Category: Tools

eSpace Integrating Yamli Transliteration Technology In Popular Online Text Editors

MMM 4 Comments

eSpaceeSpace, the Egyptian software company behind services like meOwns and weNear, has been a supporter of the advancement of Arabic content on the web, through contributing to Wikimania2008 in Egypt and other various activities, in their attempt to realize the true potential of one of the World’s most spoken languages.

The company is currently taking another step to try to promote and simplify the use of the Arabic language on the internet, and that is by integrating Yamli‘s award-winning transliteration technology, that enables users to type Arabic using Latin characters by converting their words in real time into Arabic text, as a rich text formatting option in a number of the most prominent and popular online text editors, such as FCKeditor, TinyMice editor, as well as in popular forum software like VBulletin and PHPBB.

YamliBy bringing Yamli’s technology directly into the tools people are using to write on the web, publishing Arabic language content becomes even easier and more straight-forward, eliminating the fuss of having to keep going back and forth between the Yamli website and whatever other website or tool is being used to write and publish content.

It’s great to see Arab startups and companies working with each other’s technologies and tools to advance a common goal like promoting Arabic content on the web. I certainly wish we see more efforts like this in the future.

Mrrha, A New Arabic File Mirroring Service

MMM 14 Comments

MrrhaMrrha is a new simple Arabic service that was just launched a few minutes ago from Egypt, and that aims to make the process of uploading files to the internet for sharing purposes and mirroring them on the most famous file uploading services a lot easier and faster.

The service allows users to upload a file and mirror it directly to five popular uploading sites of choice, from a list of twelve most famous ones, saving them time and effort, and cutting down by five the necessary time to upload the file to all these services.

Mrrha depends on a parallel uploading mechanism to make this possible, which means that the file will be uploaded to Mrrha and sent to the other uploading sites at the same time, meaning that the user won’t have to wait until it’s uploaded to each site.

Mrrha

The name is basically, an adaptation of the English word “Mirror” to Arabic, making it into a verb form; and so “Mrrha” basically means “Mirror it”, which refers to the process of re-uploading the file to other services.

The service is in Arabic only for the time being, and is mainly targeted at the Arabic market. An English version will be released soon though.

# Mrrha 

Yamli Releases iGoogle Arabic Transliteration Gadget

MMM 5 Comments

Yamli iGoogle gadgetYamli has gone on and released a new iGoogle gadget that allows easy access to its award-winning Arabic transliteration technology directly from users’ customized Google homepages.

Yamli’s Smart Arabic Keyboard allows users to type Arabic using Latin characters by converting their words in real time into Arabic text.

The gadget integrates the functionality to convert words from Latin characters to Arabic in order to launch Arabic searches on Google, or to write words and paragraphs that can then be copied and used elsewhere.

To add the Yamli gadget to your iGoogle homepage, you can use the following link: Add Yamli iGoogle Gadget.

Google Launches Arabic Transliteration Tool, Takes On Yamli

MMM 23 Comments

Google Ta3reebGoogle recently launched a new Arabic transliteration tool, that allows users to use their Latin keyboards to type in Arabic text. This move puts them in direct competition with Yamli, a small startup that has proven very popular and generated great feedback; simulating a modern day tech reenactment of David vs. Goliath.

This isn’t the first time Google works on transliteration; they actually launched transliteration services from English to various Indian languages like Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu on Blogger and through Google Talk bots over the past year. 

Now with Google’s push in the Arab world, they’ve gone on and launched ‘Google Ta3reeb’ (Google Arabization). The new tool was one of the services visible at the Google booth at Gitex Technology Week in Dubai.

From my initial usage of the tool, and comparing it to Yamli; Yamli stills seems to maintain the advantage, by being faster and offering more relevant transliterations and word suggestions. But I expect the Google tool will get better with time, as more people use it, and its inner workings optimised.

Google Ta3reeb screenshot

According to an anonymous tip that was picked up by TechCrunch, actually searching for ‘Yamli’ or ‘Yamli.com’ on Google’s Arabic versions like (Google.ae or Google.com.sa), users get a search results page that prominently displays ads for Google’s competing service alongside the search results, which suggests that Google is using Yamli’s name to target ads for their new service.

I’ve contacted both Yamli and Google for their comments on this story and should be following up with their responses pretty soon.

Update 1: Google has gone on and retracted the above mentioned ads.

Update 2: Responding to my enquiry about the story, Yamli co-founder Habib Haddad said “We are happy to see Google serving the Arabic web and we welcome healthy competition. Our primary focus as a young Arabic startup is and will remain on innovations for the Arabic user for whom we think we can continue to make significant contributions.”

