The number of mobile subscriptions in the Middle East (see note) will cross the 250-million mark during 2012, reaching 271.27 million at end-2012 and rising to 352 million at end-2016, according to forecasts by Informa Telecoms & Media.

Additionally, the average mobile penetration rate for the Middle East will cross the 100% mark in 2012: It will rise from 97.72% at end-2011 to 107.09% at end-2012, exceeding the mobile penetration rate in North America (US/Canada) for the first time. (The mobile penetration rate in North America at end-2012 will be 102.77%.)
Iran will continue to be the biggest mobile market in the Middle East by subscriptions with   82.91 million subscriptions forecast for end-2011, rising to 122.13 million at end-2016.

Saudi Arabia has the next biggest mobile market in the region by subscriptions, with a 50.8 million active mobile subscriptions forecast for end-2011, rising to 71.32 million at end-2016.

Despite the take-up of smartphones and, to a lesser degree, mobile broadband in some parts of the Middle East, data services only account for a relatively small proportion of mobile revenues in the region overall. Data accounted for 13% of mobile revenues in the Middle East in 2Q11; the lowest percentage for any major world region other than Africa.

But this low figure also points to the growth potential for data in the region. Iraq and Iran, both of which are substantial markets, have yet to introduce 3G networks, for example.
In the UAE, smartphone penetration is already high and will continue to rise further: The smartphone penetration rate in the UAE is forecast to be 47.23% at end-2011 and to rise to 70.35% at end-2016, according to Informa.

In Saudi Arabia, the smartphone penetration rate is forecast to rise from 25.01% at end-2011 to 48.63% at end-2016.
But the rates of smartphone penetration will be lower in some other markets in the region. In Jordan, for example, the smartphone penetration rate is forecast to be 2.2% at end-2011, rising to 17.98% at end-2016.
While some countries in the region do not yet have 3G services, all three of Saudi Arabia’s mobile operators have unveiled LTE services. Etisalat is also poised to launch LTE in the UAE.
However, it will take some time for LTE to gain momentum. LTE subscriptions in the Middle East will number only 1.94 million at end-2013 but will reach 15 million at end-2016, according to forecasts by Informa.
Fixed-broadband subscriptions are also set to grow strongly in the region: The number of fixed-broadband subscriptions in the Middle East will rise from 6.51 million at end-2011 to 11.6 million at end-2016.
The report categorize Middle East as: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE and Yemen.

More info about the research can be found here.

A number of mobile operators reported over Twitter that BlackBerry service is off in the Arab world and Europe due to problems from RIM.

Mobinil one of Egypt’s mobile operators says over Twitter the services resolution time is about 4 pm GMT today.

Update 12 GMT 11/10, service still have problems and not yet restored fully to all users.

Update: 13 oct. RIM says service is restored while many mobile operators offered to compensate customers.

Maysalward announced today that is has received investment round from Turkish venture capital firm Timar Ventures.
Maysalward is one of the first if not the first mobile games developer in the Arab region. It was founded in 2003 in Jordan with offices in Amman and Irbid.

Maysalward has a portfolio of 35 mobile games and 20 online games with titles such as Trix, Tarneeb and Balote regional card games, which were in the top download charts over the past 5 years.  Portfolio includes Tawla backgammon, street football, super arcanoid, word search and other casual and classic arcade games. Maysalward games can be found Nokia Ovi Store, BlackBerry App World, Apple App Store and other independet App stores & operator portals. The Company latest games just launched include “Hand” (a variant of Rummy) on the BlackBerry App World and “Colonel” on Apple App Store. The company says on Nokia Ovi store during 2011it has exceeded more than 250,000 downloads.

Timer Ventures, is chaired by Dr. Boulos Doany the founding CEO of Oger telecom. The VC has recently invested 1 million USD in Jordanian accelerator Oasis500.

The company says that this investment will help Maysalward focus in developing games over numerous App stores and expand in to several new markets.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

Amman, Jordan based Noqoush Mobile Media Group, the Arab company specialized in mobile advertising and mobile media monetization, reported that it has closed first 3 million US dollar investment round.

In a press release the company stated that a group of Arab and Foreign angel investors lead the round but did not disclose who ( we will try to get their names.)

