Friendfeed is a very good service indeed, and the bias that some
complain about is actually vivid on other social network platforms
- twitter, digg, techmeme …etc- The fact is A-list bloggers have soldiers
who help them promote there content.

So I had this idea why don’t we collaborate -bloggers, entreprenuers,
IT geeks … etc- and help promote each other content? By leveraging
the tremendous number of internet enthusiasts we can help take you
to the first page of Digg or Techmeme.

Today, we would like to Announce SNA (The Social Network Alliance)
it is an initiative to promote your and everyone’s content on social
networks and going a step ahead. We need hundrerds of geeks and bloggers
to come on board. Feel free to change the name of the initiative, the logo
whatever. We can also create a platform to follow other people activites
and promote it. SNA is an idea you can contribute yours ideas of the best
way this will work, your vision, your ambition all constitutes what
SNA is all about. SNA is meant for Arabs but any one who is interested
is welcome too. One initiative to take all of us to infinity and beyond.

The new members are Asim and Linda. Asim Khalil will be our VP of Sales
and Marketing. He comes from a sales background and we are really
excited that he is a part of the team right now. He will be glad to answer
any inquires you have to contact him e-mail: asim [at] twffaha dot com

Linda Al Amin comes from a medical background, she is a social activist too
and she will be joining us as a Community Manager/Evangelist. Linda will
be helping job seekers to fit in Twffaha and will support there issues and
makes sure they are solved. She can be reached at Linda [at] twffaha dot com

DemoCamp is an event for startups in the region to showcase their works,
and receive feedback from the audience. We are excited to be there
and we can not wait for your feedback and suggestion. Also please feel free
to meet after the event so we can know you better.

DemoCamp is co-organized by Arqaam and Spinbits. You can see the list
of participating demos here.

Now am not here to judge on which one is better - although Yamli seems
ahead of Ta3reeb for now at least- my stance on this is well documented.
Competition is healthy, and Yamli is sure flattered that Google is trying to
take on Yamli’s lion share of the transliteration in the Arabic region, also
Google is proving Yamli’s worth by cloning their service, as they did before
when they cloned 37Signals’ Campfire - although it was later removed -
you can read the story here.

The problem is that Google tried to promote for its service by advertising
for the service when the user searches for Yamli. I’m not thoroughly familiar
with Google’s terms of service but am sure it is unethical to advertise for your
product using some one else’s name. This sure raises some questions as
others pointed out that Google’s monopoly in the search engine is abused
to promote its own services.

Google’s launch of Ta3reeb is a good effort, and I understand why they did
not think of acquiring Yamli first, Yamli is oriented toward the Arabic user
and Google is looking for a more global solution that works with different
languages. Or maybe due to the recession Google thinks that Yamli is
way expensive for them Anyway the whole idea is to not abuse your
power serving yourself, and try to crush other players unfairly. Keep it
clean Google and play by the rules. For now I’m betting on Yamli.

Update:

It seems Google removed the Ad that shows up when searching for Yamli now.

So, Why are we discussing the tipping point? in previous weeks a new trend
has emerged in the blogosphere as Arabic startups and blogs started to
make regular appearance on different media outlets that were far from
having an interest in our Arabic region or language.

Breaking the circle

First a blog like ArabCrunch was featured on the prominent ReadWriteWeb
along with Islamcrunch. Then StartupArabia recently caught the eye of
Duncan Riley’s The Inquisitr along with Artwitter a simple -yet smart-
implementation of the twitter API. Startups made a bigger impact too, lead by
Yamli featured on Techcrunch which usually have more interests
in Israeli startups than Arabic if any. Feedor on Profy, just to
mention a few.

Connecting the dots

Arabic startups are making headlines

It seems young agile Arabic startups are now connecting the dots,
and figuring how the new era must be approached. Huge-fat portals
are no longer an interesting commodity, instead small simple and specific
applications are the future of the net. So why is the long overdue interest in
the region? The Arabic world was fortunate to survive the shakeups in the
global market, it is still a juvenile region with room for improvement
and aggressive growth.