Yamli Officially Releases Free API Allowing Easy Integration of Arabic Transliteration Into Any Website

MMM 4 Comments

Yamli Yamli has officially released its free API that allows the easy integration of its award-winning Arabic transliteration technology into any website. Yamli’s Smart Arabic Keyboard allows users to type Arabic using Latin characters by converting their words in real time into Arabic text. Third-party websites using the API can reach a larger group of Arabic speaking visitors who would otherwise find typing Arabic difficult.

According to co-founder Habib Haddad, “We are very excited about making this technology available to any website for free. We hope it will encourage every user to be more engaged with the Arabic language not only on Yamli.com but on all Arabic sites and blogs. Our approach makes a significant contribution to the Arabic web by actually reducing the proliferation of transliterated Arabic words and converting them into real Arabic words,” concluded Haddad.

Various studies show that a large portion of Arabic internet users shy away from typing Arabic, choosing instead to write Arabic phonetically using Latin characters in an ad-hoc and informal fashion. The transliteration of Arabic words and the limited availability of Arabic keyboards have stymied the use of Arabic on the web. By making it easy for everyone to type in Arabic, Yamli.com is making the Arabic language more accessible for every day users, and helping to promote Arabic content on the web.

According to George Akra, Co-founder of Ikbis, the popular photo and video sharing service, “I think Yamli is one of the most innovative and useful services in the region, plugging the API to our site was easy and lead to the increase of Arabic comments on Ikbis.com. The simplicity and accuracy of the service is just remarkable,” concluded Akra.

The technology allows users to fully engage with Arabic content on blogs, e-commerce, social networking, education, government, video and music websites. The API, which has been undergoing testing since March with selected partners, such as Maktoob, Annahar, Moheet, ART TV, 3alarasi, and Babnet, has already been used by hundreds of thousands of users already.

According to Sami Tueni, the General Manager of Naharnet, a leading Lebanese news and services portal, “Yamli is the best contribution to the Arab web. So easy to implement, it was the long awaited tool to help the Arabic language flourish online,” concluded Tueni.

You can get more info about the API at www.yamli.com/api

The Arabic version of StartUpArabia has been using the Yamli API for quite some time now, integrating the very useful Arabic transliteration functionalities in the user comments area. It was really easy to setup and integrate, and only took a couple of minutes time.

But to make things even easier and straight-forward for website developers to integrate the Yamli functionalities into their websites, a new easy setup page has been added that enables developers to configure the Yamli API and generate the bit of code needed to integrate it exactly the way they need it.

On another note, in a recent conversation with Yamli co-founder Habib Haddad, he shared the info that Yamli is working on an exciting big new project that aims to take Arabic search to a whole new level, making it much more relevant for Arab search users. More details will follow about this project as they become available.

Untiny, A Tool To Expand Shortened URLs

MMM 9 Comments

UntinyA bunch of URL shortening services have been popping up everywhere recently, made popular by the advent of micro-blogging, each offering users the base functionality to take long urls and shorten them, with some adding some small yet interesting functionalities on the side.

Untiny is a new service that does the exact opposite, giving you the possibility to take a shortened URL and expand it to retrieve the original web address behind it.

There are a number of reasons why this comes in handy, as it solves the problem of obfuscation created by shortened URLs where the person provided the link doesn’t have any way to tell where it really points, and in some countries it solves the problem of any of those URL shortening services being blocked.

The user interface is as simple as you can imagine such a service should be, you’re presented with a simple textbox where you can paste the shortened URL, click on the retrieve button, and get the original URL.

Untiny

A quicker shortcut is also provided by directly passing the shortened URL to their service in the address bar using the following syntax: http://untiny.com?url=SHORTENED URL
Untiny also provides the possibility to add the tool in the search engine textbox in Firefox to enable users to directly paste the shortened URL in and get on their way. 

An API has also been created for the service to enable developers and other services to tap into the Untiny service to expand shortened URLs.

Among the developments currently underway for Untiny are a Firefox add-on, Greasemonkey script, Mac widget and Windows widget.

Untiny was launched in public beta on September 12th from Saudi Arabia by Saleh Al-Zaid.

# Untiny

Tools4Com OIS, A Simple Online Invoicing System

MMM 3 Comments

Tools4ComBy now it’s basically no secret to anyone that the future of software is through the browser and ever more specialized web applications, and this is confirmed by the different new web applications that are popping up everywhere to fulfill individuals’ and companies’ needs, competing in spaces that were previously reserved for desktop applications.

Tunis based Tools4Com‘s new online invoicing system Tools4Com OIS is yet another example of such web applications; reproducing all the essential features of an invoicing desktop application, and creating a viable alternative for smaller companies and independent workers who prefer the use of online applications, that give them the flexibility of accessing their data and functionalities from anywhere.

Tools4Com OIS enables users to manage their invoices, quotations, pro forma invoices, delivery notes, clients and products online, along with other related functionalities like exporting all the different documents in HTML or PDF, viewing detailed reports, auto calculation of the sales tax, setting up reminders at chosen frequencies, and more.

