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There was a major development that went virtually un-noticed this past week by most domainers and most internet users. Some news tends to get buried in the hype and other headlines by the big players.
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Orascom launches Onkosh
http://www.ameinfo.com/131230.html
⢠Egypt: Saturday, September 08 - 2007 at 14:14
Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. ('OTH' or 'Orascom Telecom'), a major player in the telecommunication market in the world, today unveiled a new exciting bi-lingual search engine that will change the way Internet users look for Arab-related content.
Excerpts:
âIn addition, for the first time ever on the Web, users are able to search for Arabic words by typing in English characters, through the patented 'Bel3araby' transliteration feature. This intelligent and unique feature is a reflection of how Onkosh was developed in line with current Arab Web usage trends.â
âThis project was one of the most exciting and challenging tasks our team undertook. Engineering a search engine is no easy task in itself, and if we add the fact that Onkosh speaks and understands the complexities of the Arabic language and can transliterate English words into their equivalent Arabic words, it becomes clear why other global and local players have not undertaken this mission yet."
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Considering it is no easy task to build a search engine from the ground up, to incorporate one that would translate complex characters seems quite amazing.
But one thing that is most striking about this new search engine, it was also launched as a .mobi search engine along with the .com.
The reason behind such a move should not be taken lightly and should be very clear.
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Onkosh News covers news from a large number of Arabic online sources, within minutes of its appearance on the Web. The search engine also provides a Family Filter to filter out adult and objectionable content. In addition, a mobile version, available on onkosh.mobi, makes Onkosh the first mobile Arabic search engine.
Onkosh translates as "unearth" in Arabic. Users looking for quick, comprehensive and high precision results while searching for Arab-related information on the web can visit www.onkosh.com
About Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E.
Orascom Telecom is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in seven high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, having a total population under license of approximately 460 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of approximately 22% as at 30 September 2006.
Orascom Telecom operates GSM networks in Algeria ("OTA"), Pakistan ("Mobilink"), Egypt ("Mobinil"), Tunisia ("Tunisiana"), Iraq ("Iraqna"), Bangladesh ("Banglalink"), and Zimbabwe ("Telecel Zimbabwe"). Orascom Telecom had over 50 million subscribers as at December 2006. Orascom Telecom owns 19.3% of Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited, a leading telecommunication services provider operating in eight countries. Orascom Telecom is traded on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange under the symbol (ORTE.CA, ORAT EY), and on the London Stock Exchange its GDR is traded under the symbol
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In a related article:
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11 Arab countries meet in Dubai to discuss digital divide at Government Technology (GT) Summithttp://www.ameinfo.com/129887.html
...internet users in the Middle East increased at the rate of 479.3 per cent over the past six years whereas by the end of 2006 there were 19 million internet users representing 1.8 per cent of the total users worldwide, which preceded a billion during the same period.
Findings of the report showed that the Middle East ranked sixth among countries of the world that use internet technology, he said.
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Nokia sells 106m in MEA
http://www.ameinfo.com/131177.html
Mobile phone maker Nokia sold 106m handsets in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region in 2006 and estimates that sales will more than double over the next four years, reported Gulf News. The MEA region, comprising 61 countries, contributed 17% to Nokia's global sales last quarter. Nokia also anticipates its global subscriptions to hit 4bn by 2010, with the MEA region seeing a 25% growth rate.
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All of this should be an indicator of very strong growth of the mobile internet.
To me this news is newsworthy on many fronts.
First, it may have a huge impact on Arabic IDNâs or the lesser need. This new search engine can be used for both English and Arabic characters which will require less configuration of keyboards and use of nearly any internet capable phones without have to reconfigure those into various languages as well.
Second, those that hold strong keyword domains in popular extensions in the English variant of the Arabic word may well experience a soon to come surge or noted increase in traffic. âThose that holdâ Arabic words in popular extensions include the likes of Frank Schilling from a accidental find when I was searching one day. On a personal note, I have experienced greater traffic in my Arabic .com, .net, and .mobi over the past month or more. Prior to my awareness of this article, I was unable to determine the âwhyâ for the increase of traffic counts. I credit this new search engine technology as being a big boost to this traffic.
Thirdly, the mere fact that this company developed and deployed the .com and the .mobi search engine clearly demonstrates a co-existence and a need for both formats.
