Every minute, more than 100 hours of video are uploaded onto Youtube, more than four days’ worth of content uploaded every minute of every day. The site attracts a billion people a day, eager to watch music videos, learn how to fold T-shirts or find something to smile about.

And the most popular comedy video of the past eight years? Charlie Bit My Finger. The short clip of two young brothers has captured the hearts of more than half a billion people around the world. Judson Laipply’s Evolution of Dance came in second followed by the sneezing panda baby.

Babies, dance and animals, the perfect combination for a Youtube video. Oh and Gangnam Style, which has managed to get more than 1.6 billion views to date, and leads all categories.

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In a bid to maintain its relevance in the smartphone market, BlackBerry incorporated voice and video chat capabilities onto BBM with its latest operating system the BB10 (still not available in the UAE), but the company has still been struggling to regain its leading share of the market.

The news came with the launch of the Q5, a cheaper phone aimed at emerging markets.

“It’s time to bring BBM to a greater audience,” said Thorsten Heins, chief executive of BlackBerry. “I cannot wait for the day when all of our BlackBerry fans can send BBM invites to all their friends on other platforms. They have asked us for this for years.”

It remains unclear how this will affect BlackBerry-specific data packages offered by telecoms operators.

“BlackBerry finally realised that BBM wasn’t the killer app that it used to be 18 months ago so instead of restricting themselves, moving the app across platforms at least ensures BlackBerry as a company and a brand stays relevant in the mind of consumers,” says Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer at Jacky’s Electronics. “By increasing the base of BBM customers…BlackBerry ensures they can focus on one of their inherent strengths, which has been their software and services business.”

There are currently 60 million BBM users worldwide.

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Any user with a YouTube account is now eligible to get a slice of the ad revenues from the videos that they upload, but only for original content.

“YouTube has seen dramatic increases in Egypt,” said Haisam Yehia, strategic partners development manager of Middle East and North Africa (Mena) at Google. “Opening up the YouTube Partner Programme in Egypt is a great step to help content creators develop their skills and provide original local content. Content that can be appreciated locally and across the globe.”

Revenues are generated from the number of views of a video and users can get a small percentage of that. The higher the number of views, the more the money. Psy, the Korean pop sensation is believed to have made more than $8m from his Gangnam Style video which has clocked up more than 1.4 billion views to date.

Video streaming is the most popular mobile activity in the region. Every minute, one hour of YouTube video content is uploaded across Mena. Between 2010 and 2011, video uploads in Tunisia jumped by 420 per cent as the country found itself in the middle of a revolution. Uploads from Saudi Arabia increased 260 per cent while Egypt saw a 150 per cent rise.

Currently about 167 million videos are viewed every day on YouTube across the region. Saudis watch the most with 90 million video views every day, the highest number of views in the world per internet user, followed by Egypt, Morocco and the UAE.

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The free app is now available in 40 countries and 29 languages on the iTunes store, according to Google, and includes turn-by-turn navigation and public transit directions.

Google Maps were previously built into the Apple iOS software, but was removed in September by the maker of the iPhone and replaced with its own home-grown attempt based on maps provided by Dutch navigation company TomTom.

Some users complained that the replacement map lacks sufficient data for the Middle East region, rendering it less useful than Google’s offering.

The move was considered a snub at Google and an attempt by Apple to distance itself from the search engine giant, which makes the rival Android OS.

But the number of complaints from users across the world forced Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook to issue an apology in an open letter on the website.

“We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better,” he wrote.

According to IDC figures, Android phones lead the smartphone market worldwide ahead of Apple’s iPhone.

Google has been developing its maps since 2005.

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“Ben Ammar’s Italian company Prima TV will acquire Naguib Sawiris’ interests in ONTV,” Mr Ben Ammar said in a statement

The statement added that Mr Ben Ammar’s ambition was to “create the Arab world’s leading private, independent entertainment and current affairs network dedicated to freedom of expression, speech and liberty.”

Mr Sawiris confirmed the deal when contacted by The National. Neither party disclosed the value of the acquisition.

Mr Ben Ammar already owns the North African network Nessma TV, alongside partners Mediaset and the Karoui Brothers, but this is the first time he has invested directly in the Egyptian market.

“ONTV will continue to be run out of its Cairo head office as an independent news channel with no affiliation to any political party and with its management exercising complete editorial independence,” the statement said.

“ONTV will benefit from the new non-Egyptian ownership that has no connection or ties to any political group in Egypt and is committed entirely to ensuring impartiality and respecting the diversity of views in the country,” it added.

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The microblogging site has appointed Connect Ads – a subsidiary of Egypt’s OTVentures, which is an affiliate of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology – to manage sales in Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The company will also provide education and training programmes for agencies and large advertisers in the region to learn how best to use Twitter in their campaigns.

“Mena is one of Twitter’s fastest-growing regions and we are seeing significant interest from marketers there who want to use our Promoted Products to build their businesses and connect with consumers,” said Shailesh Rao, Twitter’s vice president of international revenue.

“This is the next step in expanding Twitter’s international presence, building on top of our recent launch in Latin America earlier this year.”

Twitter’s appointment a regional sales representative follows moves by Facebook and LinkedIn to open offices in Dubai Internet City.

The growth of social media across Mena is one of the highest in the world, paving the way for growth in digital advertising.

According to research firm Emarketer, spending on digital advertising in the Middle East accounts for about 3.5 per cent of total advertising spend, but growth of about 48 per cent is expected.

