Magazine ArabNet Quarterly Issue 2

It is with great pleasure that we present to you the second edition of The Quarterly with
uplifted content and design. Whether you’re a tech guru, a business executive, a media
professional, or an aspiring entrepreneur, you will find something to catch your eye. As
always, we look forward to hearing your feedback, and if you wish to become a contributor
writer, send me an email or contact me on Twitter.
Lara Chaaya, Managing Editor
Follow me @ChaayaLara
lara@arabnet.me
2 The Latest Industry News
A quick run-down of the latest updates in the sector
and a wrap up of the most recent ArabNet events
6 What’s the Deal with Wearables?
Discover the evolution of wearable computing and
how we are moving towards a wearable future
10 Regional Games
As more mobile games are developed in the region,
we bring you a list of the freshest and greatest to keep
you up-to-date
11 Regional Hardware Innovation
We list 5 hardware innovations in the region that you
should know
12 Disruptive Technology
We explore how 3D printing is disrupting traditional
industries
16 Useful Apps for Transportation
A round-up of taxi-booking apps being available to
MENA residents
18 Bitcoin and the Rise of New Markets
A look at a few revolutionary applications of Bitcoin
20 Banks Go Digital
An analysis of how banks are gearing up for a
digitized economy
22 Education Goes Digital
A study of the impact of mobile content and
commerce on the education market
26 Reinventing the Supermarket
Will the Arab Region See More Brick-and-Mortar
Supermarkets Shift Online?
28 Emerging Alternative Payment
Methods
An interview with Sahar Salama on the direct billing
solution offered by T-Pay
GET IN TOUCH
CONTENT
30 The Future of the Agencies
A look at how creative and media agencies should
adapt to a changing market
32 Ad Tech Terms Decoded
Helping you make sense out of digital advertising
jargon
34 Let’s Talk Font
Key Things to Consider When Designing an Arabic
Font and Typeface
36 It’s Viral
Digital ad campaigns are on the roll. We list 7 that
recently went viral
38 The Social Enterprise Is Here
Social networks are inevitable in modern enterprises.
Here’s why
40 Crowdfund Investing
Are you planning to raise a crowdfund campaign?
Here are 8 key factors to ensure your success
42 The Perfect Business Pitch
These tips can help anyone pitch like a pro
44 Regional Startups
A list of new startups launching in the region
48 Digital Marketing Startup
Will Ta3rifah’s loyalty program and behavior analysis
monitor succeed where others have failed?
50 The $100,000 Mistake of Arab
Entrepreneurs
Here’s how to get investors dig deep in their pockets
52 Things I Learned in London
ArabNet’s CEO gives a first-hand account on
how Europe’s tech capital is nurturing its startup
ecosystem
54 The Rise of the Big Fund
As more funds are being raised in the region, industry
leaders debate their ramifications

Useful Apps for Transportation
A Round-Up of Taxi-Booking Apps for Residents in MENA
Industry stories
2 The Quartely June 2014
UTURN Partners Up with Yahoo Maktoob to Expand Video Platform
UTURN partnered up with Yahoo Maktoob non-exclusively, as they already have a
partnership with YouTube. A new UTURN featured channel is expected to launch under
Yahoo Maktoob’s video platform anyday now, highlighting UTURN‘s 2014 productions;
from comedy series, to exclusive content, and behind the scenes videos.This move should
add 2 to 3 million viewers to the 35 million monthly viewers today, according to Kaswara
Al Khatib, chairman and CEO of UTURN.The new platform will help UTURN find the
reasons behind a video going viral, and offer comprehensive information about social events.
MEVP Raises $50M and
Invests in 6 New Startups
MEVP raised a 50
Million USD fund,
known as the IMPACT
fund, based on the BDL
circular 331 through 8
Lebanese banks and 15
co-investors.The fund
will invest in startups in both the ICT and creative
sectors in the region. MEVP also announced 6
new investments: $1M in Fadel Partners, $1M in
Potential, $600k in Apstrata (known as Alamanta),
an unrevealed amount in Instabug and Bnooki,
and $500M in Lamsaworld.The 6 up-and-coming
startups have guaranteed 150 new jobs so far and
raised the total number of MEVP ventures to 21.
Webedia Acquires Majority stake in Diwanee
Dubai-based digital media company Diwanee has disclosed
its majority acquisition by Webedia.There are no confirmed
numbers yet, but rumors place the valuation between $20
million and $50 million, which makes this investment one
of the biggest for a digital company in the Middle East.
Webedia’s websites, which are mainly focused on fashion and
glamour, receives over 40 million monthly unique visitors.
Diwanee has over 5 million monthly unique visitors on its
sites, which include fashion and beauty portal Yasmina.
com, family portal 3a2ilati.com, fashion e-commerce site
Mooda.com, entertainment portal Wikeez, and recipe site
AtyabTabkha.com. Webedia will also inject an extra $5 million
USD to help Diwanee bolster their expansion, share their big
data analysis tools, and more.
Latest News
in the Industry
Regional Accelerator Partnerships
Badir and Oasis 500 have launched an entrepreneurship program
which includes training boot camps and investments for Saudi
entrepreneurs. Moreover, Dubai SME, known as the agency of
the Department for Economic Development that develops the
small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in Dubai, has signed
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Oasis500 to seek
out and nurture SMEs most likely to improve and ascend Dubai’s
profile in expectation of the Expo 2020.The MoU will entail
Dubai SME and Oasis500 to merge their resources to invest in
500 companies by 2018 with extra capital, advice and incubation
until Expo 2020.
Souq.com Raises $75M, Launches Marketplace University
Souq.com, the biggest
Arabic e-commerce
platform, has received $75
million from Naspers,
Africa’s largest media
company, after investing $40
million dollars back in 2012.
These investments make
Naspers an owner of a 36% stake in the business. In related news, Souq.com
revealed the launch of Egypt’s first Online Marketplace University by means
of two inaugural programs: “Marketplace E-Commerce Entrepreneurship
Program”, and “The Marketplace Incubator”. Souq.com Egypt will provide the
essential apparatus so entrepreneurs can transform their ideas into profiting
businesses, including shared office space, access to content & production, daily
courier services, storage space at one of the company’s offices in Maadi, Cairo,
and the advice of mentors through workshops.

3June 2014 The Quartely
Naspers Acquires All
Outstanding Shares of
Markafoni
Naspers announced that will acquire all
of the outstanding shares of Markafoni.
Naspers originally acquired a majority
stake of Markafoni in July 2011 in one
of the biggest deals in the Turkish online
industry. Now, 3 years later, Naspers
decided to take full advantage of
the phenomenal growth of the Turkish
e-commerce market and leadership
position of Markafoni.
Northstar Travel Media
Acquires Web in Travel
Travel Media, the prominent B2B
information company in the travel and
meetings industries, has acquired Web In
Travel (WIT), a Singapore-based mixed
media platform content provider mostly
recognized for its event series on online
travel distribution in the Asia-Pacific
region.
New $100M Venture Fund Targeting Middle East,
Asia and Silicon Valley Startups and Investors
A new venture fund called the Fenox Global Fund IV is looking to invest USD $100
million in seed, Series A and pre-IPO funding throughout the USA, Asia and the Middle
East in partnership with Innovation 360, a leading innovation consultancy based in
Dubai, UAE. Fenox’s investment portfolio includes so far: Dream Link Entertainment
(DLE) that currently carried out an IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange; and Lark,
a wearable technology company whose products are now sold at worldwide Apple
stores. Fenox Venture Capital has already pledged USD $10 million, and is looking for
additional investors that would qualify for the fund.
FunRock Enters
the MENA Games Market
On April 21, 2014, a Swedish online strategy games
developer and publisher called FunRock declared
they will build better games for the Arab world by
opening an office in Dubai, UAE.The company
is particularly focused on free-to-play massively
multiplayer online games.Their debuting game will
consist of a localized version of their popular title,
Rivality, and gradually release other localized games that they’re currently working on.
“Our games are particularly oriented to smartphones and tablets, with the iPad as the
flagship platform,” says David Wallinder, Founder and COO of FunRock.
Will Apple Buy Beats Electronics
for $3.2B?
By the time this piece was being written, Apple
buying Beats was still but an unconfirmed speculation
and confession by Dr. De taken advantage of by
media companies, journalists, analysts, and bloggers.
Some criticisms surfaced on Apple trying to be cool
or reckless with their $150 billion buying power, all
of which have spread over the internet like wildfire.
But what would Apple want with a company like
Beats? Rumors say they might wish to improve their
computers’ audio technology, merge Beats Music with
iTunes radio, or maybe even create smart headphones
that could stream music and be commanded by voice.
Facebook Acquires Oculus
Not long after Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp,
and Facebook’s stock growing larger than 150% in the last year;
CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a stock-cash deal yet again
to buy the up-and-coming virtual reality headgear producer
Oculus.This is the third time Facebook spends more than
a billion dollars to buy a company that isn’t bringing much
revenue, and allowing it to conduct its business exclusively.
Facebook is payimg $400 million cash and 23.1 million shares
of Facebook stock worth $1.6 billion.The deal also includes a
$300 million earn-out in cash and stock.

