media – StartUpArabia

mediaME.com Launches Classifieds For Advertising & Media Pros

April 6, 2011April 6, 2011 MMM 3 Comments

mediaME.com, the specialized online community for advertising and media professionals in the Middle East with over 11,000 members, has launched a free Classifieds service to address the need for sector-specific classifieds listings that provide exposure to a more targeted audience and market.

Accordingly, the mediaME Classifieds service focuses on advertising and media related categories. For example, listings categories cover all aspects of the jobs and freelance markets, featuring Job Postings, Job Seekers, Freelancers and Professional Service Providers with sub-categories for every advertising and media specialization.

The listings also aim to serve the needs of sellers with categories for Media Opportunities, Sponsorship Opportunities, Events & Activities and Business Equipment & Software. Read More

All eyes on you, there’s never been a better time to start-up than now

July 18, 2010July 18, 2010 dotone 4 Comments

Governments support, communities, talent, funds, role models & case studies, cutting edge software n’ tools, and soon, better broadband & higher Internet penetration, and a great deal of awareness/coverage by media. You’ve got it all.

Take it back to the days when Web meant that big Blue “e” icon. That’s exactly when we read all about the .com boom in the US and all we could think about was if that was real, spending millions of dollars on some Websites?

Bayarat, An Arabic Online Media Content Search Engine

November 11, 2009November 11, 2009 MMM 5 Comments

Bayarat is a new media search engine that was recently launched in its alpha version catering to the Arab world and aiming to make it easier to search for and find Arabic media content online.

Bayarat is currently only indexing video content from around the web and across online video sharing portals, with plans to add more types of media content in the near future.

A translation layer is integrated into the search engine in order to enable it to search for the same term in Arabic, English, French and Spanish; to broaden the search and return all relevant results.

One of the integrated features to enhance the search experience is an Arabic spell-checker, that suggests corrections for misspelled words that users type into the search box, in order to help them find better results for their searches.

The search engine has already crawled and indexed over 3 Millions videos ever since its launch just about a month ago. The site’s interface is available in both Arabic and English.

Bayarat was created and launched by Monther AbuShaikh, who previously brought us TweetShell, and is also CTO at Ikbis, the popular Arab video and photo sharing service.

3alaRasi, A Portal For Comedy Entertainment Content

November 23, 2008November 23, 2008 MMM 3 Comments

3alaRasi is a Jordanian entertainment portal that features a mix of funny cartoons, caricatures, articles, videos, photos and audio.

The portal’s content comes both from in-house productions, as well as content generated and submitted by the site’s users.

The site integrates all the regular sharing and social networking features that allow users to create their profiles, connect with their friends, and share all supported kinds of content with them.

In addition to all the kinds of content mentioned above, users can also upload and share games in Flash and Shockwave format.

The cartoons and animations currently produced by the 3alaRasi team are currently inspired by the Jordanian (Awad Abu Shifa, Jaber Kawanes, 7awa) and Palestinian (Falla7) society and culture, but there are plans to expand and add Egyptian and Gulf inspired characters and content soon.

The site’s interface is currently in English only, although an Arabic version should be expected soon.

3alaRasi also distribute their content through a number of mobile channels in Jordan and the GCC, and are looking to expand to other countries in the region.

Other distribution channels have been through Jordanian radio station Mazaj FM airing Audio clips from 3alaRasi, as well as Nourmina TV which aired 3alaRasi cartoon episodes in Ramadan. A new deal with Jordanian daily Addustour, will also see a daily cartoon from 3alaRasi cartoonist Omar Abdallat published in the newspaper.

3alaRasi was launched by ERUM Creative Productions L.L.C, which was founded by Amer M. AbuLaila, Omar Abdallat, Rajai Qawas, and Fahd Oweidat.

# 3alaRasi

The New Media Event, 14-18 December, JW Marriott, Dubai

September 29, 2008September 29, 2008 MMM 3 Comments

The New Media Event is a new event, being organised for the first time in the Middle East, that is dedicated to the growing power of new media and will identify the most important new media tools used by major corporations and organisations around the globe.

The event will be taking place from 14 – 18 December 2008 at JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, UAE.

It will discuss challenges, issues and trends in an attempt to help organisations find the right new media tools for their needs.

A number of new media minds and regional experts will be present at the event to discuss how new media can help build brands and increase brand awarness; and it will be an opportunity for PR and marketing professionals who want to identify what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to new media in the region.

Speakers at the event include Hollywood directors, key bloggers, entrepreneurs and new media representatives from the world and the region’s most admired companies; all to help explore the power of social media in today’s highly competitive market, and set the new media agenda for 2009 in the region.

The New Media Event, aside from 20+ powerful presentations, will also feature some innovative workshops to help organisations implement new media strategies.

For more details on the event, speakers, presentations and workshops; check the official website: The New Media Event

ShooFeeTV Free Arab TV Guide Service Officially Launched

September 9, 2008September 9, 2008 MMM 4 Comments

ShooFeeTV, a free online Arabic television guide, has officially been launched as a useful resource for TV fans, allowing them access to the program grids for the 120 most popular channels, carried by NileSat and ArabSat.

