TechwatchCaribbean is now SILICONCARIBE.COM

Growth is what happened to us! We've traded in the old name for a new name and we're also getting a site site mobilewatchcaribbean.com.
SILICONCARIBE.COM LAUNCHED on FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2007. MOBILEWATCHCARIBBEAN.COM WILL BE LAUNCHED ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2007. COME ON OVER AND JOIN US.

Caribbeanchick.com an online women's mag goes live

Kingston,Jamaica- Caribbeanchick.com an online magazine has gone live and positions itself as being "for every woman." The site states that "it is designed to be informative and entertaining, fun and easy to use. Our content focuses on the themes that are at the core of every woman's life: health, work, relationships, finances, our family, fashion and beauty, the whole well being of a woman." We wish them luck. The intention is great, but the positioning of trying to be all things to all women is a slippery slop,since they seem to not have a unique angle, a focused target. Nonetheless, they've begun their journey. Cheers.

Jamdeal.com just sprung two sister sites..

Jamaica- JamDeal, which positions itself as "your online markeplace to buy and sell, new and used items, with others in Jamaica, just sprung two new sister sites -trindeal.com for Trinidad and dealwi.com for Barbados.

Caribsingles.com racks up 10,000 members in 60 days

Jamaica- Leighton Scarlett,the Jamaican behind Caribsingles.com told TechWatchCaribbean that his new dating site has racked up just over 10,000 members,with 40% Jamaicam membership in just 60 days. Caribsingles's pitch is Free Caribbean Dating and positions itself as a fun and discreet dating environment where you can meet singles from around the world who share a common cultural background.

Online Ad Spend To Overtake Newspapers By 2011: Report

USA-Online advertising will be bigger than newspaper advertising in the U.S. by 2011, according to a new forecast. Veronis Suhler Stevenson's (VSS) annual media research report says money going to online ads will grow by over 21 percent each year for the next four years, when it will reach $62 billion, while newspaper advertising will be worth $60 billion. Web advertising overtook newspapers in the UK in 2006, when spend surged 41 percent against print's 0.2 percent to pass the £2 billion ($4 billion) mark, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. source:Via FT.com and USA Today.

Jamaican/Caribbean Context: ALready the shift has started in Jamaica. With companies small to large, brands familiar and new seeking more targeted media that assures them full face time with consumers. TV and print ad spend is shifting online. The trick is not many site publishers have been taking the opportunity to put themselves in front of brands to get some of that ad spend. Not even the major newspapers and online mags have taken this super seriously. Even so, there are fresh signs of movements in that area.

1. The ad network BC Ad Group, our of ATL headed by a Jamaican is about launch and at least two others are in the pipeline.

2. Email marketing is going to get more competitive in the next 30 days.

Simple Spark Simplifies my life online

USA- When you work anywhere like myself and many others you tend to rely heavily on webbased applications to simplify and organise your life. SimpleSpark makes it easy for you to find some that you may have thought didn't exist and matches your needs or maye just wants. Simple Spark tracks and categorises 3000 web applications with screenshots, icons, feeds, reviews and concise summaries. Current applications I use, blinksale and highrisehq.

CaribbeanMassive.com launches V2.0

St Kitts- CaribbeanMassive.com, one of the pioneering social networks for Caribbean people at home and abroad just upped the ante for number one online Caribbean community. They just launched a version 2 of their site- they took a toops from Facebook, a dash of Youtube and all di Caribbean flavour they could muster. Check it.

Teez Mobile - The Caribbean's first 411 adult mobile service

Kingston,Jamaica - Teez Mobile,the Caribbean’s first adult mobile alert service, launched on Friday June 15 in Kingston,Jamaica.
Dubbed as The Ultimate Guide to Sex un Your City the 411 information type service launched in response to fast growing up trend of Jamaicans becoming more open to talking about, getting information about, experiencing a great and sexy lifestyle due to increased curiousity, local media and artists, cultural exposure via travel, tourists and cable TV. Add to that a blossoming expatriate, business and pleasure travel tourist market.