Industry stories
Held under the patronage of His
Highness Prince Dr.Turki bin
Mohammed Al Saud, the second version
of Arabnet Riyadh explored the latest
trends and opportunities in the digital
sector in Saudi Arabia and the GCC.
Attracting over 750 professionals on
December 3-4, and with a host of over
70 speakers from across the region and
world, the conference highlighted the
development of digital Arabic content in
the region.
“70% of the Kingdom’s population
are under the age of 35; therefore the
public and private sectors must make
new initiatives designed to promote an
entrepreneurial environment, and improve
the leadership position in the Kingdom.”
This is how Prince Saud bin Khaled Faisal
started his talk at the opening ceremony
at the Four Seasons Hotel, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia.The talk was followed by
panel discussions that emphasized the
ability of the digital sector to provide job
opportunities to the Kingdom’s youth.
Mobile applications, rising numbers in
technological investments, and unlocking
the potential of e-commerce were also
discussed during the course of the two-
day event.
Arabnet Riyadh was host to three
entrepreneur competitions: the “Startup
Demo” and “Ideathon” allowed startups
and aspiring entrepreneurs in Saudi
Arabia and the MENA to pitch their
ideas and connect with investors, new
clients, and strategic partners.The “Battle
of the Games” was present throughout
thecv event where 8 experienced Arab
developers showcased their mobile game
apps, console games, online/browser
games, and social games to the attendees,
and in turn also connect with investors
and potential partners.
Occupying 500+ sqm of exhibition
space, the ArabNet TechFair featured
more than 40 leading companies and
promising startups from the region. In
an exclusive interview, Hassan Kabbani,
Chief Executive of Zain, invited emerging
companies to partner with Zain in order
to secure the financial support they
need to kick-start their startups, while
iMENA announced the launch of four
new businesses, confirmed their focus on
new investments and shared some key
milestones for their existing businesses.
ArabNet Riyadh 2013

Held under the patronage of the
Lebanese President Michel
Suleiman, ArabNet Beirut Conference
2014, held at the Hilton Habtoor Grand
hotel on March 4-6, was a celebration of
digital creativity and entrepreneurship
in the MENA region. Bringing together
more than 70 speakers, 40 sponsors
and partners, and 600 attendees, the
conference was an excellent guide to the
trending opportunities in entrepreneurial
digital business in fashion, luxury,
e-commerce, and e-marketing for banks
and FMCG.
The core value of Arabnet Beirut was
its ability to bridge regional companies
and leading players in the digital industry,
allowing for extensive networking and
fruitful collaboration at a time when
digital growth has never been more
facilitated in the region.
The event was kicked off with
Design+Code Day, a full day of
workshops led by developers and
designers to help build better web and
mobile products.The official opening
ceremony, held on Forum Day 1,
was attended by leading government
figures who, in the words of First Vice-
Governor of Banque du Liban, Raed H.
Charafeddine, expressed great pride that
“Lebanon is rich in the creative energies
and technical skills of its youth, who
have the potential to make it a central
hub for the production of Arabic digital
content.” Deputy Hagop Pakradounian,
Minister of Information Ramzi Jreij and
Minister of Telecommunication Boutros
Harb were some of the most prominent
attendees.
As customary, the conference
delivered its signature competitions: the
Ideathon, Startup Demo and Creative
Combat, which exhibited talented young
creatives and aspiring entrepreneurs.
One of the highlights of the event
was the speed networking, introduced for
the first time at ArabNet Beirut 2014,
where people at the conference held
one-on-one 30-second meetings with
investors, business professionals, and
potential partners.
After the first Forum day was
wrapped on March 5, attendees gathered
at the Beirut Digital District to socialize
at the Taste of Beirut, a festive night that
showcased more than 16 different flavors
of Beirut’s best F&Bs.
ArabNet Beirut 2014

TECHNOLOGY
It’s been an interesting decade for
wearables. Microsoft released the
first smartwatch in 2004, the SPOT,
which was termed as “smart,”“sexy,” and
“revolutionary,” only to stop its production
two years later.Then, Fitbit hogged the
headlines after it gave the audience at
TechCrunch50 a glimpse of its fitness
gadget innovation, and kept technophile
geeks on their edge for almost a year
until it finally launched the product in
2009. A few months later, Nike released
its Sportsband, and Jawbone launched
UP. By January 2012, manufacturers have
become so engrossed with smart fitness
gadgets that the Consumer Electronics
Show (CES) 2012 was crowded with
hundreds of fitness companies displaying
their wearable gadgets. But it wasn’t until
Google emerged from its mysterious X
Lab in April 2012 to introduce Project
Glass that the tech market went berserk.
And so begins, as many think, the era of
wearables. Only, that is not true.
The real history of wearables goes
back a lot further—well before the first
wristwatch, let alone the first smartwatch.
The recent spur of interest in wearables
came with the growth of low-power
sensor technology, which made devices
more affordable and the consumer
proposition more appealing. Couple that
with the high penetration of smartphones
worldwide—the device that will power
the new wave of wearables—and we are
on the cusp of a new tech revolution.
Here is a brief overview of the latest and
the greatest in wearables.
Smartwatches
The most successful smartwatch so far is
Pebble. It got off the launchpad after its
unprecedented $10.3 million Kickstarter
campaign two years ago. Pebble functions
as a fitness computer, a media player,
and of course, a watch. It also serves
as the smartphone’s secondary screen
by providing notifications and remote
control capabilities. Pebble’s most recent
version, the Pebble Steel, has an uplifted
design but is still far from being called
fashionable to wear.The same goes for the
Samsung Galaxy Gear which, although
is more user friendly with its big screen,
still lacks many of the smart functions
expected from a smartwatch.
The I’m Watch, released in 2011,
was one of the first smartwatches to be
released after the industry laid dormant
for a decade. Despite being in the market
for more than 4 years, I’m Watch still
hasn’t reached mass market appeal,
probably because it is overpriced for its
limited feature set.
There has been much speculation
that Apple is gearing up to deliver a
smartwatch, the iWatch. It is probably
the most anticipated smartwatch, and
even though Apple hasn’t confirmed the
rumors, its recent reported acquisition
of LuxVue, a developer of micro-LED
displays, could mean there is truth to
these rumors.
Smartglasses
The video that caused mass media hype
about wearable technology was the “One
Day” video released by Google, in which
it unveiled Project Glass.The video did
not show the device, but rather what the
user sees while wearing it: from reminders
to directions to instant messaging and
video calling, all appearing in the wearer’s
field of vision. Google admitted that
the video showed a lot more than the
prototypes are capable of, but strongly
believes that we will see these features
in the near future. A year later after the
release of the video, Google announced
that the high-tech Glass would be
available for consumers for only 24
hours—that happened on April 15, 2014.
Google is not the only company
working on smartglasses. Vuzix’s M100
is an Android-based wearable computer
that made its debut at CES 2013, and is
now already available in the market for
$1000. It has also released the M2000
AR which, at almost $6000, is designed
to provide hands-free information and
augmented reality in industrial usage.
Over 16 other companies are
expected to release smart glasses in
2014. Among them is Soulaiman Itani’s
Mountain View-based Atheer Labs,
which is busy working on Atheer One, a
device that not only lets information float
in the user’s field of vision, but also lets
the user physically manipulate it. It has
already launched a successful campaign
on Indiegogo earlier this year, raising
almost $214,000, more than twice its
fundraising goal.
Smart fitness gadgets
Smart fitness gadgets are the most
commonly available subset of wearable
technology. However, being partially or
entirely dependent on external devices—
like the smartphone—they offer only a
small percentage of the functionalities
What’s the Deal with
Wearable Technology?
Wearables Might End Up being the Next Big Thing, Just Not Yet
The recent spur of interest
in wearables came with
the growth of low-
power sensor technology,
which made devices
more affordable and the
consumer proposition
more appealing.

offered by wearable tech are appealing
to users.They want to own the data and
be in better control of their lifestyle. But
the players in the wearable arena still
need to master the fashion element for
the technology to be widely accepted and
reach the same success as smartphones
or tablets. In fact, even smartphones
didn’t reach their current nearly-
ubiquitous adoption until the advent of
the iPhone, a device that made aesthetic
design a corporate necessity and a core
competency as vital as the ability to make
a stable OS or a faster chip. Wearable
technology simply needs to become
less intrusive and more comfortable,
and provide users with valuable data in
easy-to-understand ways. Apple seems to
have taken the lead to address the issue
of the fashion element; otherwise, why
would it hire Yves Saint Laurent CEO,
Paul Deneve, and allocate him to special
projects under Tim Cook, and appoint
Burberry’s Angela Ahrendts as Senior
Vice President of retail and online stores?
Putting design and fashion aside,
the wearable revolution might well
be on our doorstep, with sensors and
chip sets being cheaper than ever, and
smartphone technologies providing
wearable manufacturers with dependable
mobile Internet and Bluetooth services.
With these “pre-baked” hardware and
wireless connectivity, and huge pre-
orders from crowdfunding platforms
such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, small
companies might be able to put their
wearable innovations on the table facing
giant tech companies, compete, and
possibly win. n
sports apparel laden with sensors, smart
clothing has considerably become a broad
field of wearable tech. But with better
accuracy and convenience comes higher
prices.There is also the challenge of
washing the tech garments.
Athos, a US-based startup that
launched late 2013, is among many
working on embedding technology within
our clothing.The wearable tech apparel
they have been designing measures the
activity of 14 different muscles. It also
monitors heart rate and breathing and
transmits the info over Bluetooth to
iPhones and iPads. Athos is expected to
be released by mid-2014 for a price
of $298.
HeapSylon’s Sensoria Sock is
another smart garment; it is a pressure
sensing textile sock that coaches users
on their running techniques in real
time. Heapsylon is also working on a
new T-Shirt version which uses similar
textile to monitor the wearer’s heart rate.
Heapsylon partnered with developers of
Google Glass app Race Yourself to bring
heads-up visual feedback to runners.
Towards a Wearable Future
Wearables may end up being the next
big thing, just not yet.The functionalities
promised by the wearables of the future.
These devices also come in less obtrusive
and more fashionable designs than other
wearables, and most have just the right
price for their limited features, resulting
in a broader consumer appeal.
Take the Fitbit Zip, for example.
Being water resistant and able to provide
useful data and analysis about a person’s
lifestyle (such as steps taken, calories
burnt, etc.), the device is arguably the best
fitness tracker you can buy for under $60.
However, it is unable to measure sleep, a
functionality covered by the Jawbone Up.
Despite their consumer acceptance,
smart fitness gadgets are still in the
process of being fine-tuned in terms of
both design and functionality. In their
aim to make wearables more comfortable,
Massachusetts-based mc10 has developed
what it calls “conformal electronics,”
which are thin, flexible, integrated circuits
that can be embedded in fabric or flexible
plastic. Mc10’s first flexible computing
prototype is the BioStamp—a collection
of sensors that can be applied on the skin
like a sticker or Band-Aid.The sensors
collect data such as body temperature,
heart rate, sleep, and exposure
to UV radiation.
Smart clothing
Tech manufacturers concur that the
key to unlocking the full potential of
wearables is to move the devices beyond
accessories and onto the rest of our
bodies—that is, making clothing smarter.
After Microsoft’s research-designed dress
that displays tweets and North Face’s
jackets with inbuilt PMP controls and
Did you know?
• Five of the ten all-time top
funded design projects on
Kickstarter are wearable devices
• The most expensive known
wearable device is Mirama
Digital Glasses, at a cost of
$29,400 and the least expensive
device is MOV Band, at a cost
of $19
• The accelerometer is the most
popular component on wearable
tech
The players in the wearable
arena still need to master
the fashion element for the
technology to be widely
accepted.