--------------------------------------------
Orascom launches Onkosh
http://www.ameinfo.com/131230.html
⢠Egypt: Saturday, September 08 - 2007 at 14:14
Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. ('OTH' or 'Orascom Telecom'), a major player in the telecommunication market in the world, today unveiled a new exciting bi-lingual search engine that will change the way Internet users look for Arab-related content.
Excerpts:
âIn addition, for the first time ever on the Web, users are able to search for Arabic words by typing in English characters, through the patented 'Bel3araby' transliteration feature. This intelligent and unique feature is a reflection of how Onkosh was developed in line with current Arab Web usage trends.â
âThis project was one of the most exciting and challenging tasks our team undertook. Engineering a search engine is no easy task in itself, and if we add the fact that Onkosh speaks and understands the complexities of the Arabic language and can transliterate English words into their equivalent Arabic words, it becomes clear why other global and local players have not undertaken this mission yet."
-----------------------------------
Considering it is no easy task to build a search engine from the ground up, to incorporate one that would translate complex characters seems quite amazing.
But one thing that is most striking about this new search engine, it was also launched as a .mobi search engine along with the .com.
The reason behind such a move should not be taken lightly and should be very clear.
--------------------------------
Onkosh News covers news from a large number of Arabic online sources, within minutes of its appearance on the Web. The search engine also provides a Family Filter to filter out adult and objectionable content. In addition, a mobile version, available on onkosh.mobi, makes Onkosh the first mobile Arabic search engine.
Onkosh translates as "unearth" in Arabic. Users looking for quick, comprehensive and high precision results while searching for Arab-related information on the web can visit www.onkosh.com
About Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E.
Orascom Telecom is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in seven high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, having a total population under license of approximately 460 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of approximately 22% as at 30 September 2006.
Orascom Telecom operates GSM networks in Algeria ("OTA"), Pakistan ("Mobilink"), Egypt ("Mobinil"), Tunisia ("Tunisiana"), Iraq ("Iraqna"), Bangladesh ("Banglalink"), and Zimbabwe ("Telecel Zimbabwe"). Orascom Telecom had over 50 million subscribers as at December 2006. Orascom Telecom owns 19.3% of Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited, a leading telecommunication services provider operating in eight countries. Orascom Telecom is traded on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange under the symbol (ORTE.CA, ORAT EY), and on the London Stock Exchange its GDR is traded under the symbol
----------------------------------------
In a related article:
----------------------------------------
11 Arab countries meet in Dubai to discuss digital divide at Government Technology (GT) Summithttp://www.ameinfo.com/129887.html
...internet users in the Middle East increased at the rate of 479.3 per cent over the past six years whereas by the end of 2006 there were 19 million internet users representing 1.8 per cent of the total users worldwide, which preceded a billion during the same period.
Findings of the report showed that the Middle East ranked sixth among countries of the world that use internet technology, he said.
-------------------------------------
Nokia sells 106m in MEA
http://www.ameinfo.com/131177.html
Mobile phone maker Nokia sold 106m handsets in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region in 2006 and estimates that sales will more than double over the next four years, reported Gulf News. The MEA region, comprising 61 countries, contributed 17% to Nokia's global sales last quarter. Nokia also anticipates its global subscriptions to hit 4bn by 2010, with the MEA region seeing a 25% growth rate.
---------------------------------
All of this should be an indicator of very strong growth of the mobile internet.
To me this news is newsworthy on many fronts.
First, it may have a huge impact on Arabic IDNâs or the lesser need. This new search engine can be used for both English and Arabic characters which will require less configuration of keyboards and use of nearly any internet capable phones without have to reconfigure those into various languages as well.
Second, those that hold strong keyword domains in popular extensions in the English variant of the Arabic word may well experience a soon to come surge or noted increase in traffic. âThose that holdâ Arabic words in popular extensions include the likes of Frank Schilling from a accidental find when I was searching one day. On a personal note, I have experienced greater traffic in my Arabic .com, .net, and .mobi over the past month or more. Prior to my awareness of this article, I was unable to determine the âwhyâ for the increase of traffic counts. I credit this new search engine technology as being a big boost to this traffic.
Thirdly, the mere fact that this company developed and deployed the .com and the .mobi search engine clearly demonstrates a co-existence and a need for both formats.