Users can also enable online payment of their invoices through the system using PayPal or AlertPay, witth more client payment options on the way.

Tools4Com OIS

Tools4Com OIS provides a number of plans, ranging from the free basic version which covers most of the main functionalities limiting the number of documents that can be created, to the paid plans that range from 20 to 150 Euros per month depending on how many documents the user needs to create and manage.

Tools4Com OIS is available in French only for the time being; a German version is currently under way, and an English version should follow closely. An Arabic version is also planned for the future.

Tools4Com was launched from Tunisia by Mohamed Aymen Ben Abdallah, opened for public use in August 2008, and has been rolling out new features and enhancements frequently ever since.
With the launch behind their back, the founder seems to have some pretty big plans for his new startup that he’s already setting in motion, and in a little talk we had recently, he told me that he’s considering pursuing investment possibilities to accelerate the implementation of his plans.

# Tools4Com

Whizle, Simple Tool To Create & Share Guides, Tutorials & Plans

MMM

WhizleWhizle is a new Dubai-based service, which has been in stealth mode for a while now, ironing out the little details here and there. It is a simple tool that aims to make creating guides and plans and then sharing them easy and straight-forward.

Making a guide or tutorial with Whizle is really simple: In creating a whizle, after inputting the title and purpose of the whizle, you go through a number of steps, these steps are made up of actions that you get to detail and resources that can be either uploaded files or some dynamic content from the web, like a video from YouTube or a photo from Flickr for example. 

The service provides two interfaces to create whizles and setup their details; one an interactive app called the whizlebuilder, and one a simple interface. Both come with WYSIWYG editors to help format inputted text.

Whizle screenshot

A little bookmarking tool called ‘Whizmark‘ is made available too, that can be added to your browser’s toolbar, to make it easier to directly post resources to Whizles you are working on.

Work is currently underway on a viewer that will allow users to easily embed their Whizles into their websites or blogs in order to share them with their readers.

The service is available in English only for the time being, and should come in very handy for anyone looking to create a simpleand easy guide, tutorial or plan.

# Whizle

Mafgod, A Service To Find Your Lost Or Stolen Items

MMM

MafgodMafgod, is a really simple service from Saudi Arabia, with the aim of helping people find their lost or stolen items.

For the time being, the service is only available for users in Saudi Arabia, and only for lost or stolen mobile phones. Expansion to other types of goods and other countries should be part of future plans.

The way it works right now for mobile phones is really simple; users can sign up freely to the service, and input details about their mobile phones and include their phone’s serial number; creating an online database of mobile phones and their owners.

Owners can specify when and where they lost their mobile phone, as well as if they’ll be giving away a cash prize to whoever finds it and returns it to them.

When a mobile phone is lost and someone finds it, or when it is stolen and someone is offered to buy it, the person can go online to the website and search for that phone using its serial number to find the original owner and contact them to arrange returning it to them.

Owners can choose whether they want their identities to be public or not, and if they want to meet the person returning the phone or prefer that it be done through Mafgod; and the same goes for the person who finds the phone.

Mafgod screenshot

The interface is available in Arabic only for the time being, and is as simple and straightforward as the concept of the website itself. A mobile version is also available on mobile.mafgod.com

Mafgod was founded in Saudi Arabia by Mohamed Al Rehaili and officially launched in September 2006.
A patent covering the service’s owner property protection database concept was registered with the King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology.

Ras2Ras, Arabic Online Comparison Research Tool

MMM 11 Comments

ras2rasRas2Ras, which means “Head to head” in Arabic, is a new Arabic service from Yemen, which is built around a very simple yet really interesting idea: putting any two comparable things against each other, and letting people vote on which they like best.

These comparisons are called ‘battles’, and competing against each other we can find products, services, websites, people or anything really; and then through user voting we can find out which one the people prefer.

Users can also leave their comments on the battle, which can provide more insight into what people like about a certain ‘competitor’, or what they find negative about the other.

Anybody can register for free and start a new battle between two things for the people to vote on. Battles can be tagged for easier search, and users can also view all battles started by the same user.

Now, even though the idea is very simple in principle, it is very useful and really helps in a number of situations, some serious ones and others that could be for fun, which makes it all the more interesting.

The most obvious and interesting use is as a research tool; for example it can help businesses get people’s feedback on them with regards to their biggest competitor and understand why through the comments to better identify ways to build on their strengths and fill in their weakness gaps; The tool can also come in handy for a person wanting to buy a certain thing and not knowing which is best, and hoping that the community can help them out. And the list of examples where it can help in research can go on.

ras2ras screenshot

Ras2Ras was built by Yemeni internet solutions company Yemen Server. The design is pretty simplistic and straight-forward, focused on the battle and the vote, just like it should be. The service is available in Arabic only for the time being and is still in beta mode, as they’ll be rolling out more features.

# Ras2Ras