Both winners in the “Last Gadget Standing” category were Israeli, and a third of the smart TVs sold in the world today contain Adaptive Video Acceleration – an essential piece of technology made by an Israeli start-up.
By: Michael Ordman
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The best gadgets at CES
Thousands of products were displayed to over 100,000 visitors at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Both winners in the “Last Gadget Standing” category were Israeli. The VUZE Camera from HumanEyes was the Live Audience winner and SteamCC’s Ripple Maker was the on-line winner
http://www.timesofisrael.com/two-israeli-inventions-voted-ces-favorites/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSepeD2h3OM
Israeli tech in one third of Smart TVs
A third of the smart TVs sold in the world today contain Adaptive Video Acceleration (AVA) – an essential piece of technology made by Israeli start-up Giraffic. Both Samsung and LG use Giraffic’s AVA to stream content, uninterrupted by network glitches and slowdowns.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-israeli-tech-got-into-one-third-of-the-worlds-smart-tvs/
$3.5 million more to tackle pollution
Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry is to invest NIS 14 million ($3.5 million) in projects to encourage use of public transportation and bicycles. The funds are in addition to the NIS 6 million ($1.5 million) transferred to local authorities in the past year to promote similar initiatives.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=30577
An intelligent extra eye
Israel’s OrCam has moved on from its camera that helps visually impaired. It has now launched MyMe – an augmented attention device that gives you an extra eye and ear. It can perform face recognition, speech to text translation, time analysis etc. OrCam also opened a European HQ in London.
http://www.orcam.com/blog/orcams-new-wearable-personal-assistant-revolutionizes-wellness/
http://www.orcam.com/blog/orcam-opens-european-hq-london-trade-visit-israel-london-mayor-boris-johnson/
Bringing back the sound of voice
Israeli app HearMeOut reinvents vocal features in social media.
“Israel is a global agricultural force”
On Tu B’Shvat – the New Year for Trees in Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Israeli agro-tech at an exhibit of Israel’s latest developments at the Agricultural Research Organization’s Volcani Center, in Beit Dagan near Tel Aviv.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/netanyahu-israeli-agricultural-development-is-a-global-force/
Magnificent seven
Last week there was good news about seven Israeli cybersecurity companies – the first six are their first mentions in my newsletter. LightCyber won awards in both SC Magazine and CRN Magazine; SafeBreach launched its continual testing platform; Fireglass raised $20 million of funds for its critical systems solution; ImVision raised $4 million for its anomaly detection technology; Nubo raised $7 million to expand its Cloud-based mobile protection; and ForeScout became a billion-dollar value company. Finally, Elbit’s CYBERBIT unit exposed the workings and solution for Dridex – the most dangerous virus in existence.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-cyber-security-co-fireglass-raises-20m-1001098415
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-cyber-security-co-imvision-raises-4m-1001097880
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-mobile-security-co-nubo-raises-7m-1001097362
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-iot-cyber-security-co-forescout-raises-76m-1001097233
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-elbit-unit-cyberbit-uncovers-bank-theft-malware-1001098035
$100 million in STEM scholarships
Real estate magnate and publisher Mortimer Zuckerman has announced a 20-year, $100 million scholarship program to pay for American graduate students in the sciences to study in Israel. It will allow leading US and Israeli academics to work together on cutting-edge research.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/american-jewish-magnate-announces-us-israel-science-initiative/
Helping firms make IoT products
Israeli startup Seebo makes it easier for companies to develop smart products. Seebo provides them with end-to-end tools and technology that connect the products to the Internet of Things (IoT). Seebo has just raised $8.5 million of funds.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-internet-of-things-startup-seebo-raises-85m-1001098305
The brains behind Iron Dome
Israel’s mPrest provides monitoring and control software for the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling organizations to connect any sensor at any time. mPrest also developed the brains for the Iron Dome missile defense system. mPrest has just raised $20 million of funds for international expansion.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-monitoring-and-control-co-mprest-raises-20m-1001097898
Don’t waste time dialing
Israeli startup MyState shows the availability of a contact before dialing by displaying if the person is on a call, offline, on vibrate or silent, has no Internet connection, is in a different time-zone, or their battery is running low, or charging. MyState has just raised $6.5 million of funds.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-smart-communications-co-mystate-raises-65m-1001096895
Jerusalem Water on EU research project
Hagihon – Jerusalem’s water company – has been awarded a key role on the 4-year European Union project to improve governance and social awareness of water environmental challenges. It involves setting up a Digital Social Platform to share details of water scarcity, security, quality and water consumption-related issues. https://www.hagihon.co.il/News/NewsItem.aspx?nodeId=227&id=180
A better mousetrap
Israeli start-up IoTBox has developed a hi-tech sensor tracking system for super-fast elimination of rodent infection at food processing sites. It utilizes the Internet of Things (IoT) and predictive analytics to calculate the travel pattern of the vermin and identify where pest control needs to be applied.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/high-tech-rat-patrol-hunts-down-rodents-in-hours-instead-of-days/
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