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Omantel Partners With Shaffra To Boost AI And Metaverse Tech
The strategic move will accelerate the country’s digital transformation and transform the local ICT infrastructure.
In an agreement formalized at Riyadh’s LEAP 2025 Conference, Omantel has teamed up with Shaffra Technology Labs in a strategic move to bring advanced AI and metaverse solutions to Oman. The technology from Singapore-based Shaffra will be integrated into Omantel’s cloud services and made available to both government institutions and private businesses.
Eng. Aladdin Bait Fadhel, Omantel’s Chief Commercial Officer, emphasized the company’s commitment to driving digital transformation in Oman. “At Omantel, our vision is to solidify our leadership role as a key enabler of Oman’s digital transformation and to be the premier provider of innovative technology solutions in the region. Our collaboration with Shaffra will significantly contribute to developing cutting-edge technology solutions, particularly in artificial intelligence, for our customers”.
Shaffra’s CEO, Al Harith Al Atawi, echoed the enthusiasm, highlighting how the partnership will introduce advanced AI and metaverse solutions to the Omani market, and noting a key initiative, the AI employee project, that has already gained traction across various government and private entities in multiple countries. “We aim to deliver a unique experience for Omantel customers through this partnership and innovative projects that enhance productivity and reduce costs,” said Al Atawi.
Also Read: Qareeb Partners With Pantheon For GCC Bitcoin Mining Expansion
The Shaffra partnership aligns with Omantel’s ongoing efforts to attract cutting-edge global technologies and strengthen Oman’s ICT infrastructure in line with the country’s 2040 strategy. By working with leading international tech firms, Omantel is focused on accelerating Oman’s digital transformation, ensuring countrywide access to top-tier digital solutions.
Omantel has long been a key player in Oman’s telecommunications landscape, leveraging its expertise in digital technology and communications to deliver innovative, cross-sector solutions such as AI, cloud computing, smart technologies, and cybersecurity.
News
Google Releases Veo 2 AI Video Tool To MENA Users
The state-of-the-art video generation model is now available in Gemini, offering realistic AI-generated videos with better physics, motion, and detail.
Starting today, users of Gemini Advanced in the MENA region — and globally — can tap into Veo 2, Google’s next-generation video model.
Originally unveiled in 2024, Veo 2 has now been fully integrated into Gemini, supporting multiple languages including Arabic and English. The rollout now brings Google’s most advanced video AI directly into the hands of everyday users.
Veo 2 builds on the foundations of its predecessor with a more sophisticated understanding of the physical world. It’s designed to produce high-fidelity video content with cinematic detail, realistic motion, and greater visual consistency across a wide range of subjects and styles. Whether recreating natural landscapes, human interactions, or stylized environments, the model is capable of interpreting and translating written prompts into eight-second 720p videos that feel almost handcrafted.
Users can generate content directly through the Gemini platform — either via the web or mobile apps. The experience is pretty straightforward: users enter a text-based prompt, and Veo 2 returns a video in 16:9 landscape format, delivered as an MP4 file. These aren’t just generic clips — they can reflect creative, abstract, or highly specific scenarios, making the tool especially useful for content creators, marketers, or anyone experimenting with visual storytelling.
Also Read: Getting Started With Google Gemini: A Beginner’s Guide
To ensure transparency, each video is embedded with SynthID — a digital watermark developed by Google’s DeepMind. The watermark is invisible to the human eye but persists across editing, compression, and sharing. It identifies the video as AI-generated, addressing concerns around misinformation and media authenticity.
While Veo 2 is still in its early phases of public rollout, the technology is part of a broader push by Google to democratize advanced AI tools. With text-to-image, code generation, and now video creation integrated into Gemini, Google is positioning the platform as a full-spectrum creative assistant.
Access to Veo 2 starts today and will continue expanding in the coming weeks. Interested users can try it out at gemini.google.com or through the Gemini app on Android and iOS.
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