News

Snapchat Launches Its Spotlight Feature In The MENA Region

Snapchatters who decide not to reveal their profile information to the public can still earn money based on how many views their content gets.

Published

5 years ago

May 27, 2021

Joanna Melki

snapchat's spotlight feature launches in the mena region

Snapchat has just launched its new Spotlight feature in the Middle East and North Africa, enabling the local audience of approximately 75 million users to discover trending Snaps from the entire Snapchat community in one convenient place.

The Spotlight feature is Snapchat’s answer to TikTok’s success. While originally created to imitate the spontaneous, intimate feeling of real-world conversations, Snapchat has been continually innovating its platform and moving away from the original concept.

Snapchat

“Spotlight is an exciting new addition, a result of careful thought and insight into what our community wants, likes, and values. It is also built with our privacy-by-design philosophy, with the wellbeing of our community front and center,” said Hussein Freijeh, the general manager of Snap Inc. in the Middle East.

When sharing a video from their private accounts to the more public feed, Snapchat users in all regions where Spotlight is available can choose to send the video to the Spotlight feed and do so anonymously if they want to.

What’s great is that those who decide not to reveal their profile information to the public can still earn money based on how many views their content gets.

“Our hope is that Spotlight continues to break down barriers to content creation and by democratizing both distribution and the ability to earn, encourages Snapchatters to be creative and express themselves,” Freijeh added.

Also Read: Twitter Verification Badge Is Now Available To The Public

To achieve its goal, Snapchat is both automatically and manually moderating all Snaps that get submitted to Spotlight and tagging them based on their content. Each tag is then subdivided into multiple levels based on their views. A Snap featuring a dancing dog that has been viewed by, let’s say, 1,000 people then competes with other funny dog videos with a similar view count.

This simple yet effective mechanic prevents influencers and other people with a massive online following from stealing the spotlight (pun intended).

Currently, Spotlight is available in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Palestinian Territory, Libya, and Iraq.

News

Abu Dhabi’s Robot Kitchen Is Serving Up Biryani, Not Burgers

Circus SE wants to put a tiny automated factory inside the buildings where Gulf residents live and work, bypassing part of last-mile delivery.

Published

4 days ago

October 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

abu dhabi's robot kitchen is serving up biryani not burgers

Circus SE

The most telling thing about a new autonomous kitchen now running in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Square is what it won’t cook:

“We don’t do fast food,” says Nikolas Bullwinkel, Founder and CEO of Circus SE. “We’ve actively decided not to build a machine that can only do burgers”.

Instead, the CA-1 system is built around pot-based cooking: curries, pastas, soups and rice dishes. After experimenting with highly personalized recipes, Circus deliberately leaned back toward recognizable food. “We’re going with a chicken biryani because you know it,” Bullwinkel says of the AED 40 dish.

circus se ca-1 robot system

The Germany-based robotics and food technology company operates across eight countries, and Abu Dhabi is its first deployment outside Europe. More locations are expected there and in Dubai.

In Germany, its units can be placed in supermarkets, gas stations, airports and hospitals. In the Gulf, Bullwinkel wants them inside residential and office buildings, replacing some of the complexity of last-mile delivery. “We’re basically bringing a very tiny factory a few square meters into your building,” he says. Catering company Royal Prestige supplies the ingredients and knowledge of local tastes.

The CA-1 manages up to 36 refrigerated ingredient silos alongside automated induction cooking, robotic plating and a self-cleaning dishwasher. Two robotic arms move ingredients through the system with minimal human intervention. It can produce up to 120 hot meals an hour, and a meal such as rice and curry can take around three to four minutes.

Also Read: Ooredoo Qatar’s 5G+ Network Is Built For Machines As Much As People

Five cameras and multiple sensors monitor heat, temperature and consistency, an attempt to approximate what a chef perceives. “You can hear something gets burned, you can smell it, you can see it at some point,” Bullwinkel says. CircusOS, the company’s operating system, adjusts recipes in real time.

You might think of the platform as a threat to kitchen staff, but Bullwinkel frames Circus as a way for chefs to develop recipes and distribute them at scale. With that being said, rising labor costs and shortages are also part of his case for automation.