TechTich

ollowing Yahoo! acquisition of?Maktoob?and Noupe Acquisition by Smashing magazine, I was tipped from a VC friend of mine of another good news for the Tech industry in Jordan and the Arab world in general. As of 10 days ago, Bahrain based private Equity firm, GrowthCapitalannounced that it acquired 30% of? Amman, Jordan based?Rubicon.

Rubicon which was founded in 1994, has the largest 2D and 3D animation studio in the Middle East. It is executing location-based entertainment projects in two destinations of above a billion dollars development budgets.

The company is described by many as the Pixar of the Arab world. Pixar Animation Studios is known for its hit toy story “Finding Nemo” in 2003, which achieved over $800 million in sales. Pixar was acquired 2006 by Disney at a price valued around $7.4 billion.

Rubicon has achieved many high profile deals with local governments in the region and International companies, as it is currently working with MGM Studios in the US to produce an animated television series based on the Pink Panther franchise of films.

It also has created ?Ben & Izzy? a successful children TV series that aired in Ramadan 2008 on MBC (see video below). The series is based on the adventures of two youngsters; one American and one Arab who travel back through ancient times and meet a band of scientists, travelers and poets, taking viewers on a nice new journey in each episode.

Rubicon operates out of Amman, Dubai, L.A., and Manila. Rubicon forecasted revenues for 2010 are in excess of $100 million, and it plans to invest circa US$ 75 M over the next three years in various productions. Both GrowthGate and Rubicon being privately held, the value of the transaction was not disclosed, but sources say it is in the multi-million dollar deal.

The Jordanian animation studio is lead by Randa Ayoubi acting as CEO, I met her during the last WEF Jordan 09, and we agreed to meet later but I did not have time to follow up with her.

This deal marks the fifth direct equity investment by GrowthGate since its capitalization in mid 2007, and the first in the ?Edutainment & Animation? sector. GrowthGate?s portfolio companies already comprise: Able Logistics Group (logistics & transport), Gama Aviation Holding (managed-private jets and aviation services), Roots Group (construction-related materials) and Averda International (environmental & waste management services).

Google announced yesterday that it has added a new feature to its contextual online advertising platform Adwords, for advertisers targeting Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The new feature allows advertisers in both countries to target ads only to specific region, city or geographical location. Google is able to deliver regional targeting because it knows the IPs that are coming from each city as such it can target ads based on that.

Geo-targeted ads are an efficient way to reach more qualified prospects. Narrowing it to a region or city level means, Google is targeting small and mid size businesses such as restaurants and caffe shops who would more likely advertises locally at the city level than nationally.

City level advertising is no doubt effective for small businesses, but Google can draw more small business crowds to its Adwords, if it can target ads targeted  to city neighborhoods.

The vast majority of Google revenues comes from adwords, whose main customers at the global level are small and mid sized businesses, as such Goolge managed to keep making profits despite the global recession while competing companies such as Yahoo! has been struggling to stay relevant because Yahoo! for instance relies on advertising from big brands, an advertising segment that cuts ads when faced with financial problems.

There are two types of online loan companies: faxing and no faxing. This refers to how the loan company verifies your income prior to granting the loan. When you go to a traditional payday loan outlet, you have to provide a pay stub or other document proving that you are making the money you claim to be making. This stops people from getting loans who have no source of income to pay those loans back with. Online loan companies have the same concern, but cannot handle the physical documents because they are doing business over the Internet. Thus, they have to use other methods to verify applicants’ income.

Reading more about the payday loan companies will help you to know which is the most suitable company for you, I would like to mention here this service called FastCashOnline.com to know all about the best companies.

Have a nice day

Few days ago Google announced its annual Zeitgeist, a look at 2009 through the collective data of the world on Google.

Google Zeitgeist tools also offer insight into which topics were of interest across the globe. Top search terms from over fifty countries appear on our Google Zeitgeist webpage – from political candidates in South Africa, to news searches in the United Arab Emirates, to electronic brand searches in Hong Kong.

T his year’s global fastest rising searches show interest across pop culture (with the King of Pop at the helm, followed by searches for movie New Moon and singer Lady Gaga), social networking sites and new technologies such as Windows 7 and Torpedo Gratis.

Global Fastest Rising Queries according to Google:
1.    Michael Jackson
2.    Facebook
3.    Tuenti
4.    Twitter
5.    Sanalika
6.    New moon
7.    Lady Gaga
8.    Windows 7
9.    Dantri.com.vn
10. Torpedo Gratis

I have used Google Insights for Search, a publicly available tool that displays relative search volume across geographies, time periods and queries, to get the 2009 list in many Arab countries.

By looking at the list, you will see the most common Interest are are Photos, Music, and Games in the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, West bank and Gaza, Syria, UAE and Algeria.

