Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Microsoft Maren: A New Windows Arabic Transliteration Tool
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | July 1, 2009 – 3:51 pm |
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Microsoft has gone on and launched a new application called ‘Maren‘, making its entrance into the Arabic transliteration space.
Microsoft Maren was developed to be a Windows extension that allows you to type Arabic in Roman characters (Romanized Arabic, Arabizi, Arabish or Franco-Arabic) and have it converted on the fly to Arabic script. Maren integrates seamlessly with Windows and works in most Windows applications and websites.
Users around the Arab world widely use romanized Arabic in instant messaging and on social networking sites, and Microsoft’s Maren is following in the footsteps of Yamli and Google’s Ta3reeb in offering these users the possibility to have whatever text they type converted into Arabic.
Up to this point Yamli has been the user favorite in the region, with a number of portals integrating their service, a Firefox toolbar extension that many people were glad to get and even an unofficial Yamli extension called Arabzi that exists for MSN Messenger. Yamli also uses its transliteration technology as a basis to enrich and provide better Arabic search online.
What Microsoft’s Maren offers as a plus is the possibility to integrate the transliteration technology into Windows, and use it everywhere, not just online through a browser; so basically users can use Maren while typing in a Word document or on Instant Messenger or any other Windows application.
The fact that the tool is installed on the user’s machine also means that the solution is available to the user even when he’s offline, and it could even be a bit faster than other solutions that have to send requests back to a server.
It should be really interesting to see how much user adoption Maren will get, but however that works out, this is quite a good effort from Microsoft.
Microsoft Maren was developed by the Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center (CMIC), a Microsoft group representing the company interest in applied research and development initiatives in the Middle East and Africa.
Update: I talked to Habib Haddad, co-founder of Yamli, a bit after the publication of this story, and he commented “I guess big companies recognize a good idea when they see it, as an Arabic startup we are flattered to see this happen. As you know our focus has always been on the user so stay tuned for new releases from Yamli.”
MENA 100 Business Plan Competition: A Call For Arab Innovative Entrepreneurs
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | June 27, 2009 – 3:38 pm | Comments
The MENA 100 Business Plan Competition, which is organized by the MENA-OECD Enterprise Financing Network, in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank and the MENA Center for Investment, has just been launched.
The primary objective of the MENA 100 business plan competition is to encourage existing and inspire potential entrepreneurs and connect the 100 best of them in the Middle East and North Africa region with potential sources of finance to generate business transactions.
The MENA 100 Competition addresses innovative entrepreneurs, from the 18 Arab countries participating in the MENA OECD Investment Program (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen).
What entrepreneurs can expect from the competition:
- Connect with counterparts from around the region and worldwide to conceive new ideas, enter new markets and find new resources.
- Exposure for the winners through the awards ceremony and the media.
- Connection to a network of professionals providing technical support and offering financial and in-kind support to candidates.
Applications will be accepted until August 31st. It is possible to apply online in French and English through the website: www.mena100.org
The 100 finalists will have the opportunity to present their projects at an event in Manama (Bahrain).
There will be one winner per country and a selection of three regional winners.
The top performers will be awarded with cash and in-kind services, representing professional services donated by sponsors of the competition, as well as MENA business angels (BA) - venture capital funds (VC) for all participants.
Winners will also be invited to participate in the MENA-OECD Business Day.
[Via: Mohd Khawaja]
Int@j Introduces 20 Jordanian ICT Companies to Intel Capital
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | June 16, 2009 – 8:36 am | Comments
Int@j, the Information Technology Association of Jordan, recently conducted an event with Intel Capital, the venture capital investment arm of Intel Corporation, including more than 20 companies from the ICT community in Jordan.
The event focused on introducing the Jordanian ICT sector to Intel Capital and sharing various business aspects and relations among the various ICT sector companies and Intel.
Since its establishment as an ICT industry-support association in 2000, Int@j has been exerting a lot of efforts aiming at advancing the Jordanian ICT sector. Int@j has been looking for various partnerships with different institutions on the local, regional and international levels aiming at creating better ICT industry in Jordan, increasing the awareness of ICT services and products and stressing on the benefits of integrating ICT in other sectors.
The meeting included one-to-one presentations by member companies of int@j where they presented their plans, products, services and solutions to Intel Capital focusing on local capabilities, companies’ talented resources and value added services blended together towards positioning Jordan as the regional ICT leader and point of access.
Intel Capital has been quite active in the region lately, as part of its ongoing push to support local entrepreneurship in the Middle East and fund companies in the internet and technology sectors through its $50 million Intel Capital Middle East and Turkey Fund, which is aimed at assisting the companies in pursuing regional growth and development plans in addition to extending their product offerings.
Feroz Sanaulla, Intel Capital’s Director of Middle East, Turkey, and Africa said “’Intel Capital has a history of pioneering successful technology investments in developing markets to foster growth and innovation. We believe Jordanian ICT companies are well positioned in the region and we are keen on helping them drive technology adoption locally and identify new business opportunities globally.”
