Tag: Mobile

GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards 2009 & Mobile Innovation EMEA Tournament Open For Entry

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The GSMA just announced that entries are invited for the 2009 Global Mobile Awards and the penultimate round of its Mobile Innovation Global Competition, both of which will be presented at the mobile industry’s biggest annual event, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 17 February 2009.

The GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards are a unique platform for companies in the mobile industry to gain truly independent recognition for their work.

This year’s awards incorporate several new categories including a new ‘Green Mobile’ Award (highlighting eco-friendly mobile products, services and initiatives), Best Mobile Internet, Best Mobile TV Service and Best Mobile Money Service.

The Best Mobile Technology categories have been refreshed to ensure they capture the wealth of creativity and imagination in the mobile industry. Categories of Mobile Entertainment, Mobile Services, and Best Mobile Handset, are already established as highly desirable awards for any new product or service.

The deadline for entries for the Global Mobile Awards is Friday 28 November 2008 (5.00pm GMT). A panel of independent analysts, journalists and specialist experts will choose the winners, who will receive their awards at a gala dinner at the National Palace in Barcelona on Tuesday 17 February 2009, during the Mobile World Congress.

The GSMA’s commitment to innovation is supported by the Mobile Innovation Market community, which has created the Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition. The Mobile Innovation Market encourages breakthrough technology, applications and services in the mobile industry by bringing together smaller companies developing innovative products and solutions, with industry investors from leading venture capital firms and senior figures from mobile operators and leading global brands.

On 16 February at the Mobile World Congress, the Top 15 Innovators will present their ideas in front of the Mobile Innovation Marketplace audience and a panel of esteemed judges; from the five Category Winners to be named that day, two will emerge as global finalists and will compete against other Global Finalists selected from regional Mobile Innovation tournaments in the Americas, APAC and a virtual ‘online’ round.

The finalists will then compete head-to-head on 17 February for the prestigious title of ‘2009 GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Champion’ to be awarded at the Global Mobile Awards Gala that evening. The deadline for entries for the Mobile Innovation EMEA tournament is 5 December, 2008.

For more details on the categories, rules, entry forms and more, you can check out the following links: Global Mobile Awards and Mobile Innovation Awards. 

UAE Has Highest Mobile Penetration In The Arab World

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According to a new study by Kuwaiti-based Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation (IAIGC), a key Arab League body, the UAE had the highest mobile phone penetration in the Arab world at the end of 2007, with its subscribers far exceeding its population.

Figures showed the number of mobile phone subscribers in the country stood at 7.6 million at the end of last year a ratio as high as 173 to each 100 people.

The figure is far higher than any other Arab state and more than triple the world average of 49.3 for every 100 people.

Qatar came second, with a ratio of 150.4 mobile phone per 100 people. It was followed by Bahrain with 148.2, Saudi Arabia with 114.7, Kuwait with 97.2 and Oman with 96.3.

Outside the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jordan topped the list, with a ratio of 80.5 per each 100 persons, followed by Tunisia, Libya and Morocco.

Djibouti and Somalia were at the bottom of the list, having one of the world’s lowest mobile phone penetration at 5.4 and 6.8 respectively.

The figures showed the UAE’s penetration was more than triple the average Arab ratio of 50.8 and the world average of 49.3 at the end of 2007. Between 2002 and 2007, the number of mobile phone subscribers in the UAE grew by an annual average 25.6 per cent, almost four times its population growth. But the level was far lower than growth in some other Arab countries as it was as high as 270 per cent in war-battered Iraq and 129.9 per cent in Libya. Experts believe the UAE will maintain its high mobile phone penetration this year given the rapid growth in subscribers and in its economy.

Javna Launches MobiAd Mobile Advertising Platform

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mobiadJavna, a leading Arab company in the field of mobile software solutions and wireless applications has launched MobiAd, the first mobile ad application that allows users to earn money.

The Amman-based company said the program needs only to be downloaded on users’ cell phones free of charge, to start immediately accumulating points and collecting money. In addition, subscribers will also be eligible for periodic drawings on prizes offered by advertisors .

Underlining the feasibility of MobiAd as an ad platform, Javna said companies can now resort to this state-of-the-art application to get their messages across to the targeted segments of consumers who, for the first time ever, will have the chance to earn money rather than just spend it.