The company said that the round will be used to help Noqoush with developing its mobile advertising technology “AdFalcon”, what it describes “the region’s first specialized advertising platform developed to link mobile applications developers, mobile website owners with advertisers to provide them with the a chance to achieve financial returns.” Something that sounds similar to US based Admob which was founded by Syrian entrepreneur Omar Hamoui and was acquired by Google in 2009 for 750 million dollars.
We have little information about Noqoush, it said in the press release that it was founded in 2010. A linkedin profile for Mahmoud Iswaid from Jordan stats that he is a cofounder in the company, he previously worked with Yahoo and Maktoob before its acquisition by Yahoo. We will try to get more information and update you here.

As in most countries in the world Ramadan is one day to start. a new startup has emerged to provide Islamic mobile apps for all devices. which would be handy to help Muslims during the holly month.

Islamic Appstore provide Muslims direct access to thousands of Islam-oriented contents in different sections such as The Holy Quran, Ahadith, Prayers, Supplications, Ringtones, Wallpapers, nasheed… All what users need is to connect to www.islamicapp.com using their mobile, tablet or Smartphone browsers and start downloading various contents.

Islamic appstore is also available for Developers as they can start publishing their contents and apps using the developer portal.

Mobile, Fixed and Internet operator in Jordan is launching Orange Apps Award 2011 aimed at mobile developers companies or individuals. With applications in Arabic ( english is a plus) for Android/ Blackberry/ Java /Symbian /Windows only are accepted.

Orange Jordan divided the winning prizes into 5 categories: Community Category, Entertainment Category, Business Category, Orange Employees Category, Students top prize on each one is 5,000 USD, then 3,000 USD then 2,000, overall prose: 10,000 USD.

Developers can start registration starting from 16 of May 2011 till 3rd of June 2011, then Orange will start filtering the ideas of the applications and will notify the participants of top 50 ideas by email & SMS to submit their applications. The deadline for submitting the applications will be on 30 of June, 2011. top winners will be awarded during the Award ceremony which will be after med of July.

More info at the Award website.

Opera Software today announced that it mobile browser Opera Mini has reached 100 million monthly users in March and two billion daily page views

Opera announced 2 month ago Opera 100 million mobile users, though that number represented the combined total for both its mobile browsers, Opera Mini and Opera Mobile. Now, Opera Mini has reached more than 100 million users in its own right.

The number of monthly Opera Mini users across the globe has grown by 11 million since February 2011 and doubled from the 50 million mark in February 2010.

Opera Mini’s twin March milestone, two billion daily page views, already doubles the one billion daily page views achieved in July 2010.

Intel Corporation made its first acquisition in the Arab world, today it announced through its standalone business entity Intel Mobile Communications, that it has acquired most of the assets of SySDSoft, a privately held software company based in Cairo and hired approximately 100 of the company’s electrical engineers and computer scientists. SySDSoft designs IP based solutions in the software stack and physical layer domain, and RF/analog circuits embedded in mobile platforms. Its product portfolio covers technologies such as WiMAX, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wireless USB, and LTE.

This news is great for Egypt post-revolution and to the Arab world, as now more and more investors see  the exit window for their hight tech investments open again. Lets not forget Yahoo Maktoob deal that brought excitement and was like an energizer to the Internet industry.   Hope next time we break news at AC it will be an IPO for an Arab startup.

Here is the full press release from Intel, we do not know how much the acquisition was for:

Intel Acquires Egypt-based SySDSoftCAIRO, Egypt and SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 14, 2011 – Intel Corporation, through its standalone business entity Intel Mobile Communications, today announced that it has acquired most of the assets of SySDSoft, a privately held software company based in Cairo and hired approximately 100 of the company’s electrical engineers and computer scientists. SySDSoft designs state-of-the-art IP solutions in the software stack and physical layer domain, and RF/analog circuits embedded in mobile platforms.“The acquisition of engineering and design talent from an Egypt-based company in the field of cutting-edge wireless and communication technology is the first of its kind for Intel in the Middle East,” said Arvind Sodhani, president, Intel Capital and executive vice president, Intel. “The acquisition shows Intel’s continued long-term strategic commitment to the region and its appreciation of its young, growing talent pool.”SySDSoft’s solutions enhance Intel Mobile Communications’ existing multi-communications portfolio, specifically accelerating its 4G LTE efforts with the addition of leading software development and design capabilities. Intel Mobile Communications is an integral part of Intel’s strategy to accelerate always-connected computing platforms founded on energy-efficient performance, Internet connectivity and security, and spanning a variety of device and market segments, including laptops, cars, smart phones, tablets and TVs.“As we enter an era of multi-communication broadband solutions, Intel’s products and technologies will be important to our vision of billions of connected devices,” said Dr. Hermann Eul, president of Intel Mobile Communications. “Intel is making the necessary investments to further enhance its existing world-class wireless product portfolio and to offer the most reliable platforms to our customers that will work seamlessly across a range of global networks. The acquisition supports this strategy and we believe that SySDSoft’s proven and experienced engineering team, combined with Intel Mobile Communications’ existing wireless strength, positions us well for continued growth in LTE.”