Silatech And Cisco To Build Invitational Technology Platform
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | June 14, 2009 – 9:50 am | Comments
Silatech recently announced that it will be working with Cisco, which is one of its founding members and its global strategic technology provider, on the development of an ‘Invitational Technology Platform’, which will deliver Silatech services and solutions to the youth across the Middle East and North Africa.
Silatech is an initiative, that was launched by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned of Qatar, engaging the private, public and civil society sectors to promote large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship, and access to capital for young people.
Both Silatech and Cisco will contribute to the development of the Invitational Technology Platform, and Silatech will also be inviting a selection of local, regional and international technology organizations to participate according to their expertise. Local and regional universities and young developers from the Middle East and North Africa will also be involved in this regional effort.
Silatech’s Invitational Technology Platform will offer young people, entrepreneurs and enterprises throughout the MENA region access to:
- Business development services and skills training for entrepreneurs leading existing small and medium size enterprises (SMEs);
- Financial services to entrepreneurs and SMEs;
- Skills development services to young people in various industries;
- Access to markets and supply chains for SMEs;
- Job placement and services across the MENA region.
Winners Of The MIT Arab Business Plan Competition 08-09
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | June 12, 2009 – 12:07 am | Comments
The MIT Arab Business Plan Competition is a competition designed to encourage all entrepreneurs in the Arab world to start their own company and, ultimately, create a nest of leading firms in the Arab world.
The current version of the competition officially started on November 10th 2008, by opening up registrations. A few hours ago, the final round took place in Dubai, where the 10 finalists did oral presentations of their business plans to the jury panel, and the awards were handed out.
The winners of this edition of the MIT Arab Business Plan Competition are as follows:
First place: A tie between Syphir (Husain Al-Mohssen, Courtland Allen, Ghassan Fayad, Faisal Alibrahim [Saudi Arabia]) and HAYATI Healthcare LLC (Michael Matly, Tariq El-Titi, David Matly [United Arab Emirates])
Second place: Rice Straw Fertilizer Company (Ibrahim Khater Youssef, Ahmed El Dorghamy, Mohamed Abdel Raouf [Egypt])
Third place: Blog Souq (Ahmad Takatkah, Adey Salamin, Ammar Ibrahim [Jordan])
According to the terms of the competition, the winner of the competition should receive prize money of USD 50,000; which in the case of a tie will most probably be split in two. The members of the winning teams will also be given the opportunity to attend the MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW).
The first and second runner-ups will receive a check of USD 10,000 and USD 5000 respectively.
Besides the financial reward, the winning teams will be provided with coaching/mentoring from the members and network of the MIT Enterprise Forum who will also help the winners get their businesses up and explore further funding opportunities by introducing them to business development centers, financing institutions, and similar organizations.
ATH Moves To Invest In Mobile Technology In The Arab World
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | June 10, 2009 – 12:34 pm | Comments
Accelerator Technology Holdings (ATH) has announced that it is working on establishing a company to fund investment in mobile technology in the Arab region.
ATH is a holding company that acts through a group of companies established in Jordan and Bahrain to identify, invest in and help build best of breed ventures in the ICT value chain in the Arab world, and that has already funded a number of Arab startups through its IV Holdings venture capital arm.
They’re currently working on raising an initial US$10 million in funds, after which they will move on to hiring a management team to launch and run this new company.
They are particularly looking at areas like security and authentication, based on their expectations that financial transactions over mobile platforms will become very widespread in the region in the future, especially with several of the region’s big mobile network operators launching mobile payment initiatives recently.
This new company will operate as a cross between venture capitalist and commercial investor, building ties and working with foreign companies to bring new mobile technologies to the region. They’ve already started talking to businesses in the UK, Switzerland and Norway about bringing their mobile products to the Arab world.
# Source: The National
Nokia Offers $100,000 To Top Arabic Ovi Developer
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | June 2, 2009 – 11:12 pm | Comments
Nokia, through its developer community effort Forum Nokia, has launched a competition called Bil3arabi ‘Calling All Innovators’, inviting all Arab developers around the region to take part by creating local Arabic content for their Ovi Store.
The Bil3arabi competition was announced at the official launch event for their new Nokia N97 phone in Dubai.
Bil3arabi is open to all mobile and web application developers in the region who can submit local content to any category within the Ovi Store, from applications to widgets, video, personalization, games, audio, flash & active idle widgets, with a focus on internet innovation, flash, and mobile games.
The window for submissions opened today June 2nd and will run until October 30th, with the winners to be announced December 7th.
Submissions will be judged both by customers who download and rate the application and experts from Forum Nokia, with the grand prize winner taking home $100,000 for their efforts.
For more details about the competition and how to apply check the site: Bil3arabi ‘Calling All Innovators’
[Via: ITP]
Etisalat Launches Own New Instant Messaging Service
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | June 2, 2009 – 10:54 pm | Comments
Etisalat, the UAE telecoms operator, announced the launch of its own IM (Instant Messaging) service for its mobile phone and internet customers.