Javna hopes MobiAd will meet the growing needs of companies for innovative and out-of-the-box marketing techniques that ensure the achievement of the ad campaign goals while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.

MobiAd allows advertising companies and ad agencies to reach out to the targeted segment of consumers in a modern and more interactive fashion, by defining the targeted age range, gender, and geographical location, among other data necessary to render the ad campaign a success and ensure its objectives are met in an optimal manner. In addition, the program provides technical reports to evaluate the campaign throughout its various phases.

All telecom companies’ subscribers, regardless of the type of their subscription, can download the software by visiting its official website: www.mobiadhome.com. Subscribers will have the choice to voluntarily join the marketing programs according to their interest and be rewarded for their choice; they will be also be able to invite their friends to Join the program and share the benefits with others.

Javna expect the mobile advertising platform to have a significant share of the Arab ad market, estimated at $7bn annually, especially since the new technology is based on interactive solutions through multiple delivery channels starting from SMS and MMS messaging, to flash interfaces that appear when a call is received or made by the user. These marketing tools can be programmed to appear regularly on set dates and times.

Info2cell Partners With Future TV To Provide Content To Mobile Phone Users In Saudi Arabia

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Info2cellInfo2cell.com, the leading mobile application service provider in the Middle East, has recently announced the signing of a content license and distribution agreement with Lebanon-based Future TV to provide video and MMS clips of hugely popular TV programmes, ‘Rossoom Mutaharirah’, ‘La Yomal’ and ‘Abou Riad’, to mobile phone users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Through the subscription-based service, which will be launched today, users will receive the content three times per week. Each video clip – video IVR, WAP portal, video push and video streaming – will be up to two minutes long, while the MMS content will be 30 seconds in duration.

Bashar Dahabra, Founder and CEO of Info2cell.com, said,: ‘ We are pleased to sign this important agreement with Future TV which will enable us to provide select clippings from three highly popular TV programmes on the mobile phones of subscribers. Info2cell.com is committed to offering the most innovative and exciting content to its subscribers, in line with current market trends and consumer interests, and this partnership with Future TV perfectly complements our strategy.’

Samir S. Hammoud, Chairman and General Manager of Future TV, said, ‘The viewership for our programmes has been growing steadily in recent years and we are glad that this alliance with Info2cell.com has created another vital channel for subscribers in KSA to view clippings of some of our most watched programmes.’

Last year, Info2cell.com teamed up with MBC channel in Saudi Arabia to offer subscribers, video clips, ring tones, wallpapers and Java games of hugely popular television programmes including ‘Tash Ma Tash’, ‘Beiny o Bainak’, ‘Meznah’ and ‘Stories of the Prophet’.

Info2cell Launch SMS and MMS Content Services In Sudan

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Info2cellInfo2cell.com, the leading mobile application service provider in the Middle East, has launched mobile short message (SMS) and multimedia messaging (MMS) content services in Sudan through a joint venture with ADU Communication Technology, a local telecommunications specialist.

The partnership will see high-quality SMS and MMS content services for the booming domestic mobile telecommunications market in Sudan, covering several categories including news, sports, Islamic and entertainment content; BBC SMS News and Sport and DUOA Islamic channel with audio MMS are presently supported.

Recent projects launched under the new services include the LAKI and Women in Islam channels and full coverage of Euro 2008 via SMS and MMS. Additional planned services are ringtones, Java games and the introduction of ‘Magalati’, the first SMS magazine in the country.

Info2cell.com’s subscription base continues to expand significantly around the Arab world, with a further 23.3 percent increase expected by the end of 2008.

Middle East & Africa Mobile Revenues To Hit $107 Billion By 2013

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MobilesOperator-billed service revenues across the Africa & Middle East region are expected to rise to more than $107 billion in 2013, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The report found that growth would be driven by mobile data services, fueled by the greater availability and wider variety of rich-media content coupled with lower browsing costs.

However, it noted that regional operator-billed voice revenues were likely to peak in 2011 and would subsequently fall away due to increasingly competitive pricing in that sector.

Other findings from the Juniper Research report include:

  • The Middle East/Africa mobile user base is to grow at an average annual rate of 10.5% between 2008 and 2013.
  • Mobile data services are expected to contribute 24% of operator-billed service revenues in 2013, against just 9% in 2008.
  • Saudi Arabia will provide the largest share of cumulative regional revenues over the forecast period, followed by Nigeria.

