beta, focused on intense design and development of a useful web application from concept to launch in a couple of days, and releasing it to the public.

The first application in this experiment, code-named “App1″, was named “Next“; The idea behind developing Next was to attempt to approach the old-and-tried to-do list web app in a simpler, more intuitive and limited way; to address short-term task management to handle usual day-to-day stuff.

After 2 days of hard design and development work at the SpinBits offices, sticking to the bare basics, and killing some features: Next was launched moments ago.

The interface is very clean, simple, and usable; and the idea is very straightforward: 1 task at any time, 140 characters per task, 20 tasks maximum; you can set priorities by dragging and dropping tasks into order; and you just start getting things done.

Next screenshots

A very good result for something that was built in only a couple of days time.

You can all play around with Next here: movetonext.com

Zero2Beta: Intense Web Application Design & Development

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Zero2BetaZero2Beta is a new experiment launched by SpinBits and CloudAppers on intense design and development of a useful web application from concept to launch in a couple of days, and releasing it to the public.

With agile development platforms like Rails and the back-to-basics approach to applications, the time to design, develop and launch an application has become impressively short; Zero2Beta is a collaboration effort that aims to push this to the extreme and create something from scratch in a couple of days time only.

It enforces the practice of coming up with a unique idea, designing an application around it, deploying it and getting it out to the public as soon as possible. The idea is that the self-imposed limitations in terms of time and resources will eventually push the team to focus on what really matters and rise above trivial decisions to working on the absolutely necessary parts needed to have something working quickly.

The first application in this experiment, code-named “App1″, and which will be named “Next“, will kick off tomorrow.

A blog to document the different steps of the project has been setup at  Zero2Beta; and a twitter account @zero2beta has been created too, so that people can follow the advancement of the project hourly throughout the next couple of days, with links to posts in addition to some photos and videos as well.

I think it’s a very interesting experiment, and am really looking forward to seeing the results of this collaboration between SpinBits and CloudAppers.

Sukuk.net, Online Islamic Finance Portal

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Sukuk.netSukuk.net is a new online financial portal dedicated to “Sukuk” (Islamic Bonds), and Islamic financing, that aims to be the definitive source of information on the global Sukuk market and the premier online destination for the Sukuk industry providing investors, financial services professionals, researchers and institutions with up to date market information.

It also hopes to go one step further by providing investors with all the tools necessary to understand the market and analyse the competition and market data; and assisting firms in developing strategies, market forecasting and identifying new business and investment opportunities.

Users can track global Sukuk activity, market data and register for market tracking analysis tools. The website’s Sukuk Wire also provides an up to the minute feed of the latest news and information on global Sukuk.

The launch of this portal is in response to a growing number of investors and enterprises seeking Shariah compliant funding and general public interest in Islamic finance; The Sukuk market, in particular, is seeing rapid growth and Sukuk paper has the advantage of competitive pricing as a risk-mitigation structure.

Sukuk.net

Sukuk.net is a Dubai and Jeddah based initiative formed through a joint venture between Siraj Capital Ltd., a leading Saudi based Islamic asset management company, and alClick Ltd., a leading provider of online advertising and marketing services in the Gulf region.

# Sukuk.net

MBR Foundation Center For Entrepreneurship and Innovation In American University Of Beirut

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Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum FoundationThe Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation today announced plans to establish a new center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon, as part of its continuous efforts to instill the spirit of entrepreneurship in the Arab world.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, aiming to serve as a regional nucleus for entrepreneurship research and knowledge dissemination in the Arab world, will be established in collaboration with AUB with an endowment of AED18.3 million (nearly US$5 million).

Under the agreement, the Foundation and AUB’s Olayan School of Business will combine forces to support and develop entrepreneurship-related research, training material and expertise in the Arab world. Through the new centre, the Foundation and AUB will also work towards enhancing regional business capabilities, leading to a better understanding of current and future entrepreneurial activity and challenges in the region.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will develop and provide research and training materials fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in the Arab World, thereby contributing to creating conditions conducive to furthering employment and supporting economic activity across the region. Additionally, it will conduct regional entrepreneurship studies to identify barriers to entrepreneurship that individuals, business leaders, corporations and governments can help alleviate.

The center will also serve as a knowledge center for e-students, entrepreneurs and policy-makers by providing entrepreneurship sector analysis, country analysis, profiling and policy recommendations, regular data surveys, as well as relevant business case studies.

Operating as an open source institution for its published output, the centre will offer access to its resources to eligible entrepreneurs, researchers and relevant stakeholders as determined through mutually agreed criteria set by the Foundation and the AUB.

Aimed at promoting job growth and business creation in the region, the Foundation seeks to develop entrepreneurship programmes that facilitate business mentorship, expertise and services among successful and aspiring entrepreneurs. In developing a series of related programmes that support young businesses, the Foundation aims to assist emerging entrepreneurs to explore, identify and seize potential business opportunities across the Arab world.

As part of its efforts to support regional centres dedicated to advancing business education and supporting young enterprises, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation recently signed key partnership agreements with a number of leading organisations and educational bodies across the Arab world including the Dubai-based Young Arab Leaders (YAL), Al Akhawayan University in Morocco, and the Palestine Information and Communications Technology Incubator (PICTI) in Palestine.

# More: Zawya

Places.ae Dubai Location Based Directory Goes Mobile

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Places.aePlaces.ae, the Dubai location based directory, previously reviewed here, have taken their service one step further, officially launching the mobile version of their service at http://m.places.ae

The mobile version has been under development and test for a while now, and now that BlackBerry support has been integrated into it, it has been launched officially.