"We provide subscribers to the service with information via private and exclusive text messages on the best places, products, services and events that can enhance their sex and sexy lifetyle," Teez Mobile director told TechWatch. To join is simple text the letter T to 444-2440, then sit back to get TeeZed from what is a blossoming adult entertainment industry.

"So we provide to players in the adult entertainment industry and other industries who want to tap into that market like energy drink and excotic food distributors, party promoters a great marketing medium to reach more people,in new discreet, targeted cost effective ways," The Teez Mobile director added.

TechWatch also found out that other spin off services to the TeezMobile service are coming in addition to the service opening up in Trinidad in the next 60 days.

Kingston Beta V2.0 - When CONTENT is KING!!

Kingston Beta V2.0 in less than two weeks.
The WHO
Our Panel of Experts
- Jamie Ranston,Director Implementation,Jump Tv International,Jamaica
- Alison Troy,NewCom Mobile Platform Providers,Jamaica
- Joseph Herde,Head of Broadband,TSTT,Trinidad
- Christopher Edmonds,President,Rebelmix.com, Jamaica

The TOPIC
CONTENT IS KING!
We're on the brink of a Content Explosion right now in the Caribbean’s Mobile & Broadband markets. -- - How can businesses, brands and tech companies position themselves to grab market share, build brands and make money? Topics to be covered:Internet and Mobile Content Explained, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Content, Online advertising, Social Networks, Digital Content Distribution, Rights Management and Piracy and others. The forum this year will also have product experience booths from companies in the tech industry as well as business card giveaways.
WHEN
Wednesday, May 30, 2007, 6 p.m - 9:30 p.m.

WHERE
The Knustford Court Hotel, Kingston, Jamaica

HOW MUCH

JA$1,200 / US$20

www.kingstonbeta.com

Caribbean Community sites are trending up

Kingston - It's as usual all of a sudden Caribbean Community sites, social networks are hot - vibesconnect.com out of Jamaica has been around for a while, caribbeanmassive.com out of St Kitts has been out for a while and by month end will be 2.0 to the max. New on the block is idletribes.com, so new they are still in beta and today I just heard of westindiantube.com -yep youtube for Caribbean people worldwide. Then oh yeah there's lyming.com not live right now...so I'm looking to see what else pops up in the next few months.

Venture Capital needed for Jamaican/Caribbean Tech Companies

They can't wait on the banks, because they are not interested or simply do not understand. Some can do it with Credit Union Loans. Others sell their friends and family on the investability of their ideas. Yet many, many more sit languishing with great ideas and no cash to grease the ideas forward. I know I'm already preaching to the converted, when I say we need a Venture Capital Fund here, the start of a VC culture here in the Caribbean that will invest in bankable technology companies.( And when I say bankable, I mean in other things outside of companies set up to resell cellphones of the existing mobile providers. God knows we have enough of them.)

I know of too many companies that could use an love injection of cash to get their ideas going further, faster. I've spoken to the entrepreneurs who've been in the industry 3, 5,7 years and have had certain level of successes, but none that can rival those of their colleagues in The States or Europe. And that's a pity, as we are dripping with worldclass talent and ideas here.

Maybe this is something that Digicel, Cable & Wireless, The Spanish companies busy building hotel rooms, more of the Irish can look at. Setting up a a Venture Capital Fund that's geared towards helping these many brilliant small, fledgling, talent packed technology companies become money smart, investable, inpactful and profitable. It's hard for many of these entrepreneurs to watch good money, strong money chase crappy ideas in the States when simply half or a quarter of that funding could take Jamaica and the Caribbean's software industry global, take the wicked web apps, mobile games, mobile services out of the underfunded companies and to the world.

Many of these companies have grown weary of the small pool of clients who recognise value for money and are willing to pay well and on time for products and services, especially in Jamaica. Many of these companies are bootstrapped, very clear testimony to their belief these entrepreneurs have in themselves, their teams and their ideas. Many of them have ideas, products, services that are great for the Jamaican/Caribbean market, scaleable and appealing to global markets.

I dare someone to start the first Venture Capital firm geared to making things happen in Jamaica and the Caribbean's tech industry. I dare someone!