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(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Google Buzz may have set the tech world abuzz, but Internet users in the Middle East will have to wait before they can get their hands on with the social networking and sharing product which allows sharing of messages, web links and photos with friends and colleagues directly from within Gmail.
The new technology mirrors some of the key features of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, which are increasingly challenging Google for the web surfers' online time.
Without putting a timeline on its eventual availability in the region, Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist and vice-president of Google, said that the search engine was working on the product to make it locally-relevant to its Arab audiences and that users in this part of the world will have access to it soon. He was speaking at a Press conference held at the Children's City to mark Google Day: Arabia 2.0, an event that discussed the future of Internet innovation.
"We have invested heavily in terms of cash and technology to help generate content which is relevant to Arabic-speaking audiences, but considering the immensity of the task at hand it might just take some time," he said.
Presenting an overall perspective for the future, he emphasised that businesses and governments have to move quickly to keep pace with the rapidly evolving dynamics of the World Wide Web. Among their immediate priorities would be to adopt the IPv6, the new generation Internet Protocol version that will replace the current IPv4. "We are running out of IPv4 addresses and organizations who do not pay heed to it will one day wake up and realise that they have to switch over to the new protocol," he warned. He called upon them to counter the increasing vulnerability of the Internet by deploying security extensions that will keep their content safe.
Having cautioned them against the larger dangers of the Internet, he sounded an optimistic note asking technology leaders in the MENA region to continue innovating with their product offerings asking them to devote a lot of their attention to mobile technology. "Despite the large internet penetration, growth in mobile technology has been much higher. By 2009 alone there were four billion mobile phones against one billion PCs and that number is only set to grow. From voice recognition to touch computing and even for its navigational features, mobile phones have become one of the most important devices in the life of an average person. With the Internet being increasingly adapted to the mobile phone, it would become a key focus area to deploy products and applications," he said.
Enlarging on the future, he expected technology to move beyond being just device-oriented to significantly altering lives for the better. While predicting tremendous growth in neuroelectronics and genetic engineering, he said, "technology in the future will have the capacity make people see, hear and move more powerfully than ever before." He also said that the MENA region was primed for a huge growth, and that products tailor-made for the requirements of the Middle East populace was high on Google's agenda. "We are constantly listening to people, and we take their suggestions when it comes to layering it with our own technology. We like to create platforms that people can use."
Reiterating Google's commitment to the region, Mohammad Gawdat, vice- president, Emerging Markets, Google, said that while the MENA region has become a lot more innovative, it still has a lot to catch up with the internet scenario in the rest of the world. "User-generated knowledge and whole intellectual property scene is not catching up as fast as it should and that has created complications when it comes to adapting newer products and applications to the region."
By Anshuman Joshi
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