The site makes it easy for webmasters to integrate Dakwak’s localization and translation service right into their sites; instantly providing their visitors access to content in the language they’re most comfortable reading in.

All it takes is a bit of javascript code that needs to be integrated into the site pages, and to flag the content that needs to be localized/translated; and the rest is taken care of by Dakwak.

The service automatically detects the country a visitor is connecting from based on their IP address, and changes the language of the content to the visitor’s language, switching all the text without breaking the design of the page; unless the visitor chooses to switch back to the base language.

As for how the localization and translation happens exactly; it’s a combination of two approaches:

Crowd-sourced translation: Just like the approach followed by Facebook and a number of other sites, the site owner can rely on the user community to help translate the site to other languages. Of course, the site owner can choose who they want to be able to contribute and can moderate the community translations.

Automatic machine translation: Dakwak uses both the Google language and translation APIs as well as its own translation engine to provide automatic machine translations of content that hasn’t been translated by the community yet. The Dakwak translation engine is also built to learn better translations as site owners and community members get more involved in translation.

Webmasters also get to choose which languages to provide on their sites through their site settings on Dakwak.

People interested in contributing to translations and localizations of sites can also find a list of all open projects on the site itself, where they can vote on existing translations, flag the ones they think are inappropriate, or suggest new ones.

Dakwak was launched from Amman, Jordan by Waheed Barghouthi; who counts among his previous projects the work he did on building Watwet, the Arabic micro-blogging platform.

Looks like all are meeting at the content crossroads. Telecoms/ISPs providing higher bandwidth & speed, Media/Entertainment companies bringing the content online, and we users getting ready to use all that. I skipped Advertisers, let’s give’em a break.

The amount of direct online content piracy on Arabic websites could really shock you out if you weren’t the type that listens to Arabic music. You can download, stream, and do whatever you want with full albums of the latest titles for free, not on some obfuscated or hidden websites, torrent, or file-hosting, no, on proud flashing home pages. With all that around for years(showing the amount of interest) the only conclusion often heard was “Arabs like to get Music for Free when it’s digital” such a passive thing to say.

There are a good number of startups n’ initiatives that are serving the IP-Entertainment right now, and many to come as they’re buzzing in the market. The first of its kind Shofha.com(reviewed here) was a real winner as one of the first entrants to get a slice of Rotana‘s content, Rotana being the biggest Media company in Arabia and one of the biggest bottlenecks for online growth of Arabic Entertainment.

In Ramadan of 2009, MBC Group, and Dubai Media Incorporated(DMI) had all their Ramdan content Aired(or better put Streamed) Online. Both of the services looked identical in core and style and were provided by Etisalat. Although both of the services looked experimental they exceeded the expectations as DMI does use the same system today. These initiatives were good enough to give online viewers a choice to view online and with better quality than what usually gets posted on video sites such as Youtube or Ikbis. So it saved viewers the time to search for content and gave them a better quality, okay let’s mention advertisers now, and got some of the TVCs ported online.

Earlier in June ADMC announced plans to launch VEVO in the middle east, which was big enough News to get us waiting for the content that is promised for Q1 2011.

During the Worldcup Al Jazeera Sports was the Exclusive right holder for Worldcup games, and they did Air it online as well. Yep, you could really watch the matches in high quality streaming from Al Jazeera Sports website. Are we there yet?

And last week’s mega announcement of Rotana signing with Yahoo! which shockingly did not get enough press. I wonder why. Rotana, region’s Arabic content kingdom goes online with Yahoo! So Yahoo! gets the rights to use Rotana’s content from Movies, Serials, Music, and some of the Radio & TV channels in an advertised(as opposed to pay per view) model. Yahoo! = Big Reach, Rotana = Quality Arabic Content. Do the math.

And today, ADMC announced their subscription models for English Premiere League, and guess what, there’s an Internet version of the subscription for a whole season for AED 220($60).

Gear up, as a user, get that HD screen ready, and upgrade that Internet connection.

But, what does it have in for start-ups & entrepreneurs? If you look closely or even not closely, all the above mentioned companies are Giant media companies doin’ the talk. Even Shofha.com is part of LinkdotNET which is basically a big player in telecoms in Egypt and has been the gatekeeper for MSN Arabia as long as we can remember, and on the side, LinkdotNET is the online partner for Rotana on almost all their websites. With all the fuss and monopolizing initiatives in the Media business, there are still lots of content to bring online. Although most of the production companies tend to go online themselves, DMI & MBC Group included, there are a great deal of quality content out there to yet tap. Talk about Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and even Egypt with great history in TV & Radio production, there are a great deal of niches to discover, and since the mainstream media is going streamed, the smaller players will have a chance to dive in.

