Taktek Games aiming to develop the gaming ecosystem in the #MENA

Continuing with the companies I met at AmmanTT 2012, I had the chance to sit down with Gaith Kawar and Odeh Haddadin from Taktek games, the story of this venture is an interesting one, it starts back in 2008 when Gaith Kawar the current CEO and Co-founder launched a company called Zero3 Digital which is a website design and development company based in Amman, Jordan. Gaith remembers... Read More

Things I saw at Arabnet 2012: Intafeen.com

We’re back from Arabnet in Beirut and I think it’s safe to say that the event was a success. There were a number of interesting talks, presentations and most importantly startups from the region. I got the chance to speak to some of them. And we will write more about them in the coming days. First up I had the chance to speak with Dr. Adel Youssef who has been working on... Read More

Help us help the web in #MENA (Survey)

I’ve been wanting to use the “Arabic” Y U No Guy for a while now and I finally have the chance, I don’t think there’s a greater call to action then an illustration of guy in a Shemagh (aka Keffiyeh)! Anyways… On to more serious matters, this month has had a lot of firsts for us and we’re going ahead and adding another one. We’re carrying... Read More

CareZone: The #MENA’s first mobile platform with a heart

A new application from Dubai is looking to give consumers a way to feel good about their purchases. The application which is developed by the Dubai based Innoventa, a leading provider of integrated solutions in management and marketing focusing mainly on the internet and mobile spaces, was recently launched and is a great and simple idea for people to shop, get rewards and help... Read More

Report: Mobile Apps usage in the MENA region

A report released earlier this month by AppsArabia and Real Opinions gives some great insight about the MENA regions smartphone usage. The research which was sponsored by RIM, which mainly aims to increase and support the developers in the region. The research which was conducted online in both English (23%) and Arabic (77%) with almost 3,000 respondents and contains a vast amount... Read More

New Ventures from the #MENA: Alhodhud

Last month I was following the coverage of Democamp Amman on Twitter and read about some really good ideas, I thought I would get in touch with some of the people that were presenting their demo’s. I got in touch with AlHudhod and got a response from Mohammed Al-Bishtawi one of the Co-Founders and he was very happy to answer a few questions to give us a little bit more insight... Read More

The rise of Mobile in the MENA

Last week we posted an article about some interesting information released by Effective Measure regarding mobile internet consumption in the MENA region. Apparently brands in the region have noticed this trend and have started reacting to this consumer need by producing either mobile apps or mobile websites to connect with users on the go. The latest company to do so is Dubizzle,... Read More

GCC sees 34% increase in mobile internet consumption

In their latest newsletter Effective measure released some information on mobile internet consumption in the MENA region, which shows strong growths all over the region mainly in the GCC and the levant where there was a 34% increase in mobile browsing in the Gulf from March to April 2011 with the Levant just trailing with around 33% growth as you can see from the image below: Another... Read More

Blackberry Playbook Review

A couple of days ago we got our hands on the new Blackberry Playbook here in the UAE. The device looks sleek without any buttons on surface everything is controlled via hand gestures. It does however have a small on/off button above the screen on the edge along with a increase/decrease volume and pause play button. When I started to fiddle with it I was lost and very unimpressed... Read More

App dev days summary (Day 2) iPhone development basics

Day two of the event at twofour54 in Abu Dhabi, which held 3 different sessions running in parallel. The first session covered Blackberry development the other was covering development for Symbian and the last (the one we attended) was the iPhone iOS basics. The key speaker was Amir Jahanlou from SAE Institute Dubai, he specializes in developing apps and 3D games. Amir started... Read More

App Dev Days summary (Day 1)

Today twofour54 held a very useful and exciting mobile user experience (UX) training session with the presence of David Ashford of Apps Arabia, Magnus Nystedt Group Editor at the Corporate Publishing International (CPI), the publishing house that brings pcworld and macworld Middle East. And the main speaker was Oliver Weidlich of Mobile Experience: Director of Design & Innovation. After... Read More

Mobile photography apps that turn heads!

1. Photosythn A lot of coverage has been given lately to Photosynth a new photography app released by Microsoft on the iTunes Appstore. I’m not very big on photography so I didn’t really pay much attention at the time until I downloaded the application which you can do so from here (the best part its free!) and I must admit the app is a must have on your phone. The... Read More

Criticism on Blackberry Playbook from Day 1 [Video]

Since RIM unveiled their new tablet product “Playbook” back in September last year which we covered here and we’ve been excited to see the launch and cover it on our website, yet there is something killing this hype today through continuous criticism everywhere that started couple of days back but it didn’t turn head, until today, the day of launch (April... Read More

Apps development day – Free event

A free event Apps Dev Days open for all to attend about developing mobile applications and considering designing apps for mobile. It is a collaborative event between twofour54, Apps Arabia and Corporate Publishing International (CPI). The event will be held on April 24 – 25 in Abu Dhabi in twofour54′s headquarters, tadreeb which is a part of twofour54 will host a series... Read More

Blackberry in the UAE not secure anymore, almost!

You may recall a while back the UAE government threatened to suspend he Blackberry services due to security issues. They had requested Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) to locate their encrypted computer servers in the country so that they can access user information. Well it seems that the problem has been solved. On May 1st, individuals and small businesses (under 20 subscriptions)... Read More

Etisalat and Nokia to partner up for OVI store payments

Nokia and Etisalat are looking forward to start a collaboration where users can download applications from the Nokia Ovi Store and get billed directly from through their mobile phone accounts. This collaboration will be available in all countries that Etisalat operates in i.e. UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt by this year. The good thing is that any Etisalat customer can use this service... Read More

Mobile Advertising in the MENA region

Recently I launched an iphone application which we mentioned here, now since this was our first application the main concept behind it was more of a learning experience than actually generating large sums of money, and so far it has proven to be just that. Obviously we had done a lot of research before we started but still some things you have to pick up on your own. Not surprisingly... Read More

There’s an app for that!

After almost a year ago I got an idea to start developing mobile applications targeting users from the MENA region, but I couldn’t quite get my head around an application that I would like to use I was leaning towards games (because I’m a big fan of all sorts of games) however one day I was chatting with a friend and he inspired me to develop an application that actually... Read More

Rumor: Blackberry Playbook and Appworld available in March throughout the MENA region?

According to sources who have been working closely with the RIM guys in Dubai, a tip was submitted to the Interactuive ME team that RIM plans to launch the Blackberry Appworld and Blackberry Playbook in March across the MENA region. The exact date was not given however it is more likely to be in mid March. So Blackberry users rejoice, you will soon (if it is true) be able to download... Read More

It’s official we’re a media partner with the Apps World and Social Media World Forum Middle East events

You might have noticed that we have added two banners in our sidebar, those are for the upcoming Apps world Middle East event and Social Media World Forum Middle East event Both events will be held in the same venue at the Dubai World Trade Center on the 2nd & 3rd of May 2011. Six Degrees an events and exhibitions company specializing in running social media related conferences... Read More