Israel Innovation 2.0

According to CNN Money, Israel-based Better On-Line Solutions (B.O.S.) has announced “the signing of a definitive agreement for the acquisition of assets of Dimex Systems Ltd.” B.O.S., an enterprise software and RFID solutions provider, will be acquiring Dimex’s business operation “in consideration for approximately NIS 17.6 million ($4.8 million),” among other parts of the company.

News of the acquisition first broke earlier this month. At the time, B.O.S. noted that the acquisition of Dimex – “a leading integrator of  AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Collection) solutions based on RFID and Barcode technology” – would expand its own RFID expertise.

Aside from software and hardware RFID solutions, B.O.S.’s also specializes in enterprise software, including IBM System i Middleware, data and license management and mobile connectivity. The acquisition of Dimex was the second for B.O.S. in the past four months. In October 2007, it purchased Summit Radio Corp to enhance its international activities, particularly in the United States.  

Company facts:
Founded in 1990.

Shmuel Koren, President and CEO.

Edouard Cukierman, Chairman of BOS.

Website: www.boscorporate.com

Mark Hendrickson of TechCrunch posted about the Flash WYSIWYG editor, Sprout yesterday and included invites to use the beta version to the first 200 readers who signed up through a link on TechCrunch. So far, the general sentiment among those who have tested it out is that it is, in fact, very easy to make Websites and widgets (mini web-programs/gadgets on sites that users can interact with, such as weather boxes) among other things.

While Sprout is getting a lot of attention, it is not a new idea and already faces some direct competition. A few months ago, TechCrunch along with several Israeli-technology focused blogs posted about the Israel-based Flash WYSIWYG Web-based editor, Wix. At the time, Wix was still in stealth mode and didn’t offer much information on its Website. If you go to the site now, however, most of its features are visible to viewers, and it is quite impressive. The site is still in beta, but anyone can sign up to receive more information and be invited in future beta invitation rounds.

Technology professionals should keep an eye on Sprout and Wix, as both sites can make creating and spreading widgets less time consuming and more cost-efficient. Adam Metz has posted a good overview of enterprise widgets and their benefits on his blog, MetzMash.

It should be interesting to see how these companies will do and how the enterprise industry will embrace and use their services.

Company Facts
Has been in beta since October 2007.

Giora Kaplan, Co-Founder.

Avishai Abrahami, Co-Founder.

Nadav Abrahami, Co-Founder.

Website: www.wix.com

Starting today, 77 new technologies will be launched this week at Demo ’08 in California. Surprisingly, only one Israeli company – 2Win-Solutions – will be present at the conference. It will be launching a Beta-version of its KonoLive.

2Win-Solutions, a division of WinSoft SA, is a company that IT professionals should pay close attention to as it integrates digital documents, online form processing and digital signature technology in

    “affordable software products and services that address the needs of businesses and their customers to
    process and deliver digital documents in a collaborative environment.”

According to a news release, its latest product, KonoLive is an instant collaboration software that integrates “People, Activities and Content through a new layer of everyday collaboration tools.” The software uses Adobe Air and has been hailed by Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO, as “a new baseline for practical knowledge sharing.”

Company Facts:

Founded in 2005.

Yossi Dan, co-founder & CEO.

Leverages Adobe Air.

Products: KonoLive, Page2Go, Sign2Go and MyNotes SDK.

News
Reuters and TechCrunch have both reported that eBay through PayPal has purchased the Israeli fraud solutions company, Fraud Sciences for $169 million. The acquisition has received mixed reactions in the blogosphere, with some questioning how smart it was for eBay to pay such an “inflated” price for the company, and others unsurprised as fraud has hurt the use of eBay by honest customers in foreign countries, and is a much needed improvement for the struggling company.

About
According to TechCrunch’s description, Fraud Sciences

    “offers automated anti-fraud systems including SpotLight VFX and SpotLight T2T, merchant
    solutions the provide transaction verification with fraud prevention.”