AnaZahra is ADMC’s latest addition to their digital/online portfolio of titles. AnaZahra was introduced as Zahrat Al Khaleej’s branch online, or the Online version of the same magazine? It could get one confused as ADMC introduced a new business unit headed by celebrity Zoya Sakr. It was launched with Zahrat Al Khaleej’s brand used as an endorser and a sister brand, even AnaZahra’s branding borrows from Zahrat Al Khaleej, but then once you go online, print content and online are worlds of differences.

AnaZahra launched in a very interesting way, a very offline way of launching an Online venture. A traditional launch with no considerable online Ads or any Social Media involvement which worries me a little given the VERY corporate execution. Is such an online venture to survive in our Twitter generation executives?

First, the digital-savvy Women report

Before their launch they had a press release that everyone on Twitter n’ Facebook re-posted over & over that showed Women in Arabia are digital-savvy and are well versed with online magazines and social networks. Okay, so message reached to Advertisers–Advertise with us Online.

Then, bring in the accomplished & market influencers

In an exclusive event earlier before the launch ADMC hosted a preview event of AnaZahra.com to accomplished, successful, and sought after women in the UAE followed by artists, and celebrities that were treated & pampered with Dior beauty products.

So AnaZahra is not your average Online magazine. Is it? No, it’s not. But hey, it’s not run by Facebook generation executives. From staffing to launch and PR, there’s a smell of big plays being planned and with ADMC in the background, AnaZahra should be looking good on paper and perhaps on the floor.

Content, it’s very early to weight the content or even take a look at where and how it’s getting online, but in a very short time, the number of articles, gossip and News available on AnaZahra is impressive and from writers and bloggers across Arabia.

AnaZahra, jus’ like Zahrat Al Khaleej is all about Fashion, Family, Beauty, Kids, Health and lots of Arabic gossip on Celebrities and pop culture. Even though it shows Blogs on the website it might confuse you with members blogs which they’re not. Blogs on AnaZahra are nothin’ but special columns made for a selected few Celebrities such as Afaf Jnifan(Tunisian-Itallian super model) and others. The website also includes a Community section which looks like an after thought at this stage.

So how digital or online is AnaZahra?

For what it’s worth, it is real time, specially celebrity gossip and News. It doesn’t replicate content from its offline version of Zahrat Al Khaleej which adds great value content-wise.

Experience-wise, it really is nothing digital. Nothing near the expectation from a brand that launches out of ADMC. The section that holds videos & images is called Gallery(معرض). Exactly how it’s done on Forums.

The more you browse through the website the more you get the sense of individuality in content and how they cover it first, but at the same time you get back to thinking what does AnaZahra really have more than the competition? Say 7asnaa of d1g, or 7elwa by Yahoo-Maktoob, or Zeina at Jeeran? Or thousands of highly populated and visited Arabic forums that ADMC itself advertises on? But then when you get back to AnaZahra you figure out that the other websites had actually been of type that consumed content from the likes of Zahrat Al Khaleej offline and then posted them as second hand content and editorial. So content-wise AnaZahra has the edge over the rest having fresh first hand content produced by its journalists & reporters.

Content is king, fair & square AnaZahra wins, they are hard to beat, but the tough question to ask is, how is AnaZahra going to survive online apart from hiding behind the great Zahrat Al Khaleej brand & ADMC’s resources and presence? It’s early to say but if they don’t go Social and Open, Sharable and Interactive they have no chance in surviving given the big bucks being spent prior to launch and start up period.  But then the obvious answer might be just in front of us, 32 years of great relationship with Advertisers, Zahrat Al Khaleej can always feed AnaZahra with Ads, may be?

Now, all we gotta’ do is wait n’ see, personally as I grew up seeing Zahrat Al Khaleej around at home and every where n’ would like to see it prosper online,  looks good so far. This shall have a part two in a three months time to review and see what changed n’ what really has worked for’em.

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?

You’ve got access

All we had then was a handful of web start-ups, and they really were untouchable, and corporate, mostly founded by those who lived or were educated abroad either in US or Europe where broadband and eBay culture were building up. And oh boy how much we loved Arabia.com. There was no Techcrunch, all we had was TechTV before we get access to DSL connections n’ be able to watch podcasts. So if you weren’t in the US or EU then you couldn’t really keep up or know what was going on. I remember in order to keep up with Linux distros n’ try’em out I had to be at Spinneys before 10AM on Wednesdays to grab one of the two copies of Maximum Linux magazine, and oh man I’d be lucky if they actually remembered to keep me a copy of Computer Arts Magazine. Think now. We’ve got it all, never short, always there & informed.

It’s never been any more casual to get investors’ attention

Before the Web revolution, it was the IT & Software worlds that had investors attention and even that was entirely Suites class. In our golden Web days, Investors try to blend in instead, attending unorganized events hunting for the next best idea n’ team. They’re even there on Twitter. Funding houses, Incubators & Angels, so open, so casual, almost unbelievable.