The detailed report provides in-depth coverage and forecasts for six key Africa & Middle East markets (Egypt, Israel, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates) as well as for the region as a whole. It also includes regional overviews for key revenue drivers including mobile advertising, mobile entertainment services, mobile financial services and mobile ticketing.

Whitepapers and further details of the study ‘Mobile Africa & Middle East: Opportunities, Markets & Forecasts 2008-2013’ can be freely downloaded from Juniper Research.

If anything, I think these numbers show the potential the mobile data services market in the Middle East and Africa holds, and that it could be a very lucrative market for startups in the region, who can use the growth in this sector to fuel their own business growth.

# Juniper Research Press Release

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.

weNear Launch Location Based Applications Competition

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weNearweNear, a mobile platform for location-based services and applications, developed by Egyptian company eSpace, just launched a location based applications competition today, which is open to students of The Computer Science Department at Alexandria University, Egypt.

The competition consists in building interesting location based applications using the weNear API. It starts today, July 1st, and the final submission date is August 31st.

Those interested in being part of the competition can go to the weNear competition announcement page to find details about the weNear architecture, documentation, and some initial client/server communication code in several programming languages to help them get started.

Contestants can then submit their applications at the weNear competition sub-site.

Should be interesting to see how this works out, and what different applications come out of it.

# weNear competition

SouqElArab & Nawaiya Launch Smallest PC With 3G Mobile & Premier Arabic TV Channels Online

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SouqElArab
nawaiya

Press Release: SouqElArab.com partners with Nawaiya FZ, launching the Smallest PC with 3G mobile and Premier Arabic TV channels.
Amman, June 8, 2008

The Arab social Web shopping portal, SouqElArab.com, partners with Nawaiya FZ LLC. to launch exclusively On-line the Nawaiya’s convergence device the “Interactive Lifestyle Manager – ILM3G”.

The ILM 3G is state-of-the-art wide screen handheld convergence device designed to revolutionize content consumption on the go. ILM 3G offers full mobile phone functionality within the same device and enables users to access content, enjoy high-quality music and video playback and browse the full web while they are on the phone all using the same device – a first in the market place.

The ILM3G comes bundled with proprietary Nawaiya content portal designed to provide our customers seamless access to live TV, sports, movies and music downloads over Wi-Fi and 3G. Nawaiya has distribution rights to over 56 live premium Arabic channels such as Rotana Channels, MBC1, Alarabiya, Aljazeera, Dubai TV, Dubai Sports, Escape Music Channel, LBC, Future TV and many more.

With dimensions of 7.3 X 17 cm. and 2.5 cm. in slimness, it proves that the ILM3G is the smallest PC in the world with a 3G phone. It runs the full version of Microsoft® Windows® XP® and employs a proprietary touch-screen user interface.

The CEO of SouqElArab Inc. points; “This fantastic product is geared up for our Middle Eastern & North African clients whom benefit from such facilities and latest technology. Our partnership with Nawaiya is to reach out to the user with the state-of-the-art technology, vibrant in today’s world, and a great product offering for the businessman, the media lovers and people on the move. We are proud to offer the ILM 3G exclusively on-line to our valued community”

The ILM3G is sold in UAE stores and will be marketed and sold exclusively On-line on the SouqElArab.com Web site throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Nawaiya ILM 3G Phone

SouqElArab.com, operated by SouqElArab Inc., is a growing Arab on-line marketplace in the making. It offers visitors a social shopping experience whereby they can network with like-minded people and shop at the same time. The shopping experience is based on members’ recommendations and feedback, where visitors rate and review products and come together to form a community based on their hobbies, interests and traits. www.souqelarab.com

Nawaiya was established in 2007 as an Original Equipment Manufacturer and Media Company (OEM-M) headquartered in Dubai Media City and focused exclusively on the ‘Interactive Lifestyle Manager’ (ILM) category, that emerging convergence handheld category packing full PC functionality with full mobile phone and 3G data functionality all bundled with geo-relevant and compelling content.

The company is focused on the vision of providing the Middle East market with a revolutionary mobility experience firmly rooted in and designed for the region. www.nawaiya.net