Mecca.com Releases More Features And New Design

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Mecca.comMecca.com, the Muslim community portal, that also integrates a social networking and user generated content platform, has just rolled out a new look, unveiling a new logo and a re-design for their whole website.

The new design is more colorful and looks more hip; it also feels better organized, optimizing the use of screen real estate.

This new design, comes just a short while after Mecca.com rolling out their new Videos section, where members can upload and share their videos with friends. As with other online video sharing services, friends have the ability to comment, rate, edit, and share videos with other users.

Mecca.com

Mecca.com had also enhanced their Photo sharing feature by improving the user interface, and adding the possibility to import photos from Facebook and Flickr.

Stardoll And Maktoob Bring Avatar Fashion To Arab Market

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Stardoll - MaktoobStardoll, the world’s largest online entertainment destination devoted to girls interested in fame, fashion and friends, has announced a partnership with Maktoob, the world’s largest Arabic online community, to launch an all-new Arabic-language version of Stardoll.

The partnership, which was announced at the Dubai World Game Expo, introduces the Stardoll community to Middle Eastern fashion enthusiasts exclusively on the Maktoob network at stardoll.maktoob.com. The site is now available in 13 countries in the region including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and United Arab Emirates.

Users who join Stardoll’s interactive global community can enjoy the full Stardoll experience; they can create customized ‘MeDoll’ avatars in their own likeness, be able to use Stardollars, the site’s virtual currency, to shop for virtual fashions in the Starplaza, and purchase virtual décor to furnish their personalized suites–all while navigating the site seamlessly in Arabic. Other features of the site include the recently launched Stardoll Magazine, member-created clubs and StarDesign–a virtual design studio.

“Maktoob is proud to partner with Stardoll to bring this one-of-a-kind fashion community for girls in Arabic,” Ahmed Nassef, Vice-President and General Manager of Maktoob, said in a statement. “Teen and Tween girls already make up a huge segment of our audience, currently mostly focused around our casual gaming channels. By partnering with an international leader like Stardoll, we are bringing a whole new level of fun and interactivity to this online-savvy audience.”

“In keeping with the unique cultural traditions of the Middle East, the Arabic-language version of Stardoll has been tailored to reflect the values and sensitivities of the region, while ensuring the confidentiality of user identities as per Maktoob standards,” Nassef added.

“Stardoll is thrilled to partner with the highly regarded Maktoob to bring our content to the Middle East,” said Mattias Miksche, CEO of Stardoll. “As home to more than 20 million users worldwide, Stardoll prides itself on its global reach. We’re happy to connect young fashionistas throughout the Middle East to our global community of girls all over the world who share similar interests.”

Stardoll has about 20 million users worldwide and 8 million unique visitors every month – 94% of whom are teen and tween girls. Most users are girls between the age of 10 to 17 and online safety is a huge consideration. Stardoll adds a layer of anonymity to all accounts. Users can never reveal personal information such as their real name or city of origin on their pages.

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)

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The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)The Dip is a great little book by Seth Godin, that tackles a simple idea, which is simply that winners do quit, and quitters do win.

The book talks about how every project (or job, hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun, but then gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point—really hard, and not much fun at all.

At points like this you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you’re in a Dip—a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

The book argues that what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt—until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you’ll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dip—they get to the moment of truth and then give up—or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.

This is a well written little book that should come in handy for everyone, and provide pointers on how to figure out if you’re in a Dip that’s worthy of your time, effort, and talents; or if you should quit, so you can be number one at something else.

[Amazon: The Dip – Seth Godin]

How much money do you need for your startup? [Poll]

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A new poll has gone live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the first sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.

This poll is mainly aimed at Arab entrepreneurs who have already launched their startups and are looking for financing, or those who have yet to launch their projects and will be needing some funding.

The question is: How much money do you need for your startup?

The poll gives a number of ranges that are based on some of the feedback I’ve gotten from entrepreneurs I’ve met and talked with around the Arab world.

Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.

Content Syndicate Wins Cool Start-ups Award At TiE-ISB Connect

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Content SyndicateAt the recent TiE-ISB Connect 2008 event jointly organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and the Indian School of Business (ISB), Dubai-based Content Syndicate (CS) emerged as the winner in the ‘Cool Start-ups‘ category.

The event took place at ISB Hyderabad from 5 to 7 November. Sponsors included Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Times of India Group Satyam, Totem Infrastructure and the Indu Group.

This is the third year for TiE-ISB Connect and it is also one of Asia’s largest investor-entrepreneurial events. Tie-ISB Connect 2008 featured over 700 delegates, 30 venture capital firms and various media companies.

The event attracted over 200 business plans of which 149 executive summaries were short-listed for the next round. 30 of the short-listed firms were invited for a final presentation before a judging panel comprising of senior partners and management from Accel Ventures, Google, Canaan Partners, Helion Ventures, Venture East, Clearstone, PA, Virtusa, IDG Ventures, Nexus Capital, Sun Microsystems, Ojas Ventures, Totem and Kuruvindam.

The criteria for selecting the winners were based on the strength of business model, innovation, the team, maturity of business, track record, financials, long-term plans and scalability.

Commenting on the award, Content Syndicate’s Founder & CEO, Maddy Reddy, said: “We are honoured to be a part of this prestigious event. It was a great experience and provided us with a strong validation of our business. I would like to extend my gratitude to our clients, team, investors and partners for playing a vital role in making this happen.”

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Dubai Hack Night – Knowledge Village, Dubai – Nov. 19th

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SpinBits, the web consultancy company that is also one of the organizers behind the DemoCamp Dubai events, are organizing a really cool new event titled Dubai Hack Night on Wednesday November 19th at 7PM, and are inviting all Web enthusiasts in Dubai to participate.