Conclusion

Arabic startups and blogs are on the verge of a new dawn. The region is
now a target for international firms, and VCs to invest with the variety of
opportunities available. Local investors should take note. Probably it is
time to stop investing in Real Estate and start looking elsewhere, investing
in knowledge and technology is relatively cheaper than other investments
and promises great returns. Those who are mentioned here are a great start
we can only hope for the renaissance to continue. Let’s cease the moment
and build, contribute, and cooperate for a better Arabic internet presence.
Congratulations to all.

P.S In case I forgot to mention any other startups/blogs, please add in
the comments any other examples you are aware of.

So here is the list (in no order):

1. weNear

weNear is a location based awareness application. By defining your
interests it allows you to connect with people who might be sitting
next to you in a public place and have the same interests as you.
Now why is this a big deal? Its mobile-based model is no-brainer.
The penetration of mobile phones In Arabic countries is far ahead
of internet penetration which gives weNear access to far more
users than any other Arabic start-ups. weNear is developed by
eSpace in Egypt.

2. Yamli

The popular tool that translates what you type in Arabic
(using Latin alphabets) to English. We just cant stop talking
about it! It tackles a problem encountered by a vast majority
of Arabic users, who might have no access to an Arabic enabled
keyboard. Also, they have announced their API which allows
other start-ups to integrate the service in their own websites.
Need I say more? recently it won the Best Web Technology Award
courtesy of The Pan Arab WebAwards. Yamli is based in Boston
and developed by Habib Haddad.

3. EatLime

Alright, this one is unique. EatLime allows you to upload videos
and share them on different social networking outlets
(Facebook, MySpace, YouTube) or even e-mail. But wait, what is
special about that? Glad you asked, it does it in fraction of the time!
The service is based on a patent pending technology, and was
developed by two friendly guys Mohamed and Adil from Jordan
and Pakistan respectively.

4. Feedoor

My personal favorite. Feedoor allows you to mix different feeds
in one feed, to filter your feeds, add videos, photos, and even
audio into your own feed. Create a podcast from the feed or interact
with different posts. The possibilities are endless! The service makes
a dwarf of Google’s FeedBurner. It is developed by Mahmoud Mehyar from Jordan.

5. Muxlim

Muxlim is a social network for Muslims. The start-up is based in Finland,
but its Arabic (we swear)! The founder of the service is Mohammed El-Fatatry
who is an Egyptian entrepreneur living in Finland. The portal includes video,
blogs, social, images and file sharing services. A virtual space service is also
in the making. Recently, it was selected as one of the Top 100 Start-ups
in Europe by Red Herring. The service has an API and you can build you own
applications for Muxlim and it is compatible with Google’s Open Social.

Disagree with the list, Tell us who you think should make the top 5.

Tomorrow GadgtesArabia, Swalif, and the Emirates Internet Group are organizing
a thinking tank about the Arabic internet industry.

Where and When?

Dubai,
Dubai Knowledge Village
Conference Hall
First Floor, Block 1

Why we think its a remarkable event?

1. It is the first event co-organized by three distinctive entities, GadgetsArabia the blog about new devices and technology, Swalif the website with tremendous user database both in term of quantities and qualities, and the Emirates Internet Group a UAE based non-profit which seeks to nurture the web scene in the UAE.

2. The event features interesting speakers and an open discussion on the status of the Arabic internet industry.

3. We are attending the event!

“Think” is an experience that worth taking note of. We hope that those who are involved in organizing
the event will consider holding the events at different Arabic cities, so that we can build a prominent
event and a must go for Arabic start ups, Entrepreneurs, and interested individuals.

Three main reasons to attend

1. To show support for the event, and aid in its development.
2. Engage with the audience in constructive conversations.
3. Socialize with individuals who are building the future of the Arabic internet.

More details to follow on the event.

The Apple Crisp is intended to be a diverse blog. It will not only cover topics
related to Twffaha, but also will feature articles on technology, media,
and entrepreneurship by the Twffaha team.

We wanted to engage with visitors and users, initiate conversations,
and have thoughtful dialogues. You are welcome to join and comment.
We plan to discuss topics like Employment (Apparently!), Entrepreneurship,
Arabic internet initiatives, and whatever we deem exciting!

Subscribe to our entries here, and bon apetit!