1993
People began wearing
eyeglasses and sunglasses,
the first wearable
“augmentation.”
John Harrison invented the first
practical marine chronometer to
determine the longitude of a ship.
EYEGLASSES POCKET WATCH
Steven Sasson creates the first
digital camera at Kodak.
Pulsar introduced the first
calculator watch.
DIGITAL CAMERA
CALCULATOR WATCH
1200s
A silver abacus ring was
created as a counting tool in
ancient China
ABACUS RING
1600s 1762
Martin Cooper from Motorola
demonstrates the first cellphone.
CELLPHONE
1973
The age of the internet began
with the release of ARPANET
INTERNET
1969
BBN finishes the Pathfinder
system, a wearable computer
with GPS and radiation detection
systems.
PATHFINDER SYSTEM
Sony releases its first
Walkman.
WALKMAN
Psion introduces the first
personal digital assistant (PDA).
PDA
Seiko releases the first “wrist
computer” watches, which
included portable keyboards.
WRIST COMPUTER WATCH
19841979
Memoto gets funded on
Kickstarter to drive the
creation of its
lifelogging camera.
Nike, Fitbit, 4iii, Basis and others
launch wearable fitness gadgets at
the Consumer Electronics Show.
Google reveals its wearable
computing project, Glass.
MEMOTO FITNESS GADGETS
2013 2012
1975
Jawbone releases its
first wearable fitness
gadget for $99.
JAWBONE UP
2011
GOOGLE GLASS
Sources: http://www.media.mit.edu/wearables/lizzy/timeline.html
http://gizmodo.com/this-wearable-abacus-is-basically-the-worlds-oldest-sm-1545627562
http://mashable.com/2011/11/02/jawbone-up-99-wristband-rule-life/
http://wearable-technologies.com
http://google.com/glass/start/
http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp01.htm
timeline of wearables

The age of the computer began
when Charles Babbage devised
the analytical engine, the first
proposal for a general-purpose
mechanical computer.
The first general-purpose
electronic computer is
announced.
ANALYTICAL ENGINE ENIAC
19601966
1837 1907 1946
Alberto Santos-Dumon
commissions the first
wristwatch.
WRISTWATCH
Edward Thorp and Claude
Shannon create the first
wearable computer to predict
the behavior of roulette
wheels.
GAMBLING SHOE
Morton Heilig patents
the Telesphere Mask, a
head-mounted
television display.
TELESPHERE MASK
Ivan Sutherland creates the first
computer-linked head-mounted
display
HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAY
1968
Kevin Warwick begins Project Cyborg
by implanting an RFID chip in his
arm.
PROJECT CYBORG
1998
IBM introduces the first smartphone.
SMARTPHONE
Steve Mann transmits images
from his head-mounted camera to
the web.
HEAD-MOUNTED CAMERA
1994
Casio introduces the
first GPS-equipped
watch
GPS-EQUIPPED WATCH
1999
The first smart watches
linked to Microsoft’s
SPOT network are
released.
SMARTWATCHES
2004
Nike released its
wearable tech gadget
that can give details
about a person’s
running exercise.
Fitbit introduces a new wave
of wearable, life-monitoring
devices.
NIKE+ SPORTSBAND FITBIT
2010 2009
http://memoto.com
http://www.techradar.com/news/portable-devices/portable-media/smartwatch-or-smartglass-which-
you-will-be-wearing--1148576
http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/distro-issue-70-the-wearable-tech-issue/
http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/03/with-3m-in-new-funding-memeto-lifelogging-startup-
rebrands-to-narrative-to-go-global/

TECHNOLOGY
Fluke HD
Developers: Local Aliens LLC
Country of origin: Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia
Date of release: September 2013
Available for: iOS
Language: English
Price: $0.99
Fluke HD is an online multiplayer board
game. It is similar to the classic game
of “Chutes and Ladders”. It challenges
players to get their unique 4 game pieces
and finish the race. It’s a casual, simple
game to play with a small party of friends
or family, even though it asks for a bit of
strategizing. Unexpected surprises and
unimagined obstacles may sometimes
come in the way of players to make the
game that much exciting. Although there
are many similar apps, Fluke HD is
superior in its visual effects.
Charbaka
Developer: Samer Hamandi
Country of origin: Lebanon
Date of release: December 2013
Available for: Android
Language: Arabic
Price: Free
Charbaka is a multiplayer word game in
Arabic.The players share the same grid of
16 letters and compete by trying to find as
many words as they can in two minutes.
Users can only play for a limited number
of times each day. Unlike other similar
Arabic games, such as Puzzle des Lettres
Arabes and Play with Arabic Words,
Charbaka targets players of all ages and
not just children.
Regional Games
A Round-Up of Fresh Games
from the Arab World
Fairytales Gang
Developers: Maysalward
Country of origin: Jordan
Date of release: December 2013
Available for: Android
Language: English
Price: Free
Players need to help Santa and his buddies free the elves from an evil gang wearing paper
bags on their heads. Players run through the streets and jump over fences and water
canals to collect gifts and coins to ultimately free the North Pole brethren. Some weird
obstacles are on the way such as a dog on a canon and nails on the ground, and players
might run into Fairytale heroes like Cinderella or find themselves lost in a magical forest.
Players can purchase “power gadgets” to help them complete more levels.
Giddam
Developers: Girnaas
Country of origin: Qatar
Date of release: March 2014
Available for: iOS, Android
Language: English
Price: Free
Giddam is a side-scrolling, racing game
with a unique Qatari spin.The characters are grumpy Ali, plump-and-round Um
AlThahab (Bigmama), smirky Rashid, and cutie-pie Farawla (Strawberry).They race
through cartoon-Qatar, passing through palm-riddle deserts and cities filled with
mosques and skyscrapers. Not only are the characters inspired from local culture, but so
are their weapons. Players can use Karak tea, A’qal Zanuba, or the boosting drink Eshrij
to trap and get ahead of their opponents. Players can compete head-to-head against their
friends and chat with other gamers.The app makes revenue from in-app purchases.
Indomie Dash
Developers: Pinehill Arab Foods Co., LTD.
Indomie
Date of release: January 2014
Available for: iOS
Language: Arabic
Price: Free
Indomie Dash is very similar to world-
renowned Diamond Dash, though it comes
fully in Arabic. Each game lasts for 60
seconds. Players collect points by placing
at least three matching flavors next to
each other, and with the speed of flavor placement increasing, the Indomie bar fills up,
attracting bigger combos and more points. Players can exchange the coins they collected
with magic powers that can help them save time or change the order of all flavors.They
can also purchase coins to get more magic powers to see their scores soaring.

Instabeat
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Release Date: Q2 2014
Price: $150
Instabeat is a head-up display unit that
seamlessly monitors swimmer’s heart rate,
calories, and number of laps. It mounts
on the straps of any type of swimming
goggles and uses LED lights to inform
swimmers whether they are performing
in fat burning, mid-range, or maximum
zones. It also uploads stored data on a
waterproof USB. Instabeat, previously
known as Butterfleye, won first in the
MIT Arab Business Plan Competition,
and third place in the Stars of Science
Competition. It raised $56,374 on
Indeigogo, and secured a Series A round
of investment from Wamda Capital and
Jabbar Internet Group.
Mubser
Country of Origin: Egypt
Release Date: TBA
Price: NA
Mubser is a wearable belt and headset
that helps visually impaired individuals
avoid obstacles.The system relies on RGB
imaging and infrared depth data captured
by a Microsoft Kinect to recognize
objects in its way, which, when detected,
prompts the belt to vibrate, thus alerting
the wearing of an obstacle ahead.The
system also recognizes some objects and
names them to the wearer through the
Bluetooth connected headset. Mubser
is being incubated by AUC’s Venture
Lab, and has won several awards so far,
including first place at the Intel Business
Challenge Egypt, first place for ICT
Track at the I2P Brazil, among others.
It is also a finalist at the MIT Enterprise
Forum Pan Arab Region.
Regional Hardware
A List of Innovative Hardware Devices Coming from the MENA
Roadie Tuner
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Release Date: June 2014
Available in: USA
Shipped to: Everywhere
Price: $79
Roadie is an automatic tuner for any stringed instrument, such as a guitar. It uses the
iPhone and a motorized accessory to tune the instrument. Roadie connects to the
Roadie Application on the iPhone via low energy Bluetooth.The app receives the
sound, processes it, and sends the right commands back to Roadie. Created by two Arab
innovators, Roadie Tuner was incubated at Haxlr8r and will be ready to ship soon. It
successfully raised $180,000 on Kickstarter, almost triple its goal, and won first place at
the TechCrunch Beirut MeetUp last March, and the Audience Choice Award at the
TechCrunch Disrupt NY.
Pocket TV
Country of Origin: Dubai
Release Date: TBA
Available in: USA
Shipped to: Everywhere
Price: $50 - $140
The Pocket TV by Infintec is a thumb-
sized micro-computer that connects to
the HDMI port of any TV and converts
it into an Android Smart TV. You can
download apps from the Google Play Store to stream videos, play games, do Skype
video-calls, or simply surf the web. It can also be used for doing presentations. Just plug
it into a projector and see your presentation be played from the cloud or locally from
the SD card. If you want a more traditional TV experience, you can buy an AirRemote
which combines motion, click, and keyboard functions.The project raised $501,321 on
Kickstarter, five times more than its goal.
1Sheeld
Country of Origin: Egypt
Release Date: May 2014
Available in: USA
Shipped to: Almost everywhere
Price: $50
1Sheeld from Integreight is a new easily configured shield for Arduino that lets you
replace all other shields with your smartphone. Arduino is a popular open-source
electronic board that can control just about any Do-It-Yourself hardware project.The
shield acts as a wireless middle-man, piping data between Arduino and any Android
smartphone via Bluetooth, thus allowing the usage of all Android smartphone’s
capabilities such as LCD screen, accelerometer, GSM, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc. into your
Arduino sketch.The 8-team behind 1Sheeld won the Audience Choice at Disrupt
Europe.The project also went up on Kickstarter and raised $85,000, more than eight
times its fundraising goal.