Israeli R&D companies database, Matimop.org.il, adds that the promise of the company’s science

    “is to emphatically prove a customer is who they represent themselves to be with minimal
     or zero verification friction. Thus, enabling “online merchants to accept more business from
    more markets and increase the lifetime value of customers.”

TechCrunch also details how the acquisition “will assist them [eBay] in significantly improving trust and safety across its sites in 2008,” by integrating Fraud Sciences’ “risk tools with PayPal’s fraud management system.” Additionally, the Fraud Science’s management team won’t have to worry about seeking new employment as they will join PayPal’s technology and fraud management teams.

Company Facts

Founded in 2001

Shvat Shaked and Saar Wilf, founders

Gadi Maier, CEO

Yossi Barak, COO

Website: www.fraudsciences.com

According to a news release from Amazon.com, the Nintendo Wii topped the 2007 Video Games list of “bestselling products,” “most positively reviewed,” and “most-wished-for.” This domination isn’t surprising as the game console’s innovative remote sensor provides users with the most realistic gaming experience on the market by giving users the opportunity to just “wave, point, rumble and listen”.

While it is likely that in 2008, the Nintendo Wii will continue to hold its ground and gain more, two Israeli companies, Prime Sense and 3DV Systems are at the forefront of the next revolution in motion sensing and gaming and intend to challenge the success of the Wii in the next few years.

Both companies have developed motion and depth sensors that can turn a 2D gaming experience into a more interactive 3D one, without having to use a controller. They were also both present at the CES conference that unveils the latest consumer electronic technology last week and have been competing for deals with major gaming console companies, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to use their technology.

Before the CES conference, VC Cafe blogger, Eze Vidra predicted that 3DV Systems would be a company that would garner a lot of media coverage at the event. He was right. At the CES show, 3DV Systems had an interactive booth that showcased its relatively inexpensive and recently released, ZCam. Anyone passing by the booth at the event, including media members, had the opportunity to interact with it or watch others do so.

Aside from gaming, 3DV Systems and Prime Sense have plans to apply their technologies to other fields that can benefit from advanced real-time sensor technologies, such as automotive-safety, security and robotics. In the next few years, look for the 3DV Systems or Prime Sense brand to be part of your virtual reality experience in gaming and any of these other fields.

Israeli email company, IncrediMail announced last week that Google has dropped the company from its AdSense program. According to TechCrunch, IncrediMail’s stock dropped 40% and lost about 1/3 of its value on the Nasdaq in direct response to the news. The reasons for Google’s suddenly ending the partnership is currently unknown, but IncrediMail may have “been dropped for fraud.”

Last month, Zack Miller of BloggingStocks.com interviewed IncrediMail founder and CEO, Yaron Adler. One of Zack’s questions for him was what the company’s business model was, to which Adler responded that the company relies heavily on viral marketing (though it is not the main means).

This is probably not the viral marketing that Adler had in mind.

It’s unlikely though that this is the end for IncrediMail and not just a relatively minor setback for it. Israeli VC Michael Eisenberg has an interesting take on this in a post on SeekingAlpha.com, as does Zack Miller’s buddy, Aaron Katsman, on BloggingStocks.com.

Can this week’s edition of Israeli technology news top the excitement over the news of IBM’s acquisition of XIV in last week’s edition? Well, let’s see. This past week a ‘green tax’ was presented to the Israeli government and the Israeli companies chosen to participate in the 2008 Israel Web Tour 2.0 were announced. Reports on the employment in Israel’s Hi-Tech sector last year showed that it continues to grow and the trend of Israeli investments in Poland is becoming ever-more common. You can find the links to these stories and this week’s full 20 Israel-related technology headlines below.

Cleantech:
Bar-On presents ‘green tax’ to gov’t

Rosy outlook for green

2007 energy tech VC totals: First look (Project Better Place)

Investments and M&A:
Ampal signs MoU to invest millions of dollars in sugarcane ethanol production

Israeli investors, businesses are flocking to Poland

IBM to more than double Israeli investments

Telecom:
Ericsson to supply mobile TV solution to Cellcom Israel

WiMax Networks Draw International Interest

International:
Will Foreign Stocks Start to Disappoint?