Android Market place is currently blocked across the Middle East, however news surfaced on Stuff Middle East that Android market is coming soon to UAE, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

A source informed Stuff that Google has reached agreement with telecom operators in these countries, though no final date is given but the market is expected to be available in few months. We will contact google and update you here.

Update: RIM replied to our question whether its agreement with TRA offers UAE authorities ways to monitor the service in the country, with the following statement:

RIM cannot discuss the details of confidential regulatory matters that occur in specific countries, but RIM confirms that it continues to approach lawful access matters internationally within the framework of core principles that were publicly communicated by RIM on August 12 -

As our sources close to 3 regional Telecom companies revealed in August that UAE will reach a deal with RIM the owner of Blackberry to continue the service, Today telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) of United Arab Emirates announced officially that BlackBerry (BB) services will not be discounted and wont be banned on the 11th of October. In August a decision by TRA was made to ban BlackBerry Messenger, Blackberry E-mail and Blackberry Web-Browsing Services making the device ineffective was made due to what TRA called security concerns. In his part, Dubai Chief Police called the ban due to “Israeli” & US Spying On The Country. Saudi Arabia followed UAE’s step and announced plans to ban the service but revoked the decision as our sources said that authorities in KSA will have some hand in “monitoring” BB services. TRA statement (Arabic) said that all BlackBerry services are not in compliance with Telecom regulations in UAE. Which most probably is a confirmation to our sources leak that now UAE authorities have access and can monitor BB beams in UAE.

Motorola launched in United Arab Emirates its the QWERTY-less MILESTONE brother: Milestone XT720, called Motoroi  in other markets. MileStone is the non American name for Droid devices.

Other countries in the Arab region will have the devices in the shelves in few weeks.

The new device brings a 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash, 720p video recording and Android 2.1.

Milestone XT720 packs a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with 480×854 pixel resolution and multi-touch support, 550  Update: upgraded to 720 Mhz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 8GBmicroSD, 256MB RAM, and 512MB ROM.

As per connectivity it comes with the usual WCDMA 1700/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 10.2Mbps (Category 9/10)/7.2Mbps (Category 7/8), EDGE Class 12, GPRS Class 12, HSUPA 5.76Mbps, MicroUSB, GPS with digital compass, Bluetooth Class.

The device also offers HD video capture at 720p, video playback onto HDTV via HDMI cable, Talk Time (3G): up to 270 mins. Talk Time (GSM): up to 540 mins.

Retail price is Retail Price AED 2699 (USD Approx. 739.45)

Here is our video Interview with Motorola product manager Bashar Hafez where he show case Milestone XT720:




If some of us think SMS is dead in the US, Twitter do not. The social media startup just announced launching Fast Follow SMS feature, which allows anyone in the US to receive Tweets on their mobile phones even if they have not signed up for Twitter. For example juts type follow ArabCrunch to 40404 in the US and now you start receiving Tweets from ArabCrunch.

Fast Following is currently available in the US but Twitter  said it is working on more countries to add.

This feature is a smart move by Twitter as its adoption rates in the US is not close to Facebook’s 500 million members, now non Twitter users can start experiencing Twitter instantly even if they did not have an account as this cuts many steps of going online, signup and then figure out how Twitter works.  I think this feature will bring a great amount of  new Twitter users.

( You can Follow ArabCrunch on Twitter @ArabCrunch .)

AS the Muslim’s month of Ramdan is about to start, Nokia has launched recently a new range of mobile applications and content tailored for the holy month of Ramadan. This is the second year that Nokia launches such apps.