TECHNOLOGY

News broke on May 8 of Yoshitomo
Imura, a 27-year-old man from
Japan, who got arrested for illegally
printing and possessing guns. Back in
April, police had found five plastic guns
and a 3D printer at the suspect’s home,
along with blueprints for manufacturing
guns stored on his personal computer.
Two of these guns were able to pierce
over ten pieces of plywood, which deems
them capable of killing or wounding
people.The suspect, a college employee,
was quoted as saying, “but, I didn’t know
they were illegal.”
Imura’s claim that he was unaware of
a law against printing guns is very likely
to be genuine. It is not common for new
consumer technologies to come into
conflict with the law or even require new
legislation altogether. But for those that
do, it is a definite sign of the magnitude
of their disruptive potential. Beyond
security and legal issues, what are some
of the implications of 3D printing on
traditional industries? Before we get into
that, let’s take a quick look at some of
the dazzling recent applications of 3D
printing.
Edible Materials
At South by Southwest Interactive, global
snacks company Mondelez International
partnered with Twitter for the Oreo
Trending Vending Machine. Event
attendees were able to savor the beloved
cookie in a variety of flavors styled using
3D printing machines.The flavors are
based on trending topics that followed the
hashtag #eatthetweet.
A number of companies are already
busy testing out how this technology
could change the way we prepare food.
Already available are food printers for
chocolate, pizza, ravioli, chickpea nuggets,
corn chips, and sugar candies. One of the
most famous machines, the Foodini, lets
users print anything they want provided it
can be pureed first.
Soft Materials
Carnegie Mellon University and Disney
Research Pittsburgh have invented a
3D printing technique for creating soft
interactive objects, like plush animals.The
printer uses a needle to turn layers of wool
yarn into loose felt objects.The device
looks like a cross between a 3D printer
and a sewing machine. It is capable of
producing apparel and accessories such as
scarves, hats, and even teddy bears. But
more importantly, it might also be used
in the near future to produce parts of
so-called “soft robots”–robots designed to
touch or be near people.
In ‘traditional’ 3D printing, melted
plastic is extruded in a thin line and
laid out in a layer; subsequent layers are
added to achieve the object’s desired
shape, with the layers adhering to
each other as the plastic cools. In this
example, however, the printer’s head
feeds out yarn instead of lines of melted
plastic.Then, a barbed felting needle
attached to the printer’s head repeatedly
pierces the yarn, entangling the fibers
and bonding the layers together.
The printer doesn’t achieve the same
dimensional accuracy as conventional 3D
printers because the yarn is much thicker
than the layers of plastic. However,
like other 3D printers, this machine
uses computerized designs to make 3D
objects.Thus, it can be used for rapid
prototyping and customizing of objects.
Full-Sized Houses
Chinese company Win Sun claimed
that it was able to print 10 bungalows in
24 hours using giant 3D printers and a
quick drying concrete mixture composed
of waste materials. Each bungalow cost
less than five thousand dollars.The task
required four huge printers measuring 32
meters in length, 10 meters in width, and
6.6 meters in height.
The company hopes that one day it
will be able to use the same technique to
construct skyscrapers and villas.
Electronics
Project Ara, the modular smartphone
conceived by Dave Hakkens and later
picked up by Motorola and Google, is
said to rely on 3D printing. 3D Systems,
the company tasked with producing
Ara’s tiles, recently announced that it
is “creating a continuous, high-speed
3D printing production platform and
fulfillment system to accommodate
production-level speeds and volume.”
People Miniatures
iMakr.com is an online store that sells a
wide range of 3D printers and materials,
3D art, and 3D scanners. iMakr also
operates one of the world’s largest
3D printing stores, located in Central
London. Among the popular creations of
iMakr are 3D miniatures of people.The
process involves having a person’s portrait
digitally scanned in their 360 degree
Food printed by the Foodini machine. Mink is a 3D printer for makeup.
3D printer machine used
to print customized oreo
cookies at South by Southwest
Interactive.

TECHNOLOGY
design files or software for the object they
are looking to purchase. Imagine what
downloading a recipe could mean then.
This won’t mean that manufacturers
will lose their jobs. For the foreseeable
future, manufacturing will become more
flexible as manufacturers will be able
to establish factories much closer to
points of sales.This might occur even
if the cost per unit should increase for
objects that traditionally benefited from
scale efficiencies of large, centralized
plants.The offset from reduced shipping
costs and maintaining large inventories
could tip the scales favorable for certain
industries.
This also means that goods can be
more easily customized to individual
buyers’ whims. Changing the design
of a chair would simply entail a minor
adjustment in the design file.The options
are unlimited, and we only have to sit and
observe how 3D technology changes our
lives. Just like the Internet did, and the
computer before it. n
scanning booth to capture the person’s
likeness with amazing accuracy and detail.
The printed 3D object comes in full color.
Makeup
Mink is a new 3D printer for makeup
that was introduced at the TechCrunch
Disrupt NY 2014. Fashionistas can
choose any color they like on the web
or in the real world and, using simple
already-existing software, the little printer
can print that color into a blush, and later
into eye shadow, lip gloss, and any other
type of makeup. Priced at less than $200
with plans to launch in 2014, Mink will
allow customers to prepare their own
makeup from the comfort of their home.
Living Organisms
A San Diego-based bio printing company
called Organovo expects to unveil the
world’s first printed organ next year.
Similar to other types of 3D printing, bio
printing layers material to form an object.
In this case the layers are made up of live
cells, and the object is an organ. However,
the problem has been manufacturing the
vascular system needed to keep the organ
alive. Cells would die as soon as they
leave the printing table. Organovo is said
to have figured out a way to overcome
the issue and was able to maintain liver
tissue in a fully functional state for at
least 40 days. It is important to note
that the produced organs will serve for
drug testing and laboratory studies.The
company is yet to release any info on
implantable organs.
What Does This Entail for
Traditional Industries?
3D printing democratizes the creation
of physicals goods. Making products
won’t be restricted to large manufacturers
anymore. Anyone with a machine at
home will be able to produce products.
This is made possible with the release
of more affordable 3D printers in
the market. Just recently,The Micro,
a $299 3D printer passed $3.5M on
Kickstarter. Its goal was 50K.The Peachy
Printer, another Kickstarter project, goes
for as low as $100. And there are plenty
more, as listed in the side feature.This
will mean that the purchasing dynamic
will drastically change. In some instances,
buyers will pay for raw materials and
Chinese company Win Sun was able to print 10
concrete houses in 1 day.
Photo credit: Dailymail.co.uk
3D printed
teddy bears from
Disney Research.
Modular smartphone building relies on 3D
printing.
Peachy Printer – uses inexpensive liquid
light-sensitive resin
$100
MakiBox – dependable 3D printer that
prints only small things
$200-$300
Printrbot – comes in 4 different sizes and
features and can be customized to print
various 3D creations
$259-$999
Phoenix – allows pausing and rewinding
the printing process through its unique
software
$375-$500
Romscraj – a 3D printer company
that sells portable and desktop 3D
printers
$375-$500
Buccaneer – a Wi-Fi enabled 3D
printer that comes with an iOS/Android
app
$399-$999
Solidoodle – comes in two models
to allow printing of small and large
objects
$499-$799
RigiBot – a fully customizable 3D printer
$499-$959
RoBo – open sourced 3D
printer
$599-$699
Deesmaker Bukito Mini – light and
portable 3D printer that can print even if
moved around or flipped
$699
List of 10 affordable 3D
printers available for
consumers

TECHNOLOGY
UBER
Headquarters: United States
Release date: June 2010
Compatible with: iOS (6.0 and later), Android (2.1
and later), BlackBerry and Windows Phone
Geographic reach: 101 cities, including Abu Dhabi,
Dubai, Doha, and Riyadh
Language: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malayan, Portuguese,
Russian, Simplified Chinese, Chinese, Spanish,
Swedish, and Thai
Uber is a global on-demand car service that seamlessly connects
users to private drivers. Uber doesn’t provide its own vehicles, but
works with existing licensed drivers.Through the smartphone
app, you can choose one of several grades of cars, send your GPS
location data directly to the driver, track the car’s trajectory as it
drives your way, and pay via PayPal or a credit/debit card directly
from your phone. A receipt will be sent to your inbox once you
arrive to your destination.
Anyone living in a city would know
what a nightmare traffic can be.
Worse yet, waiting for a cab under
rain or a scorching sun. Using public
transportation services might seem like
a good solution—that is, if your country
has a reliable infrastructure. But even with
good metros, buses, or even taxis, there are
times when you eventually find yourself
stranded, and in desperate need for a ride.
Here we round up some of the best rated,
free travel apps available for people in the
Middle East.

CAREEM
Headquarters: UAE
Release date: February 2013
and later), Windows Phone and BlackBerry
Geographic reach: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Jeddah,
Riyadh, and Dammam
Language: Arabic and English
Careem is a local, private car booking service whose value
proposition competes head-to-head with Uber. Similar to its
competitor, Careem only works with existing licensed drivers and
cars. You can order a car online or using the mobile app. When
you open the app, it automatically locates your position through
its underlying GPS technology, then asks you to specify your
destination.The app calculates the price of your ride, which you
pay with your credit card, tracks the car in real-time, and gives
you access to your receipts online. Unlike Uber, Careem also
allows large corporates to sign up all their staff and pay through
monthly invoices.
Easy Taxi
Headquarters: Brazil
Release date: April 2012
Compatible with: iOS (5.0 and later), Android
(2.0 and later), Windows Phone and BlackBerry
Geographic reach: 158 cities, including Sharjah,
Ajman, Al Ain, Riyadh, Cairo, and Alexandria
Language: English
Easy Taxi, acquired and managed by Rocket Internet, is the
largest taxi-booking app in the world, connecting passengers
with an existing network of over 80,000 taxi drivers in more than
31 countries.The app’s intelligent bidding and GPS systems
prioritize taxi drivers nearest to your location and send you their
information, although booking a cab is not as seamless as you
would hope for in some cities. Easy Taxi also has special services
for B2B clients through Easy Taxi Pro and Easy Taxi
Corporate solutions.
Ogra Taxi
Headquarters: Egypt
Release date: December 2013
Compatible with: Android
Geographic reach: Cairo, soon in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
Language: English
Ogra Taxi, a taxi-ordering app, is Easy Taxi’s local competitor
in Egypt.Through the app, you can book a taxi, get information
about the driver and the car coming to pick you up, and track it
as it drives towards you. You are charged using premium SMS.
Some users complain that their orders either don’t get through
or take more time than expected, but this is understandable,
being a service that recently launched in one of the busiest, most
populated cities in the MENA region. It is currently working on
versions for iOS, Blackberry, and Windows
Clever Taxi
Headquarters: Romania
Release date: October 2012
Compatible with: iOS (6.0 and later), Android (2.3.2
Geographic reach: database of 20,000+ taxi companies
Language: English and Romania
It’s true that Clever Taxi is only functional in seven Eastern
European cities, but it is in this list because it has the most
comprehensive database of taxi companies from around 267
countries, covering most of the MENA region. It gives you the
names of the nearest cab, as well as cabs in other cities around
you, with their phone number. For people living in cities still
lacking a reliable transport app, Clever Taxi will surely
come in handy.
Dubai’s Road and Transport
Authority
Headquarters: United Arab Emirates
Release date: March 2011
Compatible with: iOS (6.0 and later), Android (2.3.2
Geographic reach: Dubai
Language: English
Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority has released its own smart
booking app for its yellow cabs in hopes to better manage its fleet
of 8,300 taxis. Besides booking a taxi, the app allows m-parking
service payment, calculates fares between metro destinations,
shows your NOL balance, and gives you access to marine
transportation services, such as water buses, water taxis and Ferry
Dubai. It also allows you to apply for car parking permissions.The
app, however, is not so swift when providing you with information
on the nearest metro or bus station.
Dubai Taxi
Headquarters: United Arab Emirates
Release date: January 2014
and later) and BlackBerry
Geographic reach: Dubai
Language: English
Dubai Taxi Corporation, part of RTA Dubai, has also recently
released an app to enable users to access its main services, such
as booking a taxi, calculating fares, tracking the car, and getting
updates about DTC’s latest news.The app also has a database of
major locations in the city.The app also addresses the needs of
people with auditory disabilities and provides various deaf signals
to facilitate their communicating with the driver. Being recently
launched, it still has some bugs to fix. n