This mobile version also supports iPhone and Windows Mobile clients, with an even more optimized interface as their browsers and UI are better than those of the BlackBerry; as well as any mobile device that can read HTML pages.

Places.ae BlackBerry Home

However, if you have a BlackBerry equipped with GPS, it’s even easier to find places you’re looking for, as place.ae will use the information from the GPS satellites to know where you are and find a list of places that are closest to your current location.

If you click on one of the entries in the list, you will see a little static map of the place, and as phone numbers of the places are often detected, it’s easy to call a place to ask for other details or make a reservation if necessary.

For more details on how to use a GPS-enabled BlackBerry with Places.ae, you can check out the details and instructions on the Places.ae Blog.

Swalif Think Day, An Event Encouraging Arab Thought & Innovation Online

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Swalif Think DayUnder the slogan “Think“, Dubai’s Knowledge Village will be witnessing a joint event by GadgetsArabia, Swalif Soft, and the Emirates Internet Group, on August 7th 2008, aimed towards pushing and encouraging development in the Arab internet industry, by bring together a number of high profile speakers from some leading Arab web2.0 companies.

Some representatives from Google Middle East will be attending the event, as well as people from Arab internet companies and prominent Arab websites and portals. Members of the press and media will be attending too.

Event Location:
United Arab Emirates
Dubai
Knowledge Village
Conference room, block 1, 1st floor

Event programme:

  • Welcome & Opening Note
    Speaker: Ahmed Gabr, Editor of GadgetsArabia
    Time: 5 minutes
  • How do I attract big advertisers to my site?
    Speaker: Tariq Al-Asiri, CEO or Argaam.com
    Time: 15-20 minutes
  • Open discussion on online advertising
    Q&A with Tariq Al-Asiri; moderated by Ahmed Gabr
    Time: 20-30 minutes
  • How do you launch a web2.0 project, and what are the difficulties and challenges you could face?
    Speaker: from TootCorp
    Time: 15 minutes
  • From idea to implementation in web2.0
    (Use of APIs, Usability, Productivity)
    Speaker: Habib Haddad, Co-Founder of Yamli.com
    Time: 15 minutes
  • Web2.0 success story
    Speaker: Rida Al-Barazi, of SpinBits.com
    Time: 15 minutes
  • Open discussion on web2.0 and web development
    Q&A with all speakers, moderated by Ahmed Gabr
  • Closing note

The event is public, open to everyone and free.

MBC Group & CDC Games Partner On Arabic Online Gaming Portal

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MBC GroupMBC Group recently partnered with CDC Games, a global market leader in online gaming and distribution based in China, to develop and launch an Arabic online gaming web portal which will include a portfolio of massive multi-player online games (MMPOG/MMPORG), in both English and Arabic.

MBC Group aims to reproduce the success of the online multi-player game genre in the Arab world, through launching games that are customized for the region’s audience and that appeal to the numbers of Arab gamers that have been pretty limited in their choices up to now.

Online gaming has become a huge global industry with an estimated value expected to reach $13 – $15 billion by 2012. This progressive trend is clearly what incited MBC Group to develop this venture for the Arab market.

This is yet another online project by MBC Group, that is part of their strong online strategy push recently, which has produced projects such as MBC iMatter, a social networking site for Arab women, and MBC2 Movies In Motion, a video sharing and social networking service; and which Sam Barnett, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of MBC Group, describes as their “overall strategy of leading the region towards digital and media convergence.”

# More: Zawya

Leading Arab Job Site Bayt.com Crowdsource New Design Online

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Bayt.comBayt.com, the leading job site in the Arab world, are looking to give their website a facelift, and instead of fully doing it in-house or going to some design company to work on it for them, they’ve decided to try and crowdsource the design online.

From their side, they’ve done a lot of thinking and benchmarking internally, and their staff came up with a preliminary design, that they’re now opening up to different people online to get a fresh perspective on it all, and how everything can be laid out and designed.

They’re doing this through 99designs, where they’ve posted a contest asking people to submit their designs and the way they see the website.

The initial mock-up files featuring Bayt’s own ideas and the elements they want included are provided, with a number of guidelines, what they’re looking for and need in the design, and the no-nos that designers should avoid.

The winning design gets a $500 prize.

It’ll be really interesting to see how this experience works out, and what comes out of it in the end. Really nice move from Bayt.com to try and explore different ideas and artistic directions.

The contest details, how to take part in it, as well as the already submitted designs can be found here: Bayt.com Homepage Facelift.

Shoof TV, Arab Media Group’s Video Sharing Service

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Shoof TVShoof TV is an Arab video sharing website, which was intially launched by Arab Media Group, one of the largest media companies in the UAE, back in April 2007.

The site’s content is user-generated, with videos submitted from users all over the Middle East.
Users can upload files in several popular video formats, with file sizes up to 50MB. For larger files they can be sent via regular mail to Shoof TV for inclusion on the site.
Uploaded content is screened for objectionable content before appearing online.

The site visitors can vote on the videos using the ‘Applause’ feature, and also leave their comments on them.

As well as hosting user-generated media content, Shoof TV also hosts a number of competitions, with various prizes, to encourage more talented people from the Middle East to submit and share their content. Winners are selected by a panel of judges and by public SMS voting.

Shoof TV Screenshot

Khadeeja Al Marzooqi, the General Manager of Shoof TV, recently talked about the future plans for Shoof TV, and how a TV station will be launched towards the end of 2008, with 100% user generated content, relying on the clips people uploaded on their website.

# Shoof TV