The new range of Ramadan applications 2010 are available for free on Ovi Store, and the last Ramdan applications has been updated with a new features.

Karim Moussa, Head of Marketing, Nokia Lower Gulf said that last year Ramadan apps has recived over 1 million downloads and this year’s app now support more Nokia devices.

This year’s Ramadan applications a include the Holy Quran, Prayer Times, Hadith, Boyoot Allah, Arabica, Mozzaker, and Makkah and Madinah. New features include Quran recitation from multiple recitors ( which we demanded last year) from which users can choose to download in MP3 format. Prayer timings and Qibla direction are provided for 1000 cities in 200 countries, along with the ability to add, remove, update and edit any location using the GPS.

The new Boyot Allah helps Muslims to locate the nearest mosque on Nokia’s free Ovi Maps and Navigation platform. The new mobile services also feature locations of Major mosques in the GCC and the world, such as the two holy mosques, Masjid Al Haram in Makkah and Masjid Al Nabawi in Al Madinah. Additionally users can also find locations of mosques all around the world using free Ovi maps available on Ovi store.

Boyoot Allah applications is the most useful addition as it helps Muslims around the world find Masjed’s near by whenever they go to a new area or city.

Ramadan applications for 2010 are compatible with a range of Nokia Symbian based  devices including Nokia N97 mini, Nokia E72, Nokia E52, Nokia X6, Nokia 5230, Nokia 5530, Nokia C5, Nokia 5235, Nokia 5800, Nokia E5, Nokia 6700 slide, Nokia 5233, Nokia X3, Nokia 6303i, Nokia 2710 and Nokia C3. The user interface for the applications is available in English, Arabic, Farsi, French and Urdu.

Nokia 2010 Ramadan Applications include the following:

• The Holy Quran: allows users to read, search, bookmark and listen to Quran recitation
• Prayer Times: provides prayer timings and Qibla direction for 1000 cities in 200 countries, along with the ability to add, remove, update and edit any location using the GPS
• Hadith: gives an easy and convenient way to read the Honorable Hadeeth from Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Riyad us-Saliheen, Holy Hadeeths and Arba’in An Nawawi
• Boyoot Allah: helps Muslims locate the mosques in different cities using Ovi free maps around the world.
• Arabica: helps non-Arabic speaking Muslims to read and understand Quran, Hadeeth and Dua in Arabic by self-learning or with the help of online teachers through their mobile.
• Makkah and Madinah: offers a mobile guide with multimedia content and the most famous places that people can visit during Hajj and Umrah
• Mozzaker: allows mobile users to listen, search and translate a large collection of of daily Azkar and selected supplications. People can also download more Azkar and share via SMS and MMS with friends and family

The Ramadan applications are developed by ASGATech, a Forum Nokia Premium Partner in the Middle East, with all content reviewed and approved by Al Azhar Al Shareef.

Great job Nokia but we are looking forward for a killer new mobile that can take on iPhone.

Saudi Arabia Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) asked  the 3 operators in Saudi Arabia: Saudi Telecom Co, Mobily and Zain Saudi Arabia to immediately stop the BlackBerry (BB) service in the country starting this Friday.
This comes 3 days after news went out of the kingdom decision in blocking BB messenger and in UAE’s decision in blocking BB messenger, email and web browsing.

With this news, now BlackBeery lose more than 1 million users in UAE and Saudi Arabia, as there are around 700,000 BB users in Saudi Arabia, security concurs are cited as the main reason behind this decision. As RIM the mother company of BB store its devices encrypted messages in its servers.

RIM the mother unveiled yesterday BlackBerry Torch 9800 which will start selling 12th of August for 199.99 with two-year contract via AT&T in USA.

Torch 9800 has a 3.2-inch HVGA capacitive 360×480 touchscreen, 4.4″ (5.8″ open) x 2.4″ and weighing 161.1 g, an optical trackpad, 512 SDRAM, 4 GB eMMCmemory included up to 32 GB, 5 megapixel camera with flash capable of shooting 640×480 video, BlackBerry 6 OS, and the usual smartphone features like Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n WiFi. Torsh has all the current BB features and seems more exciting as it is both touch and has a keyboard, plus the trackpad.