A great sign, over PRed & over covered Start-ups

You know that the media is hungry and is in looks for start-ups to cover when little projects get covered in almost every paper n’ News channel. They want more, so give it to them. And plus, if you’ve noticed Geek has become Chic, so make the most of it while you can.

You don’t need to hear more about funds, or events/conferences as they are big News here at Start Up Arabia. And in these rainy days, start-ups are the hopes for every government to create jobs and move the economy. It’s your time. Make the most of it. So where are you at?

This is made possible through a platform that was built to enable companies to post and promote their available internship opportunities, and on the other hand make it easy for fresh graduates and students to find these opportunities and apply for them as interns.

The goal of the service is of course to try and help youth to find interesting internship opportunities in different companies, in order to start gathering work experience and begin paving their career path. It also helps companies open up their internship positions to a wider group of people enabling them to find and pick better candidates who might go on to become full time team members in the future.

Tadarrab.com is a product of Ideation Box, the same company that previously launched Nakhweh, the volunteer matching portal that was reviewed here. In fact, the need for this kind of service was identified while working with youth and students through the Nakhweh project.

Tadarrab.com’s basic internship posting services will be offered to all companies for free until the end of 2010. As for applying for these internship opportunities, they should always be for free.

At a speech in Cairo in June 2009, President Obama announced that the United States would launch an investment fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries. OPIC responded last October by issuing a call for proposals to manage a Global Technology and Innovation Fund, intended to catalyze private sector investments that promote technological growth in OPIC-eligible countries Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The five funds approved were among 87 responses to the call.

The investment funds approved by the Board were:

Riyada Enterprise Development Growth Capital Fund
$150 million in financing have been approved to support the fund, which will invest in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout the MENA region, particularly companies which stand to benefit from investment in technology.

Target countries for the fund include Egypt, Turkey, Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Oman, Algeria and Morocco.

Abraaj Capital Group; which was formed in 2002 and with offices in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; was selected as fund manager. Abraaj is often credited with establishing one of the first private equity funds based in the MENA region and has raised $7.0 billion since inception.

The fund has a target capitalization of $500 million.

Accelerator Technology and Innovation Capital Partners
Up to $25 million have been approved to support the fund, which will provide growth-stage financing to MENA companies in the digital content, internet services, mobile applications, mobile financial services, technology services and platforms, next generation media, entertainment and software development sectors. Target countries for the fund include Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia among other Arab and Islamic countries.

AcceleratorTech Capital Partners; which is owned by Accelerator Technology Holdings, a Jordan-based company widely credited for creating a venture capital industry in the region; was selected as fund manager.

The fund has a target capitalization of $75 million.

KIPCO Opportunity Fund
Up to $150 million in financing have been approved to support the fund, which expects to invest primarily in companies which are positioned to benefit from rapid economic growth, developing infrastructure and maturing financial markets in the MENA region, including in the financial services, media, infrastructure and information technology sectors.

Target countries for the fund are Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, although the fund may also invest in other countries in the MENA region.

KIPCO Private Equity; which is owned by Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) K.S.C. (Closed), a Kuwait-based company which to date has made over 60 investments valued at approximately $23 billion; was selected as fund manager.

The fund has a target capitalization of $1 billion.

Citadel Capital Joint Investment Fund
Up to $100 million in financing have been approved to support the fund, which will invest in companies in various stages of maturity, including traditional buyouts, growth capital investments, turnaround situations and greenfield projects. Sectors of interest include waste management, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and production of building materials and alternative energy.

The fund will invest a significant amount of its capital in Egyptian companies which will be used as platform investments to expand throughout the region, although the fund is designed to invest throughout the MENA region, as well as East Africa and the Persian Gulf.

Citadel Capital Management Limited; a wholly owned subsidiary of Citadel Capital SAE, an Egypt-based company which is one of the leading private equity investment firms in the MENA region; was selected as fund manager. Citadel Capital currently manages a total of $3.7 billion in equity and has completed investments in 19 platform ompanies.

The new fund has a target capitalization of $500 million.

Siraj Palestine Fund I
Up to $30 million in financing have been approved to support the fund, which will invest in start-ups and SMEs in the Palestinian Territories, and potentially in larger companies with growth potential. The fund will focus on companies with the potential to become market leaders in the Palestinian Territories or expand their operations internationally, primarily in the MENA region.

Sectors of interest to the fund include information and communication technology services, agriculture, clean technology, healthcare, education, manufacturing and financial services.

Siraj Fund Management Company; a Ramallah-based company owned by Massar International, another Palestinian company that manages a network of 15 subsidiaries operating in real estate development, financial services, and corporate business development; was selected as fund manager.