You’ll also notice that Arabic keywords are dominant in Saudi Arabia, Jordan,Egypt, Syria, West Bank, reflecting that Internet users in these countries use Arabic as the main language online. While English is dominant in Lebanon and UAE, maybe because expats are the majority of the population in UAE and maybe because lebanon is more western educated. French queries are dominant in Morocco and Algeria because of the French colonial past.

Here the top 10 Queries for major Arab countries:

• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia top 10 search ( terms translated from arabic): forums,Games, photos, songs, youtube, tarrab (music) chat, newspaper, Riyadh, trivian
• Jordan (terms translated from arabic): games, Jordan, photos, songs. newspaper, Alrai, download, girls, adductor, facebook., msn, love,
• Lebanon (terms translated from arabic: lebanon, lyrics, google, games, facebook, photos (Arabic keyword”, صور”, video, Nokia.

• Morocco: maroc, telecharger, youtube, clavier, jeux, clavier arabe, facebook, msn, vidoe, google.

• Syria (terms translated from arabic: photos, Syriam download (english keyword), songs, Syria, Chat, Education ministry, Forums, Al Arabia, Syria.
• Palestine (terms translated from arabic):, Games, Photosm Palestine, togather, Al Quds, Chat, Girls, Forms, Gaza.
• ‎UAE ( English terms) : Dubai, Download, Youtube, Games ( arabic word) Yahoo, news, Google, Games, facebook, india.
• Algeria:Algerie, telechargerm youtube, jeux, gammes (arabic) vidoem yahoo, Alshrouq (arabic) google, facebook.
• And here are UAE Fastest Rising Queries:

1.     Tribal wars game
2.     Gitex 2009
3.     netLog
4.     FlyDubai
5.     blackberry
6.     Ramadan 2009
7.     Twitter
8.     Star academy 6
9.     Etihad airways booking
10.  Kingfisher airlines booking

Mapping, GPS and Navigation devices are a very useful tool for any person, while the west and USA in general has more advanced solutions in this area than what is available in the Arab world. There has been local and International attempts to solve this issue.

On the web, google has done a good job in few Arab countries namely Dubai but its awesome Google Maps Navigation is only available for Motorola’s come-back mobile Droid. NDrive a Portuguese mobile developer launched last October navigation applications for the iPhone, for United Arab Emirates (UAE) , Saudi Arabia Morocco and Egypt, using TeleAtlas the same company that provides maps to Google Maps and Competes with Nokia’s Navteq.

From the region, Ayna the Lebanese company launched this year “Ayna Maps“that are also available via a number of mobile devices but unfortunately Ayna maps need internet connection to work, and since Mobile Internet connection is still costly Ayna maps is not an idle solution. In Jordan, Inside Jo from Jordan, developed an online map along with its own low cost GPS device that unfortunately did not get authorized by the authorities in Jordan!

Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition, The Affordable GPS Phone:

Nokia on the other hand, has went ahead faster than anyone, introducing mapping solution online via its Ovi maps and on its Mobile devices (From High End to Mid level). To push into mid and low market (the developing world), Recently Nokiaunveiled the latest device in the company’s range focused on mapping and navigation, the Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition. The new arrival is GPS enabled and pre-loaded with Nokia Maps, making it the most affordable GPS device in Nokia’s broad portfolio.
Relevant maps are included on the device to save cost and make sure that just because you don’t have an Internet connection, your device isn’t rendered useless, an essential element for mobile mapping in order to be used in mobile handsets by the main stream users since Mobile internet connections are pricey.

Nokia 2710 will be available in the second quarter of 2010 estimated to cost, before taxes and subsidies, EU 110.

Nokia 2710: has a GPRS handset, a 2.2-inch screen, 2-megapixel camera and enough storage for 1,000 phonebook entries. It also sports Ovi Mail and Instant Messaging and it’ll keep the tunes turning with an MP3 player and FM radio. It also has a 3.5mm AV connector. The device will go for up to 18 days between charges in standby mode and will give up to four hours and 20 minutes talk time.

Nokia Adds Jordan to Ovi Maps:

After Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, In the mapping and navigation availability, Nokia recently added Jordan to its Ovi Maps application. Adding rich local content and local maps that can be used directly on users mobile device turning them into a navigation systems.

“Having Ovi Maps on their device gives our consumers a new sense of their surroundings, with the possibility to discover new places and share them with their friends using SMS, MMS or Bluetooth.”said Bruce Howe, Head of Marketing Nokia Levant.

Ovi Maps application for your Nokia device is enhanced through additional features and services: high resolution satellite and terrain maps, rotation, tilting, night view and fly-overs and fly-throughs. Nokia’s Jordan Ovi maps was available during the month of November.

Walk from one place to another using WALK, the pedestrian navigation with routing optimized for those on foot, providing better orientation in a city or outdoors.

Or use DRIVE, the navigation takes you from A to B with visual turn-by-turn guidance. It helps you to locate yourself by giving information about the surrounding buildings, roundabouts and streets and in newer handsets points the direction in which you are walking using the handset’s built in compass for orientation.