BUSINESS
B
itcoin is a technology that has the potential to redesign
our global financial landscape from the ground-up,
to better serve an increasingly digital and globally
connected world. Here are only 3 ways in which Bitcoin’s
attributes can lead to major improvements.
1. Unlocking Billions: According to the World Bank,
there is more than $500 billion that circles the globe through
remittances (e.g., sending money back home to support your
family).The average cost of these payments on the sender is more
than 8%, and significantly higher in less developed countries–the
countries that need it the most.That’s $40 billion that’s spent
on fees to move the money around. And the Middle East is no
stranger to these flows of money.The MENA region accounts for
as much as 15% of that share.
A shift towards using Bitcoin for international money transfer
could potentially unlock billions of dollars for the people who
need it the most.This is achieved thanks to Bitcoin’s extremely
low cost of money transfer.
2. Banking the Unbanked: There are 2.5 billion people
around the world today that are either unbanked or under-
banked.That’s almost 50% of the planet’s adult population that
is left out by our current financial system, and forced to live in a
cash-based society.These individuals cannot benefit from all the
financial products that contribute to their prosperity, and in return
cannot contribute to growing their economy.
The Middle East, unfortunately, ranks among the lowest in
terms of financial inclusion (access to basic financial services).
The regional average barely stands at around 20% of the adult
population (with accounts at a formal financial institution).
Mobile penetration, in contrast, is quite high across the world
Bitcoin and
the Rise of
New Markets
A Look at a Few Revolutionary
Applications of Bitcoin in the
Middle East and the World

(90%) and especially so in the Middle East (110%; including
people with multiple mobile subscriptions).The inclusiveness
of the Bitcoin protocol has the potential to bring all of these
individuals, regardless of their financial situation, into the digital
economy!
Bitcoin is a global and open network, that only requires
access to a phone or an Internet connection.This means that, as
more mobile-based Bitcoin services are built and made available,
millions of unbanked individuals may soon have access to easy
and affordable financial services.
3. Getting Rid of the Ads: Bitcoin also introduces a new
category of payments that was previously impossible: micro-
payments; payments of less than 1 Dollar, Dinar, Dirham, Lira,
etc.. Because of the high transaction costs, these micro-payments
were only possible in cash (but still remained impractical). Bitcoin
makes this possible and even attractive, since the transaction cost
is negligible.This has the potential to reshape many industries
and even create new ones.
Let’s look at the world of online content monetization (e.g.,
articles, news, videos). It has been dominated by advertising.
Any time you access content on the Internet you are forced to
watch an ad placement (or pay a subscription fee). Imagine if,
instead, you could pay pennies for each nugget of information you
consumed, or even tip the person that has produced it. Bitcoin
allows you to pay cents or even less for each article, video, news
source, etc. and only when you want it.This is the pay-per-x
model (pay-per-article, pay-per-video, etc.).
But Still, We Have Work to Do
Bitcoin is still in its early stages of development.There is no doubt
that all of the above is great. But for it to become a reality soon,
we (Bitcoin entrepreneurs and advocates) still have work to do
before Bitcoin’s full potential is reached.
For example, there aren’t nearly enough products and services
built to make Bitcoin as useful as described above (e.g., remittance
product); it still isn’t easily accessible in most regions because of
limited infrastructure (e.g., local exchanges); it remains a complex
technology that needs UX (user experience) improvements before
it can reach mass adoption, etc.
However, none of these are insurmountable problems. And
many ambitious entrepreneurs are already working on these issues
in different corners of the world. I personally believe it’s a matter
of when–not if–all of this happens.
What’s Next for Bitcoin in the Middle East?
This is only a small selection of the innovative ways in which
Bitcoin can reshape industries. And for these reasons and many
more, the Middle East is gearing up to join the Bitcoin economy.
There have been many events popping up across the region.
The Beirut Bitcoin Meetup, Jordan Bitcoin Group, and Digital
Currencies Dubai (Bitcoin Dubai) are some of the groups in the
region that organize events and activities for anyone interested in
Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.n
David El Achkar is the
founder of Yellow, a Bitcoin
payments provider for
the Middle East. He also
spearheads many Bitcoin
advocacy efforts in the region,
organizing and speaking
at conferences, writing
educational resources, and
more.
Other Cryptocurrencies
Namecoin (NMC) – not just a currency, but also a domain
name. Users who purchase namecoin can purchase a “.bit” URL
that operates outside of ICANN
Litecoin (LTC) – considered the most valuable cyrptocurrency
next to bitcoin
Dogecoin (Doge) – started as a way to poke fun at the
cryptocurrency phenomenon, but quickly gained popularity in
cyber-communiteis like Reddit.Today, it has the most coins in
circulation (more than 28 billion)
Peercoin (PPC) – separates itself from other cryptocurrencies
by not having a limit on the amount of coins that can be
created, and maintains an annual inflation rate of 1%
Quark – launched in late 2013, it has the most intense security
measures

BUSINESS
Banks Go Digital
How Are Banks Gearing Up for an Economy Going Digital?
In banking, digital transformation
is not important; it is imperative.
Globally, traditional businesses are facing
disruption through the proliferation
of a digital society, and banking is no
different.”That’s according to David
Horton, CTO at Mashreq Bank.
Realizing the benefits of more
efficient online/mobile banking,
e-payment services and cashless
transactions; leading banks in the MENA
region are taking noticeable steps toward
a more digitized economy.
Several banks in the region
inaugurated smart branches in the last
few months. In Dubai, there is Mashreq
Go by Mashreq, a smart branch where
customers can open an account and issue
a checkbook and a debit card in less
than 30 minutes. It is part of the Smart
Banking Initiative implemented by
Mashreq “to give our customers the most
rewarding banking relationship. As such,
the most important aspect of our digital
transformation journey is delighting
the customer with an everyday bank
experience,” said Horton. And according
to him, “all aspects of smart banking, from
our state of the art digital branches, to our
mobile and online banking platforms, are
equally important.”
In Lebanon, Bank of Beirut opened
its first Smart Branch that recognizes
customers’ photos and signatures and
allows customers to open accounts, get
a debit card on the spot, pay university
tuition fees, and transfer funds 24/7.
Almost two years ago, Bank Audi
launched “Novo,” a smart kiosk for
personalized banking. Saudi Investment
Bank (SAIB) also introduced their new
ATMs with video tellers.
Most initiatives and efforts, however,
are directed at mobile banking. Several
banks launched new, more comprehensive
banking smartphone apps.The list
includes Standard Chartered UAE, with
its award winning “Breeze” app; Mashreq,

behind other parts of the world in time,
quality and infrastructure of services will
continue to affect businesses and local
economies significantly. n
most of the region.
One observation that holds true
almost all across the MENA is the dialed
down partnerships. Most services are
offered by one bank through a limited
number of partners, and mostly at a high
cost, making a service more of a neat
feature to have fun with than a way of
digitizing economies and changing the
way people do business.
For these services to make sense for
consumers, they must be more convenient
than traditional ways at a negligible extra
cost. Will these initiatives be enough to
drive users toward digital economy? They
probably are fine as door-openers, but
definitely far from sufficient.
Leaders in the industry seem to
agree on that point. “Mobile and online
banking in the MENA region is still
lagging behind the West, and has only
recently started to get more attention
from banks,” said David Horton. “There
are still many large banks in the region
that simply use responsive web design
to act as a mobile banking solution,
which, today, will not be acceptable to the
customer who expects native apps that
allow them to leverage their smartphone
functionality.”
“With some of the highest mobile
penetration numbers in the world, banks
in the region should look to step up and
lead the way with digital banking, not
simply follow what is already being done
in the west,” David added.
The world is shifting toward a
digital economy for a reason: it is
easier, faster, more versatile and more
profitable to do business online. Being
with the cleverly named “Snapp, for faster
and easier banking; and Fransabank.
EmiratesNBD dedicated their
“smartBUSINESS” iOS app to make it
easier for corporates and businesses to
make transactions.
And while Mashreq has already
partnered with MasterCard and launched
“noqodi,” an e-wallet for easier online
payments, the Central Bank of Jordan is
planning mobile wallets in an innovative
way that doesn’t require users to have
bank accounts or even smartphones;
feature cell phones will be enough.
Eliminating the need to hold a
credit card seems like the next trend in
digital economy, and some banks in the
region got to work on that. Credit Bank
in Lebanon has recently introduced the
“MasterCard Contactless Sticker,” which
can turn any personal item, namely mobile
phones, into a bank card. Mashreq did the
same with their “Tap n Go” stickers.
Bank Audi, on the other hand, set
out to address the “new challenges and
many external factors that are influencing
the banking environment, mainly the
changing demographics, consumer
tastes, and technology innovations such
as mobile operators and technology
services companies,” as Randa Bdeir,
Group Head of e-Payment Solutions and
Card Services at Bank Audi, explains.
That’s why they took it to a higher level
with their “Tap2Pay” service, which aims
at “creating a more compelling consumer
experience which matches the market’s
new trends and answers consumers’ every
need,” according to Bdeir.The service also
made Lebanon among the first countries
in the region to introduce NFC based
cashless payments to “turn smartphones
into credit cards.”The success rate of this
service is still to be known.
Questions to be raised
Those are but some of the initiatives
created in the region. Other new relevant
services are out there, and, doubtlessly,
more will surface soon.The initiatives
vary in importance, potential and quality;
however, the level of innovation is
questionable. Smart branches and NFC
payments have been around for some time
now in the world and mobile apps for
banks should be a given, especially with
the high smartphone penetration rates in
Randa Bdeir, Group Head of
e-Payment Solutions and Card
Services at Bank Audi
David Horton, CTO at Mashreq
Bank.