Etisalat Messenger is similar in concept to other chatting applications like Yahoo! Messenger, MSN and Google Talk, allowing subscribers to send messages in both Arabic and English between mobile phones and computers.
With this move, Etisalat aims to target the young generation in the UAE with whom instant messaging is one of the more popular forms of communication.
Conversations in Etisalat’s messenger can also include multimedia; for example pictures, video and sound clips. Messages sent while recipients are offline are delivered to them as SMS or MMS messages.
Etisalat Messenger comes in two packages; one with unlimited usage at a fixed monthly rate and another which enables users to send and receive unlimited messages for a fixed session period of 15 minutes at a per session cost.
For more details about Etisalat Messenger, pricing and activation; check the product page on the official site: Etisalat Messenger.
[Via: ITP]
Jordanian Government To Launch Two Venture Capital Funds
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | May 21, 2009 – 4:45 pm | Comments
The Government of Jordan, represented by Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO), has launched a Call for Proposals to pre-select one or two fund managers to provide services in relation to the establishment and management of the up-coming Early Stage and Capital for Growth funds in Jordan.
The Funds are part of the Jordan Enterprise Venture Capital Programme 2009 aiming at developing the emerging venture capital service industry in Jordan and at improving access to equity and quasi-equity financing for SMEs in Jordan.
The Funds will have minimum sizes of EUR5M/US$6.9M (Early Stage) and EUR20M/US$27.5M (Capital for Growth), of which 60% and 35% respectively have been committed in-principle by anchor investors.
The Funds will be managed by the private sector with the anchor investors being treated on a pari passu basis with private sector investors, in terms of risks and rewards. Selection of Fund Manager(s) will be determined on a competitive basis.
Bidding for the management of these funds is open to Venture Capital fund management companies, consortia, new management teams or promoters in a position to demonstrate their ability to:
- Formulate investment strategies matching the Funds’ investment policies;
- Mobilise a management team with relevant track-record;
- Raise additional funds from private and institutional investors;
- Source deals and actively manage the portfolio to create value.
The guidelines for submitting applications are available under the Venture Capital section on the JEDCO website: http://www.jedco.gov.jo.
The final closing date for receipt of proposals is on 15 June 2009 at 15:00 hrs. GMT + 3.
This is a great move by the Jordanian government to try to help build and enrich a professional VC industry in the country. A move worth following closely, and we’ll make sure to keep an eye on it and bring you any updates and news on how things develop.
The 10 Finalists Of MIT Arab Business Plan Competition 08-09
Mohamed Marwen Meddah | May 20, 2009 – 4:24 pm | Comments
The MIT Arab Business Plan Competition is a competition designed to encourage all entrepreneurs in the Arab world to start their own company and, ultimately, create a nest of leading firms in the Arab world.
The current version of the competition officially started on November 10th 2008, by opening up registrations. Now, after two rounds of selection, the following 10 finalists from around the Arab world have made it to the final round of the competition (in alphabetical order):
- AqarMap.com: Amad Almsaodi, Mohamed Hareth, Redwan Mohamed (Yemen)
- Blog Souq: Ahmad Takatkah, Adey Salamin, Ammar Ibrahim (Jordan)
- Digital Security Innovations: Adel Bouhoula, Seifeddine Aloui, Amine Ben Khalifa, Mohamed Abid (Tunisia)
- EnglEasy: AbdulAziz Ahmed Al-Sulaima, Ahmed Siddiqui, Ayman Makki Hoho (Saudi Arabia)
- HAYATI Healthcare LLC: Michael Matly, Tariq El-Titi, David Matly (United Arab Emirates)
- Rice Straw Fertilizer Company: Ibrahim Khater Youssef, Ahmed El Dorghamy, Mohamed Abdel Raouf (Egypt)
- Syphir (GFMail): Husain Al-Mohssen, Courtland Allen, Ghassan Fayad, Faisal Alibrahim (Saudi Arabia)
- Transterra Media: Irina Prentice, Hassan Ibrahim, Eli Andrews, Jonathan Giesen, Raya Mamarbachi (Egypt)
- Vaxeal Therapeutics: Ahmed Bouzidi, Bernard Maillere, Giampietro Corradin, Wassim Chehadeh, Mohammed Bouziane, Francois Spertini (United Arab Emirates)
- White Smile Whitening Boutique: Jomana Musmar, Lamis Maddur, Nigah M. Ajaj, Saoussen Besrour (United Arab Emirates)
The final round consists of oral presentations of the finalists’ business plans to the jury panel in Dubai, on June 11th 2009. The awards ceremony will take place the following day in Dubai, on June 12th 2009.
The winner of the competition will receive prize money of USD 50,000. The check will be issued in the name of the company. The members of the winning team will also be given the opportunity to attend the MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW).
The first and second runner-ups will receive a check of USD 10,000 and USD 5000 respectively.
Besides the financial reward, the winning teams will be provided with coaching/mentoring from the members and network of the MIT Enterprise Forum who will also help the winners get their businesses up and explore further funding opportunities by introducing them to business development centers, financing institutions, and similar organizations.