ShooFeeTV has been under development for some time now, recently going public with a beta while they ironed out the final details before this release. But they’ve already been syndicating content to Maktoob’s TV Guide section well before the launch.

The site holds a wealth of information revolving around Arab TV channels, their programming, details about the different shows, movies and actors (both Arab and foreign); and this information is provided in a number of different ways, to make it as easy as possible for the user to find what they’re looking for quickly.
Short news features about popular programs and actors are provided by the ShooFeeTV team too.

Photos and videos from the world of television are also made available that users can view and share with their friends. ShooFeeTV users can add comments, vote in weekly entertainment polls and participate in discussion forums and television-related blogs available on the site.

From the beginning, the site recognizes which country a user is located in, and automatically sets the programming grid to their local time, eliminating any painful time conversions.
To further personalize their use of the website, users can log on on and create their own listings grid featuring their favorite channels, using the ‘My ShooFeeTV’ feature.

The website features selected programs highlighted by the site’s independent editorial team, as well as the most popular programs, as ranked by users of the service.

ShooFeeTV also provides a podcast, which in three minutes each time takes viewers one week ahead, highlighting upcoming movies, sports events and television shows. The podcast will also be available on iTunes.

ShooFeeTV doesn’t stop at the online side of things; taking things a step further to distribute their content through a number of other channels. For example, they plan to distribute a special version of the podcast to radio stations who wish to provide TV programming to their listeners; mobile services giving users access to TV listings on their mobile phones should be coming soon; deals are being pursued to syndicate their content to other portals, newspapers and magazines; and a satellite TV channel featuring Arab TV listings is part of the plan.

ShooFeeTV was launched from Jordan; it was founded by entrepreneur Amjad Tadros.
Accelerator Technology Holdings (ATH), through their IV Holdings arm, announced their investment in the startup earlier this year.

# ShooFeeTV

Al Jazeera Labs Launched To Showcase New Media Group’s Innovative Developments

July 26, 2008July 26, 2008 MMM 5 Comments

Al Jazeera recently launched Al Jazeera Labs, a website that showcases some of the most innovative developments coming out of Al Jazeera’s New Media group; including new ways of interaction, and the possibility to get the news anytime, anywhere, anyhow.

From the Al Jazeera iPhone and facebook applications, to their podcasts and YouTube channel, to the twitter accounts they’ve set up for easier reception of news and interaction with presenters; Al Jazeera Labs will be the central point to follow and keep up with all these interesting projects and ideas.

Some of the published projects will be fully functional, while others might still be in Beta; Al Jazeera plans to build on user feedback to improve the different tools and applications offered through Al Jazeera Labs.

# Al Jazeera Labs

Shoof TV, Arab Media Group’s Video Sharing Service

June 25, 2008June 25, 2008 MMM 4 Comments

Shoof 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.

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

Anasheed MouslimTube, Online Islamic Nasheed Repository

May 31, 2008May 31, 2008 MMM 9 Comments

Anasheed MouslimTube is a new service that is currently in beta that aims to become a repository for Islamic nasheeds, a form of Islamic song that is currently surging in popularity around the Muslim world.

The website users can find nasheeds by going through available albums, viewing work by different nasheed artists, picking tags that describe what they’re looking for best, check out the most popular nasheeds with other users, or try out the randomly selected nasheeds album. There also is a search engine that enables more advanced searches for nasheeds.

Nasheeds can be listened to online through streaming real audio, or downloaded in several formats for later listening. Lyrics are also provided for a big number of these nasheeds.

The website currently has 152 albums by 154 nasheed artists, grouping 912 nasheeds.

The website has a very nice and straightforward design, making it really easy to use and navigate around. It is in Arabic only.

Anasheed MouslimTube was developed and launched from Egypt by Hazem Khaled, and designed by Muhammad Abdul-Shakour Arab (Division Designs).

# Anasheed MouslimTube

iBlog… iMedia Conference Postponed Due To Financial Issues

May 17, 2008May 17, 2008 MMM

Last month, the iBlog… iMedia conference on consumer generated media was announced, organized by casualPR, a leading PR agency that focuses on blogs and online media.

The event was supposed to take place in Amman, Jordan on Sunday June 1st 2008; But has been canceled due to financial issues and lack of funding and support by Sponsors, even thought the event succeeded in getting a lot of media attention, approximately 100 delegates without any promotions or ads, and a great group of speakers from different countries; including Hervé Cuviliez (Managing Director of DDB France), Alexander McNabb (Spot On PR Dubai), Samih Toukan (CEO of Maktoob Group), Adam Flinter (Online Editor of Gulf News), Ziad Barouni (Founder of Waleg.com) and others.

Some important sponsors did express their interest in supporting next year’s edition; but for this year Samer Marzouq, CEO of erabia, the mother company of casualPR, is trying to reschedule a scaled down version of the conference.

Anyone interested in lending a hand or sponsoring the event can contact him directly at: samer@jazarah.net

The idea of the event is a very interesting one, as it aims to play a role in bringing media and marketing professionals closer to Blogs, highlighting the role that bloggers are playing in changing the face of the media.

Hopefully, the event will still take place, even if on a slightly smaller scale, and that it opens the door to more and bigger editions in future years.