d1g.com launches 'A9waat'

The new service, which is the Arabic word for 'Sounds' or 'Audio' and is pronounced 'Aswaat' is the first of its kind service in the Middle East targeting the Arab Internet users.

As more people generate audio clips using their mobile phones, PDAs, and personal computers, a9waat aims at providing a friendly way to make it easy and fun for users to share their experiences.

"With the excess supply in consumer tools, that allow users to capture and create entertaining content, that include video and audio; there has been little focus on providing online users with tools that allow them to quickly upload, share, and discuss audio content," said Majied Qasem, Co-founder and CEO of d1g.com. "Since the launch of a9waat we have been broadcasting more than 10,000 audio clips per day, which is effectively similar to moving the entire content of a record store in the Middle East."

A9waat is built on d1g.com's popular video sharing network which currently serves more than 2 million video clips per month. The social aspect of d1g.com also allows people to create and share their own audio channels, as well as easily following up on topics and issues of interest.

A9waat also supports audio embedding feature which allows users to stream audio clips and share them across the Internet, through blogs, forums, and websites.

Commenting on the occasion, Alaa Fada, COO of d1g.com said, "The service is not intended for sharing copyrighted Music; it rather focuses on connecting people with audio clips from friends and family through the delivery of entertaining and culturally relevant content."

A9waat also supports advanced tagging and searching capabilities. With an audio library that is growing fast, d1g.com's team integrated their proprietary Arabic search technology to allow quick and easy access to its content."
Moreover, a new feature is currently being piloted on a small d1g.com test group and is scheduled for release early next month. "Play All" allows users to effectively turn a9waat into their own personal radio station, playing only audio clips from groups of people sharing the same interest.