Ovi Maps uses vector maps are provided by Navteq, which was acquired by Nokia in end of 2007. The map data of Jordan, is offered free of charge and includes detailed Road coverage of 28,621 Km covering 100 municipalities, including street names and street directions.

By this, Nokia has 100 percent of the total road network of Jordan covered including all the major highways connecting Jordan’s major cities. It also has 13.500 Points of Interests including hotels, restaurants, places of worship, shopping malls, petrol stations and many others.

Maps can be downloaded free of charge over the air directly to selected devices or by using the Nokia Map Loader on a PC. however since my Nokia 5800 died and I am currenlty testing now N900 which Ovi Maps is not supported on it yet, I could not test the new maps in Jordan. (See the video I recorded last month for a preview of Ovi maps in Dubai on N900.)

In addition, Nokia also launched a crowed sourced “Get to good things“website to Jordanian consumers, so that they can add their personal POI’s from Jordan and share with the world.

Winners of Nokia’s Calling All Innovators “Bil3arabi” 2009 contest, a developer competition for Arabic-language mobile applications, have been announced by Nokia.

The grand prize winner of $100,000 went to “Here I am” from Enpronomics in Egypt.  It is a geo-presence application with personal safety features that enables users to call for help in emergencies, share their location with family, close friends and know the location of their beloved.

In second place, and winner of $25,000 in cash, is Elmathbakh created by private developers Senai Refai and her husband Kamel Seghaier from Tunisia.  Elmathbakh is an application that helps people keep track of their daily calorie intake. Its various features have been designed especially for Arabic diets.

The other top 10 applications that have received the Judge’s Choice Award will get a one-year membership in Forum Nokia Launchpad, which enables members to receive access to exclusive resources and support to accelerate mobile application development and elevate developer’s business visibility in the mobile world.  These applications are OI2ot by Inficron, Arabian HawkGood by News 4 me, AlMoosiqar by Quirkat, Yoolki, Sarhan by Good News 4 me, Messagei, Wassal  by Inficron, Moodi by MT2, Konooz, and Frenzo.

In addition to the cash prize, the grand prize winner will receive a “spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 4 weeks on the top page of Nokia’s Ovi Store; and paid travel to demo the winning application at a Nokia specified event.  The winning application will also be reviewed by Nokia for possible preload on future Nokia devices.  Second place will also receive a “spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 3 weeks on a relevant category page on Nokia’s Ovi Store.

Have you ever been in a class and just not known what the teacher was talking about. The teacher likely asked you to read from a book to help you learn more about it and you still could not get it. We all feel that way at times.

Many people feel the same way when it comes to medical speak and the science behind it. For example, the gamma camera is one of those things that you may have heard of, but really do not know what it means. Even when someone explains how one of these cameras works, you may well not know anymore then than you do know about how it works or the parts in the camera.

In that case, you may want to learn more about how it is used or why it used. This can help you to better understand it and possibly start to understand about how a gamma camera works. That is the same with anything that you do not understand. By doing this you give you self a better idea of what it is and how it works.

A camera is a medical camera that involves radiation. The gamma camera is used in the acquisition of a images of a patient. A medical camera can be used in the cancer screening process or in other medical needs.

Check bctechnical.com to get your gamma camera Now.

Nice day

As many believe, web users and innovators emerged winners upon the completion of the European Commission’s investigation into Microsoft’s browser-bundling practices. Microsoft will now offer users of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 a screen presenting a choice of Web browsers. In December 2007,Opera Software urged the European Commission to investigate Microsoft’s abuse of its dominant market position and the company’s bundling of Internet Explorer with its Windows operating system.

The new “choice screen” (or “ballot screen”) enables users easily to select and install Internet Explorer alternatives, which are safer, faster and more standards-compliant browsers. By giving consumers a genuine choice of browsers, the door is now open for increased Web compatibility and equal access to Internet content.

“This is a victory for the future of the Web. This decision is also a celebration of open Web standards, as these shared guidelines are the necessary ingredients for innovation on the Web,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software (ArabCrunch.NET profile.) “Opera has long been at the forefront of Web standards, which ensures that people have equal access to the Web anytime, anywhere and on any device. We see the outcome of the EU’s investigation as a testament to our mission.”

After vigorously pursuing the bundling issue upon Opera’s initial complaint in 2007, the European Commission accepted Microsoft’s commitment to a Web browser choice screen, and the investigation was brought to a close. This browser choice agreement will have a term of five years and includes a semi-annual review of its effectiveness. Currently, the browser choice screen will be available to only European consumers.

“The days when companies could use poor standards support to tie down users are over,” said Håkon Wium Lie, Chief Technology Officer, Opera Software. “The browser choice screen will give users access to better browsers with better support for Web standards.”

In the Arab world, Microsoft pushes and lobby to force Arab governments to force copy rights and halt piracy so only its original software are being sold. But Microsoft has not given back to the hands that sends millions of USD to its pocket rather than only a couple of innovation centers with a handful of employees.