17% of mobile app users downloading
this particular type—that’s a third of
the number downloading mobile games.
The number has dropped from 20% last
year.The decline however is in line with
a general decline in app consumption
which has been attributed to a ‘choosier’
smartphone consumer and the rise of
‘hero’ apps with a longer active life.
Users of mobile apps show the
greatest enthusiasm for educational apps.
The five countries that exceed the average
rate of downloads in this sector are India,
South Africa, US, Kenya and Nigeria.
This is attributed to the mobile-first
nature of these regions where access to
online resources is scarce (the US is an
exception, explained below). UAE and
MEF is the global community for
mobile content and commerce.
Among its publications is the Global
Consumer Insight Series, which collects
data from 13 sample markets, including
Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, and
generates worldwide insights on attitudes,
behaviours and trends in mobile content
and commerce.Their third report, released
in April 2014, investigates the impact
of mobile content and commerce on the
global education market.The study looks
at how users of educational apps behave
as compared to users of all apps.
Rimma Perelmuter, CEO at MEF
said: “Mobile-first markets are clearly
driving the uptake of educational apps.
This nascent sector has been quick
to adopt engagement and business
models from other types of app with
entertainment and gamification key
motivators for consumer uptake”.
“A common theme across our Insight
Series with reports on Mobile Money and
Second Screening is the fact that early
adopters are driving mobile commerce
across the board.This theme continues,
with educational app users who are more
likely than the average mobile media user
to purchase via their mobile.” Here are the
key takeaways from the report:
Popularity among
Mobile App Users
Educational apps rank 9th among all app
categories in terms of downloads, with
Education Goes Digital
The Impact of Mobile Content & Commerce
on the Education Market
BUSINESS

Qatar show download rates very close to
the average of 17%. KSA falls below it.
Motivation for Purchase
When asked about “motivations for
purchase,” the reply “I had to for my
school/college/university” mostly came
from users in Nigeria, India, Kenya,
and South Africa, and came least from
users in UK, US, and China. A similar
observation was made when studying
the source of app downloads.The graph
results showing who bought apps from
an educational authority website and
who had to use these same products
as part of their education were almost
identical. One possible explanation to
this observation is that wide access to
education reduces demand for educational
apps, and vice versa. In other words, users
are less likely to download products to
help them with basic learning when they
can tackle this at school.
The curious case of
the United States
Among the five countries with the
highest download rates of educational
apps, only the US is considered as a
mature market. Mobile app users in the
US download around twice as many
educational apps as their developed
market counterparts. One possible
explanation could be related to the
iPhone’s much higher share of the local
smartphone market compared to other
geographies.The iPhone’s manufacturer,
Apple, is known to push for education
hard in an effort to disrupt the publisher
stranglehold on educational books.
Mobile Purchases among
Educational App Users
The research reflects that 65% of the
total group studied makes some form
of purchases from their phones. Among
educational app users, this number
increases to 72%, and up to 84% for those
who have purchased from an
education site.
Educational app users also tend to
use a wider variety of purchase channels
than the broader group.They are far more
likely to buy from social media pages,
operator stores and retailer web sites,
for example.This could be because so
many educational app users are located in
30%
20%
10%
0%
India South
Africa
USA Kenya Nigeria UAE Qatar UK Indonesia China Mexico Saudi
Arabia
BrazilTotal
Sample
India
South
Africa
USA
Kenya
N
igeria
UAE
Qatar
UK
Indonesia
China
M
exico
SaudiArabia
Brazil
Purchase
from
education
site
Use
education
app
TotalSam
ple
2013
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
65%
25%
42%
20%
17%
9%
84%
48%
56%
38%
34%
26%
72%
35%
51%
31%
25%
13%
Any purchase net Physical or Perishable Digital products
(e.g. ringtone, app,
games, music)
Physical Goods (e.g.
books, CDs, clothing etc.)
Virtual Goods (e.g. in
application currency,
goods, prizes etc.)
Perishable goods (e.g.
food and drink)
Total Sample 2013 Purchase from education site Use education app
7% 7% 6% 6%
29%
22% 23%
18% 19%
22%
14% 12% 10% 11%
Using an online payment
service e.g. PayPal
Coupons, vouchers
or offer code
Mobile wallet payment Virtual currency
13%
23%
39%
34%
Any card payment Any mobile payment
35%
13%
19%
A retailer's payment
service e.g. Amazon-1
Click
Purchase from education site Use education appTotal Sample 2013
17 per cent of global mobile app users have
downloaded education apps
Educational App Usage By Market
Motivations for purchase: I had to for my school/college/university
How have you purchased items on your mobile phone in the past six months?
In the past 6 months, which types of items have
you purchased on your mobile phone?

BUSINESS
developing markets where the app store
has less of a stranglehold
on app purchases
The Role of Edutainment,
Brands, and Advertising
Many users don’t perceive educational
apps solely as an academic product. In
fact, when asked what motivated them to
buy an education app from an educational
site, the top answer was ‘entertainment’.
47% of education app users chose this
factor compared to 35% of consumers
buying any app from anywhere.This
reflects blurry line between play
and learning.
The importance of brands cannot
be underestimated as an influencer of
purchase across all types of apps. 11% of
mobile app users said they downloaded
apps because “it was from a brand I know
and trust.”When it comes to educational
app users, 29% say they bought the apps
from an educational site, highlighting the
significant influence of brands—in this
case, educational sites—on purchase.
Interestingly, advertising is also a
powerful motivator. Among all users of
mobile apps, 8% said they bought an app
because “advertising prompted me”.That
figure increases three folds (24%) among
educational app users who bought from
an educational site and where prompted
by advertising.
Whatever the motivation for
downloading and purchasing, educational
app users are generally more engaged with
the business of mobile than most. n
31%
26% 25%
15% 15%
9% 8% 7% 6%
43%
40%
43%
40%
36%
26%
24%
21% 22%
45%
36% 37%
27%
24%
17% 15%
13% 12%
An app store In App/game
purchase
On the mobile web Social media page Your mobile
operator's site
A retailers mobile
website
Retailer mobile
storefront
(app or web)
An auction site A retailer's
payment service
Total Sample 2013 Purchase from education site Use education app
Motivation (total sample) %
For entertainment 35%
It was convenient 21%
To get something immediately/didn't
want to wait
15%
Boredom/filling time 14%
It was from a brand I know and trust 11%
It’s the only way for me to purchase
items online
9%
I have never bought anything on my
mobile phone before and wanted to try
it out
9%
Advertising prompted me 8%
Couldn't find it in store 8%
Don’t have a debit card 6%
Motivation (purchased
from educational site)
%
For entertainment 47%
It was convenient 35%
To get something
immediately/didn't want
to wait
35%
It was from a brand I
know and trust
29%
Advertising prompted
me
24%
Boredom/filling time 23%
It’s the only way for me
to purchase items online
22%
Couldn't find it in store 21%
My mobile phone before
and wanted to try
it out
14%
Don’t have a debit card 13%
Gamification of
apps is driving
educational market
growth, with
entertainment as
a key motivational
triggerer.
In the last 6 months, from where have you bought or
downloaded something on your mobile phone?

BUSINESS

While online supermarkets are still emerging in the MENA
region, they have been around in developed markets for
more than a decade.The idea started with mostly online-only
stores that sell groceries in certain places.The failures that took
place with several online grocers, such as Webvan, interrupted the
growth and improvement of the service. Only innovative sellers
with a solid business model and a limited area of service, such
as FreshDirect, survived and grew.Today, bigger names, in both
conventional and internet shopping, are more and more interested
in the concept.Tesco, Walmart, and Amazon, among many
others, have joined FreshDirect to sell groceries online in
selected areas.
The concept is regaining interest for good reasons. Other
than known benefits of buying off the internet, online grocery
shopping can be very convenient for customers who don’t have
the time to browse aisles. It can also be a great way for shoppers
to avoid impulse purchases, lowering the overall shopping cost
despite the extra money paid for delivery. For people who live
in New York, for example, there is no easier way to get the exact
needed amount of groceries than to log on to FreshDirect; it
allows customers to choose the recipe they want and deliver the
ingredients of that recepie to their address—in the
right quantities.
Selling online could be good for businesses, too. Although
processing an online order adds costs that don’t exist when
selling conventionally, there is substantial money saved on
stocking shelves, cashiers, carts, etc. More importantly, selling
online facilitates gathering and analyzing information about
buyers and their interests, leading to a deeper understanding of
the market.
Today, the most popular online supermarkets cover a limited
geographic area, usually urban cities. For example, FreshDirect
operates only in New York; Amazon Fresh operates in Southern
California, San Francisco Area, and Seattle Area; Tesco operates
mainly in London; and the list goes on.
e-Supermarkets in the Region
Baby-steps are being taken by supermarkets in MENA to shift
online. Spinneys, the renowned supermarket chain, started an
online shopping and delivery service in Larger Beirut area in
Lebanon, with a plan to cover more areas. Strangely, the Spinneys
smartphone app does not include this feature. Carrefour, the
international supermarket chain, launched a similar service in
Dubai. Geant also launched the first hypermarket store online in
the Emirates.
There are several online-only supermarkets in the region.
Among many we name Sallaty.jo in Amman; Biqala.com in
Cairo; and trolley.ae, Supermart.ae, and many others in Dubai.
But even though more and more e-supermarkets are emerging
in the region, only a very small number of the big brick-and-
mortar supermarkets are shifting online, although with their
already established customer base and expertise in inventory and
logistics, they have a higher chance of success than nascent online
stores. Success stories in the West, namely in the US and UK,
had shown that unless there was a high level of innovation in an
online service, customers would prefer to stick to conventional
supermarkets that are more familiar and credible.
Factors for Successful
e-Supermarket Business Models
Regional supermarkets have to consider several factors before
integrating online shopping services. One is choosing the right
coverage area, which is directly correlated with their ability to
deliver groceries fast enough to maintain their freshness. That’s
why Amazon, while delivering every other commodity across
the world, provides online grocery shopping in 3 areas only, and
Freshdirect.com, although has been in the market for over a
decade, still operates in one city: New York.
The cities that benefit from successful online supermarkets
(New York, Seattle, London, etc.) have a high population and
great infrastructure. Reflecting that on MENA, a successful
online supermarket must operate in cities with a dense population
to ensure a sustainable customer-base, a reliable transportation
system for timely deliveries of fresh products, robust and fast
Internet connections, and high penetration levels of credit/debit
cards—although the latter is not as crucial as the other factors as
COD can still be a viable payment option. Also, the lifestyle of
the population should be considered. A society with dual working
parents, for instance, would see a great need
for online supermarkets.
Taking these factors into consideration, we can safely claim
that GCC cities possess the needed criteria for the successful
implementation of online supermarket models; and we are most
likely to see more brick-and-mortar supermarkets shift online in
these cities. Dubai, which is now turning into a smart city, might
be the one to take the lead.n