#Via Aljazeera English.

Following UAE’s decision to ban BlackBerry Messenger, email and web browsing, Etisalat the #1 telecom and mobile operator in United Arab Emirates  (UAE) and is owned by the government,  announced an alternative replacement offer to blackberry (BB) subscribers on or before 31 July 2010.

The offer located at Etisalat BlackBerry Alternative webpage offers free minutes, SMS and data package to current BB subscribers with 12 month contract, along with free phones one of the following:

iPhone, Nokia E72, Sony Ericsson X10 Mini, Nokia E66, Sony Ericsson Vivaz Nokia N900, Nokia N97, Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro, Sony Ericsson Satio,Samsung Wave, Samsung Galaxy S.

We do not know what iPhone model will be provided.

There are around 500,000 BlackBerry subscribers in UAE. The BB ban will take effect on the 11th of October.

Update: A number  BlackBerry users in Saudi Arabia told ArabCrunch BB messenger is still running.

Following  UAE’s decision today in in suspending blackberry Messenger, Blackberry E-mail and Blackberry Web-Browsing Services in Octabor, Saudi Arabia today ordered the 3 telecom operators in the kingdom to freeze BlackBerry messenger, according to Reuters sources from two operators in the kingdom and according to Aliqtisadia a Saudi business newspaper the ban will take effect this month.

#Thanks Ahmad Kamal for the tip.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Telecom Regulatory Commission (TRA) a government authority that governs the telecom sector, has announced today that BlackBerry Messenger, Blackberry E-mail and Blackberry Web-browsing services in the UAE will be suspended as of October 11th 2010.

In a press release TRA said it  informed the only 2 mobile operators in UAE Du and Itisalat about this decision.

This decision comes during security concerns from the governments of UAE and India about BlackBerry services and its encryption methods, the press release TRA said:

“Blackberry data is immediately exported off-shore, where it is managed by a foreign, commercial organization. Blackberry data services are currently the only data services operating in the UAE where this is the case.”

“Today’s decision is based on the fact that, in their current form, certain BlackBerry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns for the UAE. ”

There are around 500,000 BlackBerry users in UAE according to UAE’s the national newspaper.  BlackBerry strong key selling point is its email and its BB IM, without those, the BB devices become just like any other low end phone.

HTC Corporation has announced the launch of the Android 2.1 HTC Legend in the Middle East.

HTC Legend
The HTC Legend is a new Android-powered smartphone that incorporates an enhanced HTC Sense experience. A single aluminum block into a seamless compact frame. To complement its looks, the HTC Legend includes a stunning 3.2 inch, AMOLED HVGA display. The traditional trackball has also been replaced with an optical joystick.

HTC Sense
Is HTC’s own customization of the operating system UI, HTC new Sense experience begins with a new HTC application and widget called HTC Friend Stream that seamlessly aggregates all social communication including Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr into one organised flow of updates. This simple aggregation makes it easier than ever to focus on what friends are doing as well as to view the images and links that they share. In addition to Friend Stream, people can be organised into specific social circles, such as groups of friends, colleagues or any other way that makes sense.

The new HTC Sense experience also introduces broad improvements to applications including the browser, email client and others. In addition, the new version of HTC Sense includes a new newsreader application and widget, as well as a new seven-screen ‘Leap’ thumbnail view for quick and easy access to specific screens.

More Specs:
OS: Android 2.1
CPU Processing Speed 600 MHz
Battery type: Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer or Lithium-ion battery
Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 440 mins GSM: Up to 490 mins Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 560 hours GSM: Up to 440 hours
Storage ROM: 512 MB RAM: 384 MB Expansion slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible) Supports up to 32 GB

Camera: 5 megapixel color camera Auto focus and flash Widescreen photo capture Geotagging

Sensors: G-Sensor Digital compass Proximity sensor Ambient light sensor.
Tethering: Internet sharing through USB

Display:
Type: AMOLED capacitive touch screen with pinch-to-zoom capability Size: 3.2 inches Resolution: 320 X 480 HVGA
Internet: 3G, EDGE, WIFI, GPRS

Availability:
The HTC Legend will be broadly available to customers from Q3 2010

Nokia has announced today three new handsets – the Nokia C3, Nokia C6 and Nokia E5 said in a press release “These new handsets feature full QWERTY keyboards, and enable access to a range of different email accounts, IM communities and social networks.-including twitter and facebook.”