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The Chinese technology firm Huawei has held talks with Etisalat and du about launching its 4G-compatible smartphones in the UAE.

Huawei has already launched its first 4G phone – the Ascend P1 LTE – in Saudi Arabia through the local telecommunications firm STC. The handset is compatible with local 4G networks, which offer super-fast internet connections more than twice the speed of 3G.

The Chinese firm told The National that it has also held talks with Etisalat and du about launching two 4G smartphones in the UAE.

“We are in close talks with both of them,” said Ali Shi, the vice president of operations in the Middle East for Huawei. “Launch will definitely be within this year.”

Both UAE telecoms operators have made heavy investments in installing faster mobile-data networks, which use a 4G technology called long-term evolution (LTE).

Very few smartphones that work on the 4G network are currently available in the UAE. At the moment, access to the faster networks is mostly through wireless USB modems – so-called ‘dongles’ – which plug into laptops.

Along with the scant availability of handsets, there is also a problem of compatibility concerning 4G devices in the Middle East. Apple was this year forced to drop the term ‘4G’ when marketing the iPad in the UAE, because the tablet does not work on the high-speed LTE networks operated by Etisalat and du.

Mr Shi promised that Huawei’s 4G smartphones would be compatible here.

“Our region is a little bit different. In the 4G area we have different frequencies… Huawei will be the only supplier who will be compatible with all the different frequencies for LTE,” he said.

Rival manufacturer Fujitsu also plans to launch 4G-compatible smartphones in the UAE, while Apple’s LTE-enabled iPhone 5 is also set for launch here.

Mr Shi said he expects the market in LTE handsets to be slow at first.

“For the whole industry globally, the [market in] LTE handsets will take a little bit of time to mature,” he said.

Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, the group chief executive officer of Etisalat, told The National that it expects the LTE-compatible smartphones to be available next year.

“We have grown the LTE network in the UAE as well as in Saudi Arabia,” said Mr Julfar.

“Until now, other than the dongle there are no devices which are available for this region yet. They will be available, hopefully… next year. We will see more usage and more applications,” he added.

Huawei says it is looking to grow its consumer-electronics business in the Middle East, where it has also worked with local telecommunications operators to install networks.

Mr Shi said the company expects the company’s revenues to grow in this region.

“We are confident that the continuous 10 per cent growth will be there in the Middle East,” he said.

Though it has a rosy outlook for the Middle East, Huawei has been reducing its business operations in Iran amid the tightening sanctions imposed on the country by the United States and Europe.

“We decided to voluntarily stop acquiring new customers and limit our own activities with the current [customers],” said Mr Shi. “The business has become very small.”

Despite this, the Chinese firm has faced increased scrutiny over its business in Iran. Huawei was last month criticised by the US House Intelligence Committee, for reportedly failing “to provide evidence to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions or US export laws.”

Ken Hu, the rotating chief executive and deputy chairman of Huawei, confirmed that there has been “a sharp drop in our business” in Iran.

However, Mr Hu said Huawei was not looking to pull out of either Iran or the US.

“We are very confident that any of the business we have… we are going to conduct in the future,” Mr Hu said. “We evaluate our business situation independently in these countries… It doesn’t mean that we can freely expand our business in the US, in case we pull out of Iran. And it also doesn’t mean that we’re going to pull out of our business in the US, and then to aggressively expand it in Iran.”

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The UAE telecommunications company will be allowed to display its logo at the event, and offer prizes such as the chance to meet the current Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Du said it has extended its partnership with the Red Bull team for the Abu Dhabi event for two years. It did not disclose the value of the agreement, which extends to the events in 2012 and 2013.

The Dubai-listed firm also has the naming rights to the du Arena, the venue for the Formula One after-race concerts by artists Kylie, Eminem and Nickelback.

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In a survey conducted by O+K Research, 62 per cent of the respondents said they were unable to recognise phishing messages sent via email or social-networking websites. Around 35 per cent of PC users in the GCC admitted their computers had been infected as a result of opening a malicious attachment.

So-called phishing attacks are typically intended to steal private information, including usernames and passwords, to gain access to social media, retail and online banking accounts.

The majority of phishing messages are delivered via email or social networks since they are the most widespread means of communication, according to the report. Usually these emails will urge the user to follow an infected link or open an attached malicious file.

In June, 68 per cent of phishing messages unleashed onto the web targeted data theft, while 14 per cent of the respondents had entered personal or financial data at suspicious pages.

Increasingly, cyber-criminals are turning their attention to mobile devices and tablets. About 25 per cent of tablet users and 20 per cent of smartphone users received messages with suspicious links and attachments, the survey found.

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A survey from Gulf Business Machines (GBM) indicates that 35 per cent of workers in the Arabian Gulf are prohibited from accessing social media sites, and about 33 per cent face partial restrictions.

The remaining 32 per cent have no restrictions and are free to tweet, browse holiday pictures on Facebook or try to decipher the magic behind the Gangnam Style dance moves on YouTube.

“Although these findings do not come as a surprise, it is a clear indication of how seriously enterprises take the potential impact of social media on productivity,” said Hani Nofal, director of intelligent network solutions at GBM.

“The challenge that businesses face is in finding a middle ground which allows them to tap into the power of social media, while ensuring that it does not negatively impact productivity.”

With the bring-your-own-device trend widely accepted in the region, workers can still access social networks on their own smartphones, laptops or tablets, rendering such restrictions ineffective.

So it remains to be seen how companies will prevent employees from tweeting away their working days using such devices.

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