The goal of the event is to provide a place where people involved in the web industry in Dubai can get together in a more “geeky” environment. If you work as a Web developer, designer, or are just an enthusiast who wants to bounce some ideas around, you may enjoy attending.

The organizers of the event hope to provide a setting for people to:

  • Talk about the latest technology trends
  • Discuss ideas together in front of a computer
  • Meet interesting people
  • Eat pizza (SpinBits’ treat)

The event will take place at the SpinBits office located in the Knowledge Village area: Business Central Towers – Tower A, 18th floor, Office #02.

Attendance is free and open to everyone interested.

TechWadi Event: Communication For Technology Professionals – San Jose, California (Nov. 20th)

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TechWadi, the leading networking association for Arab American professionals in the Technology industry, will be hosting its next event on Thursday November 20th, 2008; starting at 6PM.

The event will kick off with an hour of networking among peers from the technology industry, and then move on to a discussion of the topic of ‘Communication for Technology Professionals‘ by an expert panel, led by Dr. Dina Ibrahim, Assistant Professor of Broadcasting at San Francisco State University.

Communication is a cornerstone of all businesses and integral in the development of corporate and personal relationships. However, while some messages resonate well with audiences, others seem to miss their target completely.

The goal of the event is to pass on the expertise on how to:

  • Articulate messages that resonate with your target market
  • Encourage editors and reporters to talk about your business or invention
  • Effectively communicate with colleagues, higher management and clients
  • Overcome cultural and business obstacles to business success with companies based in the U.S. and in the MENA region

Registration is free for TechWadi paid members, and will cost $20 for non-paid members.

The event will be held in San Jose, California at:

Cisco, Building 1, Mt Rainier Conference Room
3850 Zanker Road
San Jose, California 95134

For more details, you can check out the TechWadi event page.

Biz Report Middle East, First Corporate Internet TV Channel In The Middle East

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Biz Report Middle EastBiz Report Middle East (BRME) was recently launched as the Middle East’s first dedicated corporate web television channel. This Middle East channel will be the first of a series of similar channels to be launched around the world over the next 6 – 12 months. Future channels will include Biz Report North America, Biz Report Europe, Biz Report Sub Continent, and Biz Report Far East & Pacific.

The channel concept is simple. Clients (or their PR agency or corporate video production company) upload their recorded press conference or corporate video to the web channel through a control panel for a nominal fee.

Once the material is uploaded to the channel relevant journalists around the Middle East are notified that a press conference or other release is available to view taken from an up-to-date 20,000 strong Middle East media database. In addition, business executives and any other international journalists who have registered on the channel as ‘Power Users’ receive a notification that there is a new release available to view. Further to this, the client also has the option to attach a press kit, event photographs or digital marketing materials to the release when it is uploaded so that journalists can download this information too and it can all be available to view or download within an hour of the event taking place.

Whilst the channel can be viewed by anyone, it is targeted primarily to journalists and business executives.

Biz Report Middle East

The channel concept was developed by Marketing Strategist and Corporate Media Producer, John Robins. “The the idea for Biz Report TV came about as a result of the years I have been working on international corporate communication projects” explained Robins. “Over the years, I have been responsible for the recording and editing of countless press conferences, corporate events and corporate videos and it has always staggered me how many of these have ended up being burnt to DVD and then left on a shelf somewhere in someone’s office. It seemed such a waste given the amount spent on the material in the first place. From this thought I developed the idea of having a TV channel that would enable companies to broadcast their productions and significantly increase viewership, generate far more media coverage and get a significantly increased ROI on large chunks of marketing budget.”

Robins first developed the idea 4 years ago, and teamed up with freelance web designer and software engineer David Lear to develop it, and work on the sophisticated technology that will power their new channel network. Robins and Lear believe that there are few web TV channels, if any that offer the full range of features that BRME does.

# Biz Report Middle East (BRME)

What kind of name do you prefer for a startup? [Poll Results]

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In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was: 

What kind of name do you prefer for a startup?

The result of reader voting came out as follows:  

Startup name poll

Out of 79 readers who responded to the poll:
– 35% of them prefer names that sound cool or a bit weird 
– 32% think self explanatory names are a better choice 
– 27% responded that they like names that reflect the local culture 
– and the remaining 6% chose generic, not necessarily related names

I’m personally torn between the different choices in this poll, but I have to say that I really like startup names that reflect the local culture in some way and that come out sounding very cool.

Third Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Competition Winners Announced

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QRNEC LogoThe winners of the third annual Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Competition (QRNEC) were announced just a few days ago in Amman, Jordan.

HRH Princess Sumaya, who was deputising for Her Majesty Queen Rania at the award ceremony, said that Jordan’s large pool of graduates “represents a tremendous value that Jordan creates every year”, and that the participants in this year’s competition represent “job makers rather than job seekers”, adding that their success is “important to Jordan as role models for the next generation of entrepreneurs whom they will inspire, as future employers and as innovators who are solving valuable problems for society”.

The competition, which aims to encourage a business culture among Jordanian youths, focuses on launching new competitive products and services in various technical sectors, including the environment, information, communications, water desalination, energy and agricultural technologies. It also hopes to promote the spirit of creativity and innovation among young people and highlight the significant role citizens play in social and economic development.

In her address, the Princess stressed that Jordan’s human capital is needed at home to build the country’s economy and advance society. “If we are to examine the numbers of Jordanians abroad, we learn that more than 500,000 live in the Gulf states alone, and nearly one million worldwide,” she said, adding that if the figures are examined “on how much it costs Jordan to educate these expatriates, Jordan is in fact a donor to the global economy in the form of billions of dollars worth of human capital”.

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