The fund has a target capitalization of $80 million.

The website is only available within the AUD (American University of Dubai) campus for the time being, but the founders hope to be able to expand it to other universities and publicly for all students.

As is the case with other online trading services, students can go onto the site and add the books they have and want to sell, putting in all the details for them and how much they want to sell them for. On the other hand, users can search through the site for books they have to buy for their courses and find what available options exist, what their prices are and pick what they need..

When a book is to be sold, the buyer and seller’s contact information is exchanged and the transactions is carried on offline.

The following is the Book Trader presentation at DemoCamp Dubai last week.

The idea is to enable users to manage their tendering and procurement process in an easy, efficient and secure way; catering to the needs of all types of institutions of all sizes and industries in the Middle East region.

Monaqasat aims at offering a full experience to the institutions using it, by implementing the complete tendering process, allowing its users to create tenders, invite stakeholders, submit and review tender documents, submit their online bids and automatically generate tender reports the instant the tender is completed, all from the confort of their own offices.

Monaqasat’s pricing structure and the way it generates revenue is setup as follows:

• Institutions using the service need to pay a yearly membership fee (AED 2000 / year) to access the majority of features of the system and be able to create and manage an unlimited amount of tenders.
• On the other hand, a tender access fee needs to be paid by participating bidders; this fee is defined as a percentage of the tender documents fees (30%).

The company recently announced that in just a year since the company launched in 2009, Monaqasat.com has attracted more than 500 companies to use the platform, and that project tenders worth over Dh1 billion ($272 million) have been managed and awarded through their online platform.

Companies using the system include banks, consultants and contractors such as ADCE (the engineering branch of ADCB), KEO, ACG, Helal & Partners, Syrconsult, Heberger Engineering, Dar Al Omran Abu Dhabi Architectural Engineering Consultancy and Al Meedan, Al Fara’a, Dhafra Intl Projects, Dhafir Development & Contracting LLC, Group 3, Q Construction LLC and Al Mezin General Contracting.

Monaqasat is a product of NuServ O.T.S. L.L.C., an Abu Dhabi based company, that was founded by Karim Helal and Vlad Romascanu.

In the world of Mashed-up data where we get around platforms and devices seamlessly and access data from everywhere do you think we should fear sharing data anymore? Skimming through a great list of start-ups will easily get your attention that our most successful start-ups and entrepreneurs in Arabia are those who could integrate with the analogue world, offline frameworks, and the real world business/individual needs.

One of the projects that caught my attention at the 2nd Democamp in Dubai was Loomni. Apart from the energetic founder’s enthusiasm & positive aggressiveness at the time of presenting, it got my attention to one very important notion, it isn’t a let’s-go-online kind of project and it is connected to our offline life. Despite its poor branding and non-introducing website it is one of those projects that fills a need, a gap, and it serves. Getting over Loomni, you’d often see start-ups in Arabia hanging around those projects that are not connected to the offline world. Or, it’s often a Web Developer’s other hobby gone online if not an Arabized one.

When we say integrating with the offline world, it shouldn’t necessarily mean having to work with businesses or individuals on the face-to-face level but connecting to their data and sharing common useful data. For instance, if you ever downloaded a personal or small-business accounting software you’d notice that if you were in US you could actually connect to your Bank Account and have data loaded into the application. Okay, dream about that for another 10 years in our region. I hate to say that. But we don’t share data. Think about Theaters n’ Movie Houses, or better yet TV & Radio channels, how could it hurt anyone if they shared a simple XML file with their programming data? Think about thousands of companies that have been crying for data from these companies in order to service the consumers who are originally theirs?

Security? Infrastructure? I don’t thinks so. Let’s take a better example. An online start-up that is not sharing data while they share an API. YAMLI(i’m a big fan of YAMLI). Check’em out, you can use a simple API that is attached to Web UI elements. But, it’d never give you access to querying and requests. Think about possibilities of Keyboard plug-ins for systems such as Android? If they shared data.

The fear of sharing in a Web of sharing? Could you spend a day online without seeing a “Share” button?

Users would basically get to start a new hashtag for a story, and then they’d start contributing to writing the story one tweet at a time by appending that hashtag. On the site, readers would be able to say whether they like a specific contribution or not, and through that decide what goes into the story and what doesn’t.

So in essence, it’s a new kind of publishing platform that hopes to unite tweeters/writers of all kinds, to create and tell stories, which could be general stories or written for a specific cause.

All contributions are considered intellectual property of the contributors, but will be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike license.

Twtrtales was founded and built by Kedar Iyer, Rami Kayyali and Nagranee Channa.

The team were at DemoCamp Dubai last week where they presented twtrtales. The presentation they gave can be found here, and the following is the video of their presentation.

[Sorry for this video being of lower quality than other ones from the event.]