-Nokia C3 is the first device to bring a full QWERTY keyboard to the world’s most popular mobile phone platform – Series 40 – and is the first in the range to enable access to social networks directly on the homescreen. People can view, comment, update their status and share pictures to their favorite social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. a two megapixel camera, 2.4 inch screen and support for up to an 8GB memory card. The Nokia C3 is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2010.

- Nokia C6 is a Symbian-based smartphone comes with a 3.2 inch touch screen with a full slide out keyboard. The large screen provides a great Internet experience, as well as offering access to Facebook feeds directly on the homescreen. A suite of email and social networking help social media addicts to stay in the loop while in the go.

Expected to be available in the second quarter of 2010, the Nokia C6 has a five megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, and Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation. In addition, thousands of apps – from games and videos to news aggregators and web services – are available in the Ovi Store.

-Nokia E5. is Symbian-based Nokia E5 is smilier to Nokia E72 and Nokia E63 business line mobiles.
The device is expected in the third quarter of 2010, the device has access to Ovi store apps with email support for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes.

- Nokia has signed deals with a number of operators in the Arab region to introduce bundled unlimited IM and email packages on its devices to take-on the increasing popularity of BlackBerry among business men and university students.

(Via Nokia press release.)

More hands on review of these devices real capabilities once we get them.

Samsung just announced the launch of its new device in the region, Monte S5620, a A 3-inch capacitive touchscreen phone that packs UMTS/HSDPA (900/2100, 3.6Mbps) along with quadband GSM, WiFi, A-GPS and Bluetooth 2.1.  The Monte also has a 3.2-megapixel camera with smile-shot and face detection.

Monte includes GPS supported by Google Latitude™, helping you keep your friends updated on your location – at all times. and Geo-tagging,  the device allows users to imprint their photos with geographic tag. Other connectivity features include Exchange ActiveSync for access to Outlook email accounts, and Google Sync™. This allows users to simultaneously update their social networks schedules and Outlook calendar, without the hassle of accessing each application individually.
The device runs Samsung’s own TouchWiz 2.0 Plus User Interface (UI) and is sold across the region at the price of 261.12 USD.

Update: as per our suspicion it turned out that “Israel” and Ghana have the service too.

Google has a neat gmail feature that lets user to send free text messages (SMS) to their friends directly from your Gmail account that works the same way gtalk works. Gmail SMS service was originally launched only for US mobile numbers in 2008. But now it has been available in Palestine for free via the palestinian mobile operator Jawwal (now owned by Zain) . Google verifies Palestine as the “Palestinian territories” which to them is West Bank and Gaza.

We do not know why Palestine from all the world’s countries? we will ask google now and let you know. Update: it turned out that “Israel” and Ghana have the service too, but palestine is the only Arab country that has the service

Google recognized Palestinian people in west bank, when it launched last year google.PS special domain for Palestine as ArabCrunch broke.

#Thanks to Ibrahem Eljabour for the tip.

Mobile devices are being used in many ways and every day they are getting smarter, as a result there  are new markets being opened by the abilities of smart phones. Today, Juniper Research published a report that estimate a “mobile retail market” to exceed $12 billion by 2014.

The mobile marketing and retail strategies report found that the mobile retail sector – defined by Juniper as comprising mobile coupon redemption values, smart poster fees and advertising expenditure – would initially be dominated by coupons.

The report found that mobile advertising expenditure would exceed coupon redemption values by 2013 as digital adspend is increasingly transferred into the mobile space.

As the retailing industry and brands are becoming aware of, and implementing the mobile device into, the retail cycle. According to report co-author Howard Wilcox, “Retailers have recognised that, even ahead of their wallets, people will usually make sure they do not leave home without their mobile device.

The mobile channel offers merchants the opportunity to differentiate from their competition and acquire customers that become loyal.” Meanwhile, additional factors such as the growth of the mobile web, the availability of high speed mobile broadband networks, and the ever-growing usage of SMS were offering retailers, brands and merchants new opportunities to communicate with customers and potential customers and to offer the ability for them to shop by mobile.

