Israel Innovation 2.0

During the week of July 11, 2010, Fring, a mobile VoIP network that lets users make video calls over 3G and other things, unveiled its new app for the iPhone 4 and set off a heated debate with Skype. Motorized bicycling is taking off in Israel and Conduit is continuing to report big numbers. For these stories and more, see this week’s headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Israel is catching on to motorized bikes as the next best urban solution

2. MST becomes 1st Israeli technology firm to connect to grid

3. BGU receives first US – Israel energy independence grant for light water reactor research

Investment
4. Vocaltec shares shoot up 150% after merger agreement with magicJack maker Ymax

5. Ormat Tech raising NIS 600m in unrated bonds

Information Technology
6. Self-healing software is on its way

7. Fring Unveils 3G Video Calls

8. Conduit Reports Big Numbers: 250,000 App Publishers, 170 Million Users

9. Tufin Technologies Wins International Stevie(R) Award in Seventh Annual International Business Awards(SM)

10. Promisec: Securing Networks from Within

Miscellaneous
11. Modu 1 modular phone hits UK, touchscreen Modu T to come: Android Modu-like?

12. Record number of tourists visit Israel

Disruptor: In the past week SolarEdge has announced partnerships to distribute its technology across Australia and Europe and has been named a Red Herring 100 Winner.

Known for its high costs and lagging efficiency, the solar energy field has been one to watch for many but one to take advantage of for very few. New innovations and incentives in the field however, reported on CNET, offer promise for many solar companies looking to establish themselves. One company that seems to have had little difficulty establishing itself is SolarEdge, a solar power harvesting solution provider based in Israel.
continue reading…

During the week of May 16, 2010, BrightSource Energy announced that it raised $150 million to explore solar thermal. Israel’s stocks were upgraded to ‘Developed’ and Israel’s economy was ranked the 17th most competitive and number one for resilience and R&D. For these stories and more, see this week’s headlines below.

Cleantech
1. BrightSource raises $150m to back solar thermal ambitions

2. Pythagoras Solar Introduces Photovoltaic Glass Unit

Investment and Economy
3. Israel ranked 17th-most competitive economy

4. Israeli Stocks Upgraded from ‘Emerging’ to ‘Developed’

5. Dalton McGuinty goes to Israel to boost trade

6. NDS to augment investments in China in 2010; relocate part R&D resource from India and Israel

Information Technology
7. Tawkon Releases BlackBerry Radiation App, Visits Apple To Discuss Rejection

8. BluePhoenix to Expend Its Software Offering, Will Add COBOL Software to the Company Portfolio

Miscellaneous
9. ISRAEL: Nanotech institute launched

10. Asus to launch netbook with plug-in mobile phone?

(Catch Media interview from 2007)

During the week of February 14, 2010, the Eilat-Eilot International Renewable Energy Conference took place and included the announcement of potential plans for joint solar energy projects between Israel, Egypt and Jordan. News broke that Google is in early talks to acquire Israel’s Catch Media to better compete with iTunes and Tawkon announced its solution for avoiding radiation from mobile phones. For these stories and more, check out this week’s Israel-related technology headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Israel’s Solar Industry Aims to Regain its Edge

2. Israel, Egypt Considering Joint Solar Energy Project in Sinai

Investment and M&A
3. Google Wants To Buy Catch Media To Make Android Better

4. JVP’s Erel Margalit Tells Startups: “We Do Early Stage Now!”

Information Technology
5. Augmented Reality Gets a Major Face.com Lift

6. Tawkon enables mobile users to avoid mobile phone radiation without affecting phone usage

7. Comverse enables visual voicemail services on Sony Ericsson handsets for Norway’s NetCom

Miscellaneous
8. Unleavened Media: 10 Israeli mobile companies to watch in 2010

9. IPad Launch Has Halo Effect On Apple Products, Laptops

10. Aniboom and Sesame Street Partner on Animation Contest

During the week of September 6, 2009, IQWind was named a top 100 cleantech company and Tufin Technologies, among other security companies, found that phishing scams are increasing again with the end of summer. IBM Israel played a major role in developing SAPIR, a video and photo search technology that the company claims is better than the methods used by Google and Yahoo. For more on these stories and the rest of this week’s 11 technology headlines, see below.

Cleantech
1. Bechtel to Build Solar Plant in California

2. Israel-based SolarEdge looking for PV system partners in Taiwan

3. IQwind Ltd. Named a Global Cleantech 100Clean Technology Company

Information Technology
4. IBM, European Researchers Develop Multimedia Search Tool

5. As summer ends, phishing season is on the horizon

6. Behavioral Targeting Cozies Up To Video Ads

7. Xeround pushes database virtualisation as integration tool

8. Visual WebGui: Reaching for the top cloud

Miscellaneous
9. Did Israel’s Mossad snatch a Russian arms shipment to Iran?

10. Feeling the pinch

11. Diagnosing lung cancer through a simple exhale

According to The New York Times environment blog,

“BrightSource Energy has broken ground on a 29-megawatt solar steam plant at a Chevron oil field in Coalinga, Calif.”

The move is a great for both companies. For Chevron, which, along with competitors BP and StatoilHydro, is an investor,

“a solar power plant builder based in Oakland, Calif., and solar-powered oil extraction offers the oil giant an opportunity to reduce its carbon footprint while gaining a hedge against volatile natural gas prices.”

While, BrightSource, which has signed other significant contracts in California this year, will have the chance “to scale up its technology” and “explore new applications for its technology.”

It’s important to note that the field won’t be powered by solar steam exclusively. As it only works when the sun is out, the field will still use rely on previous sources for  power at other times.

During the week of August 2, 2009, it was announced that Shari Arison’s group Shikun u’Binui Real Estate Ltd. will install solar energy panels on the roofs of its projects under construction. VC investment is at it’s lowest in a decade and Panaya is providing software service for automating on-premise SAP upgrade. For these stories and more, check out this week’s 10 headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Israel’s Clean Tech Industry: A Broad Brush Overview

2. Arison unit to install solar panels on new projects

3. eSolar Shows Off Its Solar Thermal Tower

Investment
4. MoneyTree: VC investment lowest in decade

5. WeFi’s Directory Nearly 30 Million WiFi Hotspots Strong, Raises More Funding

Information Technology
6. Researchers hijack computer software update process

7. Panaya’s SaaS Helps On-Premise SAP

8. Waze: social navigation app for your phone

Miscellaneous
9. Employees’ Faith in a Company Can Boost Productivity

10. The ‘other Israel’