BUSINESS
Emerging
Alternative
Payment Methods
T-Pay Offers a Solution to Online
Payment Issues in the Region

Payment issues are a major obstacle for
the growth of the e-commerce sector
in the Arab region. With a lack of trust
in online transactions, consumers revert
to cash on delivery as a safer option.
For merchants, this translates into high
rates of return and reduced profitability.
But hope is not lost for alleviating the
issues of online payments. More startups,
such as T-PayTM
, are stepping up with
alternative payment solutions.
“In a region where credit card
penetration is low, mobile penetration is
high, and the conversion rate for buying
online digital goods through a credit
card is low, we saw a gap in the market.
Current online payment methods are not
able to fulfill the demand for e-commerce
and digital goods and services,” says Sahar
Salama, General Manager at T-PayTM
.
What is the value that T-PayTM
brings
to users?
T-PayTM
helps businesses offering digital
goods and services overcome the setbacks
in their growth, mostly due to issues of
payment methods or the lack of them.
With T-PayTM
, consumers will only
have to enter their mobile number to
purchase digital goods or services, and the
transaction will be added to their monthly
mobile telephone bill by their mobile
carrier, if they have a post-paid number,
or will be deducted from their existing
account for those who have a
pre-paid number.
T-PayTM
also allows merchants
seeking to reach higher online payment
conversion rates to reach all mobile
users. With the ability offered for users
to pay for their digital purchases from
any desktop or mobile device through a
single, click-to-buy action, using a Direct
Carrier Billing system represents the
ultimate convenience at zero cost.
What are the challenges that are slowing
down the mass adoption of alternative
online payments in the region?
There are three main challenges: The
first one is the limited reach that
e-commerce and digital vendors have on
the unbanked, and this can be overcome
through the telecommunications
operators (telcos) who have a wide reach
in their markets.
This brings us to the second
challenge, which is represented by the
high cost structures of billing at telcos,
due to inefficiencies in operation costs
and tax structure. When online payment
margins are low, the high cost of billing
through a telco becomes a barrier to
e-commerce and digital merchants.
The challenge is to find models in
mobile payments that are cost effective,
with a larger reach, offering efficiency
in operations and competitiveness in
commission charged.
The last change is to educate
consumers and offer them incentives to
use mobile payments through telcos.
What are they key factors to achieve
critical mass adoption?
The convergence of services and
partnerships is a critical factor. Building
mutually beneficial relationships with
all the parties involved to find the best
solutions that offer value to all the players
of the value chain is the way forward in
the future.
The second key factor is offering
added value for the various partners, from
establishing relationships with customers,
increasing user loyalty, enhancing brand
value and expanding the reach.
The third key factor is creating a real
ecosystem where all players work together
to offer the best quality of services that
will help achieve mass adoption of new
and efficient payment methods.
How do you see online payments in the
region growing this year?
With the total value of mobile payments
set to reach US$670 billion worldwide
by 2015, the Arab region has a huge un-
addressable market, primarily dominated
by a young, unbanked population that has
no means to conduct online payments.
Currently only 22% of internet users in
the Arab world use credit cards, which
have a penetration rate from as low as
1.5% to 8% in most of the countries
in the region.
The worldwide mobile payment
transaction value has surpassed US$235
billion in 2013.The Middle East’s share
of this market is minimal but is expected
to grow at a compounded annual growth
rate of 80 per cent until 2017, when it will
be worth US$27.6 billion.
This growth will change with
the creation of an ecosystem, value
propositions from all fragmented players
and optimized commission charges
that are competitive in the market. I see
that the only payment method that will
grow in the region this year is the Direct
Mobile Billing method.
What is the biggest opportunity in
online payments this year?
The answer in my opinion is direct billing.
It is expected to offer a US$13 billion
revenue opportunity by 2017. It will
unlock the potential of online transactions
by unleashing the power of
mobile monetization. n
Sahar Salama, General Manager
at T-PayTM

DIGITAL MEDIA
Five years ago, it was easy to
differentiate the high-quality work
of creative agencies in comparison to
the mediocre work that used to be done
in-house by some brands.Today, more
and more work is being completed by the
clients that the agencies are sometimes
unaware of.The days when agencies were
the strategize-all, do-all are over.The
functions of these agencies are slowly
being replaced by smaller and more
specialized agencies which the world has
agreed to call third-party. And today’s
brands are rushing at them because they
are cheaper, more specialized and much
more flexible.
These third-parties have always been
around to fill in gaps when agencies
needed help. Before the digital age,
third-party video production houses were
(and still are) what agencies relied on for
TVCs and content production. In the
1990s,Third-parties managed on-the-
ground shopper marketing and retail.
In the 2000s, the digital boom sparked
the creation of third-parties that offered
CRM platforms, hosting, and advanced
web development that the agency could
not develop in-house.Today, there’s
practically a third-party agency for
everything from mobile app development
to community management.
Third party agencies have always been
structured to produce what the agency
cannot. An average agency that produces
a TVC every month cannot afford to
have production staff and equipment
in-house, just like they cannot conjure
two community managers for a 2-week
competition.Third-parties also have the
flexibility to change a lot faster than
agencies.They’ve expanded their strategic
arms and have started servicing brands
in ways that the Agency cannot afford
to scale without being frowned upon by
some CFO somewhere.Third-parties
have turned their production houses into
online content hubs, their community
management teams into full-fledged
social media marketing houses.
Media Agencies claim to be the
one-stop-shop for integrated media
planning, buying and monitoring; yet you
cannot expect your average media agency
to propose advertising on platforms that
they are not familiar with or to manage
a product placement or branded content
The Future of
the Agencies
Fawzi Rahal Reflects on the Future
of Creative and Media Agencies
with the Advent of Online Ads

campaign on YouTube. Creative agencies
also claim to handle 360º integrated
marketing, which sadly sometimes
translates to a press ad turned into an
EDM and a Facebook post.
What has really changed is the
definition of integrated.There was a time
when a campaign was integrated if it
was present across the five main above-
the-line (ATL) channels: TV, radio,
print, cinema and outdoor. Online ads
slowly crept into ATL and eventually
broke the line altogether. For example,
social media requires agencies to produce
quantities of artwork that cannot be
charged at the standard agency artwork
rate, and less-costly most usually just
means outsourced.
The Media Agencies haven’t changed
much either. While most Agencies
today have basic product placement
and mobile media expertise, they are
also unspecialized and are slowly being
removed as the middle-men in the
planning/buying/booking equation with
brands either relying on digital media
buying houses or hiring media specialists
in-house. With most platforms allowing
brands to book and manage ads, the
media agencies are finding themselves
in need of a broader scope, or otherwise
suffer as a consequence of stagnation.
In today’s terms, an integrated
campaign cannot ignore social media,
mobile, and even branded content. While
agencies used to outsource this kind of
production and media buying in the past,
they are today realizing that this is not a
sustainable business model and that such
expertise must be brought in-house.
The solution? Acquisition. It is far
easier for a multinational agency to
acquire an app-development agency,
for example, than justify the hiring and
training of staff that can potentially build
apps in the future. Some creative agencies
are already going in this direction, but
it is more the media agencies that are
shopping around, probably given how dire
their situation is.
The status quo of the average agency
is not sustainable. Investing in existing
third-parties and startups is not an option
anymore. It’s is the only viable choice to
grow and sustain the integration. n
Fawzi Rahal is the Founder
of Gamutt, a strategic digital
consultancy, focusing on setting
world-class web, social, mobile and
content strategies for brands in
the Middle East. Previously, Fawzi
headed Digital at Grey MENA.

32 The Quartely June 201432 The Quartely March 2014
DIGITAL MEDIA
Ad Exchange is a technology platform
for publishers and ad networks to provide
aggregated inventory to advertisers.The
platform facilitates automated auction
based pricing and buying in real-time. Ad
exchanges’ business models and practices
may include features that are similar to
those offered by ad networks. Some of
the major ad exchange platforms in the
world include Right Media, which was
purchased by Yahoo! in 2007 for around
$680 million; and DoubleClick, a Google
subsidiary purchased in May 2007
for $3.1 billion.
Real-Time Bidding (RTB) is the
dynamic process of buying and selling
impressions in real-time, in which the
highest bidder “wins” the right to place
a display ad. An ad buyer, through the
platform of their choice, can differentially
value each individual opportunity to buy
an ad impression in real time. RTB helps
advertisers and other buyers optimize
campaigns by testing simultaneous ad-
vertising strategies, increase effectiveness
of ads by changing them quickly, and
increase ROI by identifying
fraudulent inventory.
Retargeting is an online marketing
tool that ecommerce marketers use to
“re-attract” users who previously visited
their website but did not complete a
purchase. It works by keeping track of
people who visit the website and displays
the retargeted ads to them as they visit
other sites online.Technically all that is
necessary is to place a pixel tag or other
code in the website to enable a third-par-
ty to recognize particular users outside of
the domain from which the activity
was tracked.
Private Exchange is a virtual mar-
ketplace operated by sellers to represent
their high value/premium inventory,
providing programmatic access to select
buyers (via a demand side platform) who
agree to transact based on pre-negotiated
terms. Private exchanges offer access to
inventory that is not otherwise available
within the open market.
Agency Trading Desk is a central-
ized organization within an agency that
manages programmatic, bid-based digital
media and audience buying, and works as
the agency’s internal “center of excel-
lence,” supporting agency teams wishing
to tap into this new buying model on
behalf of clients.
Closing the Loop is when the sales
teams report to marketing about what
happened to the leads that they received,
which helps marketing understand their
best and worst lead sources and focus on
the ones with the best conversion rate to
customer. It is “closing the loop” between
the sales and marketing team.Typically,
this involves connecting marketing ana-
lytics software with the customer relation-
ship management (CRM) software.
GeoFencing means setting up a virtual
perimeter—the “fence” around a loca-
tion, such as a restaurant. When people
carrying cell phones cross that perimeter,
the system becomes aware that they are
physically nearby and can push informa-
tion to the phones.
Conquesting in advertising is a means
to deploy an advertisement for one’s
products or services adjacent to editorial
content relating to the competitor or the
competitors’ products. It’s a way to “rain
on the other guy’s parade.”The aim is to
convert consumers from one brand
to another.
Dynamic creative is a customized
version of a display ad that is automatical-
ly served based on targeting criteria.This
can be as simple as versions by gender and
geography, or as complex as including a
name in the ad. n
Helping You Make Sense of Online
Advertising Jargon
Ad Tech Terms Decoded
Advertising.com
4%
Quantcast
4%
Yahoo!
Advertising
Solutions
4%
Google
Display
Network
13%
Other
75%
Advertising.com
6%
Quantcast
9%
MediaMind
6%
Taboola
12%
Other
67%
Top Technologies in Ad Network, Ad
Exchange, and Media Distributio
1. Google Display Network
2. Yahoo! Advertising Solutions
3. Quantcast
4. Advertising.com
5. Rubicon
6. Facebook Exchange (FBX)
7. Casale Media
8. TubeMogul
9. MediaMind
10. Taboola
Marketshare
Fortune 500 share
Ad Network/
Exchange and Media
Distribution
Source: leadledger.com