Other findings from the Juniper report include:
·         For brands and retailers, mobile offers the ability to change campaigns quickly (for example by time of day), and crucially the ability to track the success and customer acquisition rates.
·         Usage of the mobile in a live shopping situation can be particularly effective – for example for product price comparisons.
·         While the mobile will be an effective channel for younger users who organise their lives around their mobile phones, older demographic groups are likely to be less receptive to using their mobiles in a retail situation.

#image by hiromy.

Update: The event’s video is below to read the text details go here.

We are here live in Beirut Lebanon for a major announcement from Nokia, here is the live streaming:
updates:
Nokia launched Music store, it comes with with free unlimited Music for 12 months.
Nokia to bring unlimited Music to 12 Arab countries, with 4 million songs, Nokia did deals with Sony, Rotana, Universal and other Music producers.

Nokia X6 will be first to come with Nokia Music Edition.

Speaker from Rotana: from every dollar we make we lose 1 dollar from piracy.
more to come…

As everyone knows Mobile devices are becoming more like computers, take a look at iPhone 3GS, Droid and N900.

Today, with new smart mobiles you can do everything you do on a PC as processing and memory speed are going up. However, it is not really everything, because the screen is small which limits the interaction between you, the mobile and its apps. That is why PCs until today remain the choice for heavy duty work: coding, designing, game playing, multi media, word processing, etc.

Enter Light Blue Optics (LBO) a UK startup that will change all of that, the 15$ million VC backed startup will launch on the 6th of January 2009 2010 at Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the “Light Touch” mobile projector device (pico projector) modules which are Holographic Laser-based, and allow the user to touch the projected image to provide user input, according to Picoprojector-info.

Meaning, LBO’s pico projector will enable you to have a wide screen of your mobile anywhere at anytime. On a wall and down onto a table, making it easier for people on the move to share, supporting WVGA-QVGA . Not just allowing you to see a wide screen of your device, BUT to use that widescreen the same way you use your touch mobile. Meaning you can use a projected style visual keyboard to type, (solving the small keyboard problem with mobiles and cutting the need to buy and carry an external keyboard.)

Not just that, you can open close, rearrange stuff in the projector using your finger tips on the “space” (Not the cloud) to move stuff, which also ends the need for a mouse. And kills whiteboards for group meetings and collaboration. Also it ends the need for tablet PC, like Apple’s upcoming iSlate.

Moreover, why would you need a TV screen? Just use LBO pico projector point it to anywhere and start enjoying your Theater at anytime.

According to LBO’s website, its proprietary holographic laser projection technology can also be used in other applications: the car dashboard “steering laser light exactly to where it is needed, creating very bright, energy-efficient displays.” for example warning you of new obstacles, accidents, etc. Mixx that to augmented reality and enter SCI FI today.

Whether LBO demo at 6th of Jan will deliver its promise, Holographic Laser-based pico-projectors will bring the end of PC and TV. Sun Microsystems came with a vision in the late 80s: the Network is the Computer, Today it is not just The Mobile is the Music player, Mobile is The Computer and your portable cable TV not just a supplement to your PC.

More about LBO technology can be found on their  PDF files on their website and on this slideshare doc:

#Thanks to @zsafwan for the tip.

According to a recent Arab Advisors Group Mobile Handsets Retail Tracking Reports, Pakistan is the largest mobile handsets market of the four countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya).

In terms of handset models, the research has also revealed that Nokia is the market leader in Iraq with varying performance depending on region and with serious competition from fake Chinese brands and other brands. In Libya, Nokia remains the market leader with noticeable and serious competition by Samsung, the traditional Korean competitor. Nokia is also the number one selling brand in the Pakistani market.

Nokia’s leadership in the Mobile market in the Arab world was also confirmed by Opera’s State of the Mobile 07- 2009 report. (Note that for iPhone users, Safari is the default browser for most users and iPhone remains officially unavailable in Pakistan, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.)
Arab Advisors Group report does not specify which type of mobiles are the most popular, entry level or smart phones, We also do not know if Arab Advisor Group counts US and other occupying forces in Afghanistan and Iraq in their report,(As  there are hundred of thousands of foreign soldiers making from 2,000 USD to 30,000 USD a month) But my guessing, is that entry level  phones are the most popular among indigenous population in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan because of high level of unemployment and low GDP rates, even though the first country sits on a sea of oil!

#photo by barnoid.