Internet to outperform broader market in 2008: Piper Jaffray, Needham

Israel Web Tour 2.0 – The Companies

Storage Projects Rise in Importance

Information Technology:
RIT Technologies to Demonstrate Full Suite of Intelligent Infrastructure Management & Structured Cabling Solutions at BICSI 2008

Spam at 96 percent peak level of all email, Commtouch announces

LIVE BLOGGING – IDC Press Conference Media and IT Trends 2007 – 2008

Miscellaneous:
Israeli expert in P2P Oversi wins important contract with True Internet

Interview with Pointer Telocation’s Chairman

Silicon Wadi 2.0

Israel: Tech Workers Wanted

The eyes in the sky are a boon to sports fans

Your next memory card upgrade for your camera won’t just be about getting more memory, but also about making the process of sharing the pictures you store on it easier. The Eye-Fi Wireless 2GB SD Card caught the attention of the media at the CES conference last week for its ability to wirelessly upload your pictures directly to your PC or photo-sharing sites on the Web, rendering the previous hassle of camera cables and USB drives obsolete.

Eye-Fi CEO, Jef Holove explains the memory card’s technology and convenience in the video below.

Eye-Fi was founded in 2005 and 2 of its four founders, Yuval Koren and Ziv Gillat, are Israeli. Check out the company blog for the interesting story of what inspired them to come up with this idea. The card is currently available on Amazon.com.

It’s hard to believe that anything else other than IBM’s acquisition of XIV happened in the technology sector in Israel during the week of December 30, 2007, but there was plenty other news. In the past week Giza Venture Capital raised funds for cleantech investments, Allot acquired Esphion, and the Jerusalem Post printed an expose on working in high-tech in Israel. This wasn’t all that happened during the week of December 30, 2007 though, so check out these headlines and the rest of this week’s 19 Israel-related technology headlines below.

Cleantech:
Israeli expert significantly boosts efficiency of solar cells

Israel’s Environmental Energy Resources signs waste treatment deal for $30 million

Taiwan helps Giza Venture Capital raise $150 million

Nanotechnology aids large-area solar cell

Investments and M&A:
Why did IBM buy XIV?

Allot Acquires Esphion for Network and Subscriber Protection Solutions

Customized advertising co Pudding Media raises $8m

NetApp to Buy Onaro

UK – Israeli video startup 5min signs with Encyclopaedia Britannica and raises $5 million

Israel Mix:
Inside the hi-tech bubble

Education ‘overhaul’ vital to expanding hi-tech exports

A leg up

90% of Israeli youth use Internet

Miscellaneous:
A Conversation with Yossi Vardi

JPMorgan Predicts 2008 Will Be “Nothing But Net”

Israel takes a lead on information security

Trojans 2 Crimeware Exploits Web 2.0 Technologies

Last Call: BluePhoenix Solutions Jumps

High-level group from Singapore to visit Israeli research facilities

I wasn’t going to list the top 10 most-read blog posts of 2007 for Israel Innovation 2.0, however, considering that I have covered a broad area of topics related to technology in Israel, the results are rather interesting. According to Google Analytics, the list is as follows:

1. First online TV-PC network: RayV?

2. Companies in Brief: 23 Israeli technology headlines from this past week

3. Israeli TV on the Internet: ahead of the curve

4. Company in Focus: Oberon Media

5. XJet Ltd. raises $9M in funding

6. Coming Soon: ooVoo.com video conference chatrooms

7. Facebook’s Israel Network reaches new heights

8. Company in Focus: Precise

9. Company in Focus: Explay

10. Companies in Brief: 25 Israel-related technology headlines from the week of December 2nd

Are these the posts that you enjoyed? What other posts did you enjoy reading? Let me know in the comments below.