DIGITAL MEDIA
Let’s Talk
Fonts
Key Things to
Consider When
Designing an Arabic
Font and Typeface
“Bad experiences are the key to finding solutions.”With this
statement, Huda Abi Fares, Founder at Khtt Foundation,
began her workshop on Arabic typography for mobile apps,
alongside Fawzi Rahal—one of her former students—during
ArabNet Beirut 2014 Design+Code day. The workshop
highlighted key principles every designer should take into
consideration when designing an Arabic typeface.
1. Legibility: The first thing to think about when designing
a typeface is its legibility, especially when designing for the
smaller screens of mobile devices.To achieve that, there are a
few things to keep in mind, starting with the fact that people
read best what they’re used to reading. Using an ultra-modern
typeface that doesn’t resemble anything people are used to read
could alienate users and make it more difficult for them to read
text.That, however, depends on your target audience.The right
typeface differs between an app directed at newspapers readers
and another aimed at TV watchers.
Secondly, a balanced degree of thickness is needed for a
good font. A very thick font could confuse readers by losing
distinctions between letters, while an extremely thin or light font
could be illegible.
A good font is void of unnecessary details. Fonts that are too
calligraphic, with too many details, might look good on paper
or on a poster, but not on screen. Reading off screens should be
spontaneous and easily done; simple looking letters are ideal as
they are easy and fast to read.
Fonts should also be compact horizontally and vertically.
When designing for smaller screens, you have a limited visual
space, and comfortable reading means less scrolling; therefore,
letters should be as compact, vertically and horizontally, as
possible without losing distinctions.
Though screen fonts should contain as little detail as possible,
some detail, such as dots and vocalizations, are mandatory.
Modulating stroke thickness could be very useful to preserve
these details.
Remember to keep counters definable and evenly spaced.
In typography, a counter (or aperture) is the area of the typeface
anatomy that is entirely or partially enclosed by the form of
the letter. Small or tight counters may deform letters and make
DIGITAL MEDIA
Arabic fonts from the mobile app Anghami.

2. Using Color as a Tool: Color can be a powerful
tool when designing a fonts, especially in Arabic. Arabic web
fonts do not have proper italics. The Arabic language does not
contain options like separate letters, capital letters, small capital
letters, etc. Aside from the obvious use of color as a legibility
tool, you can use it for better information architecture. Applying
different colors for different information is a good way of clearing
your information hierarchy.That, of course, depends on the
subject, nature and targeted audience of your design. Sometimes,
information hierarchy is better illustrated using sizes, weights or
even typefaces to separate headings from body text, or comments
from quotes, etc. In many cases, however, using a different color
for a heading, or for an important quote, can be a more powerful
way of sorting the information your design is about.
The aesthetic value of colors, with the right harmony and the
right contrast, cannot be neglected, or even understated.To keep
your aesthetics attractive, don’t go overboard with using colors.
Too much colors tend to be distracting, especially in text. Usually,
two carefully picked colors would be enough if used well.
3. Adding Your Personal Touch: Every design
project has specifics. A good designer understands what his/
her project is about and finds the most beautiful way to convey
information clearly.The human factor cannot be understated
when designing typeface, or anything else for that matter.
Always build your work on what you’re designing and who you’re
designing it for.
Huda’s final advice was to remember that “as a general rule,
less is definitely more!” n
reading a difficult experience.
It’s always a good idea to design for the worst-case scenario.
If you’re a designer, you probably have a good screen to test your
work on. Users, on the other hand, may not. Keep that in mind
and design fonts that would be legible on low-res or
poorly-lit screens.
Contrast is one of the most important factors in legibility.
Use different colors for the background and the typeface.
However, when using white typeface over dark backgrounds,
such as black, text tends to glow; lighter typeface could reduce
the glowing.
Arabic fonts from the mobile app Arabic Alphabet (left) and Charbaka (right).

DIGITAL MEDIA
1. The Grandparents Frame
by JOHNSON’S® Baby
As the number of Arab immigrants grows
to 16 million, many lose touch with their
elderly parents who often feel left behind
on special family occasions. In light of
this, Johnson & Johnson produced the
Grandparents Frame, a family-oriented
app that enables parents to instantly
send pictures of special moments to
the grandparents’ home. Johnson &
Johnson decided to market the app and
its corresponding digital frame through
a heart-felt ad that went viral across the
region with over 2 million views since it
was released on March 2014. Produced in
Dubai by Impact BBDO, the commercial
was based on real-life testimonials of
grandparents who opened up in front
of the camera. “We raise them to be
independent and start their own family,”
says a grandmother in the ad. “But it’s
hard to let them go.”
2. Mobilizing the 12th Man
For security reasons, the Tunisian
Government decided that no fans were
allowed to go to Tunisian stadiums
anymore. With average results throughout
the season and with the most important
game approaching, Historical Football
team C.S Hammam-Lif needed the
support of their fans.The team got
together with Memac Ogilvy Label and
developed an app that connects every fan
to 40 giant speakers inside the stadium.
A simple tap on sound icons in the app
is instantly relayed as cheering, clapping,
or drumming sounds in the stadium.
It’s Viral Recent Digital
Ad Campaigns
that Went Viral
in the MENA

and muscular on-road dynamics by
crossing, for the first time, the world’s
largest desert—Rub’ al Khali—in 24
hours.The company employed an
accomplished Dakar-Rally racing
champion to take on the challenge. “I’ve
raced the Dakar Rally 10 times before,”
says the player in what appeared to be an
ominous VO tone. “I’ve had some very
serious accidents. I also know people
who died during the race, but this is
completely different.The empty quarter
is completely unknown.” After racing
through miles of scorching sand dust
and rocky formation, the 650,000 square
kilometers were crossed in a just less
than 11 hours.The video went viral on
YouTube, with over 350,000 views.
7. Buzz - Khali el Jaw
Wel3an Series
The fact that Lebanese people like to
party is no secret, and one party ad
campaign series that went exceptionally
viral between the Lebanese youth, with
14 ads to its record so far, is the Buzz
campaign with its “Khali el Jaw Welan”
slogan (Keep the good times rolling).
The series gained popularity with now-
famous leading man Fouad Yammine,
but the lead actor does not appear in
the latest series, which was critically
acclaimed for the bold way it relayed its
main message: “It doesn’t matter how you
party; keep the good times rolling with
Buzz.”The most viewed episode in the
latest series, called “Toufic Mistajneb”
has so far 21,600 views, followed by the
episode “Habib Bye7keh w Byef3al” with
10,145 views. n
Battal Al Rowagan (Cool Hero). From
car pranks to Christmas carols and pizza
jokes, the nominees were tested on how
much they maintained their coolness
no matter how irritating and annoying
Bader Saleh could be. Videos were posted
each week on the campaign website and
voting was highly encouraged through
YouTube, Facebook, and other social
media platforms. Each video prank
received more than 100,000 views.
“We have launched this new campaign
to spread laughter and fun among the
public,” said Talal El-Khalil, MEA SVP,
GM, GCC Beverages BU. “We encourage
the participants to stay cool and refresh
themselves with 7UP.”
5. Sprite Zero Refresher
Summer is well on its way and one
brand that decided to promote beach
re-freshness using integrated marketing
was Sprite Zero. Ogilvy & Mather
introduced Sprite Refresher on the
beaches of Turkey to help beach-
goers overcome the heat.The brand
first developed an app that used GPS
technology and promoted it via a poster
on the beach. Once people started
downloading the app, the mini Sprite
airplane flew across the beach and
sprayed “freshness” on them. “Spring
and summer in Turkey can be very
unbearable,” the ad said. “This is the
perfect way to show how refreshing
Sprite Zero is. But in a way that no one
expects.” The campaign announced that
it will probably be expanding to other
countries in the region. Upon launch
in May 2014, the ad has recorded over
37,000 views in less than a week.
6. Land Rover MENA – The
Rub’ al Khali Challenge
New Range Rover, the sixth product
of giant luxury vehicle manufacturer
Land Rover, wanted to prove to its Arab
audience its powerful engine capacities
The more fans press on the icons, the
louder the sound in the stadium.The
app reconnected 93,100 fans to their
team, helping C.S. Hammam-Lif win
the game and secure its position in
the First League. “Fans are 50% of
our motivation,” says one of the team
members in the video ad.
3. London Calling Series
by Mark and Spencer
Last autumn, Marks & Spencer launched
a new fashion campaign translated
into a two-season social web series that
tackles the day to day issues of two young
girls in the MENA region.The script
is humorous, light, and personal, which
explains the 800,000+ views that it has
garnered in total to this day. Produced by
Lebanon-based Olive Tree productions,
the web series revolves around Hala,
who, “Dreaming of independence and
an alternative life, packs her dreams and
heads off to London,” and Shireen, a
new mom who tries to get over her baby
blues and cope with her new lifestyle
with advice from Hala. In each episode,
we see how M&S plays a part in the two
girls’ daily life.The series casts a number
of actors from the region, including
Lebanese actress Remonde Azar.
4. 7UP series cool hero
7UP Arabia has been working secretly
with its newly found comedian star Bader
Saleh for filming several undercover
pranks on the public to see how they
would react. Saudi guys who maintained
their cool were nominated for the title

Magazine ArabNet Quarterly Issue 2

Magazine ArabNet Quarterly Issue 2

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