Remember that old commercial, “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” That’s a question we will soon be asking about what we see, not just what we hear, thanks to the development of a technology called Augmented Reality. Using a device’s camera, GPS, Bluetooth, digital compass, wifi, and other networking and input capabilities, you can turn reality into a video game, run through “what if” scenarios, or get a text or video overlay on something that they are looking at.
Example: You’re checking out what movie to see at the multiplex, and you forgot to check out the reviews. With an AR app on your phone, you could point your phone at a movie poster, and then get reviews displayed on the screen, without having to press any buttons! More sophisticated versions would let you see a trailer, or even buy tickets. It’s not at all science fiction – actually, an application like this exists for some Nokia smartphones, and there are already a slew of AR apps for Androids and cellphones (I could have used this onewhen I installed my non-YES satellite dish a couple of months ago!)
As it turns out, an Israeli company called Ogmento, is deeply involved in developing AR applications, especially for the iPhone. If you want to try it on the web, check out the application they developed for Vampire Academy. Scary!
We hear a lot about business “giving back to the community,” but everyone knows it’s BS. There are no free lunches, and everything has strings attached. It’s always all about the money. Everyone knows it.
But maybe what everyone knows isn’t always right. It certainly wasn’t at the “startup roundtable” meeting I went to, hosted by Israeliinvestment adviser and social media expert Sharon Weshler. Sharon and his buddy Aviad of the Termiks startup investment center ran a “roundtable” for fledgling Israeli startups, where entrepreneurs with great ideas could get some help in getting their idea ready for presentation to investors.
The ideas were really creative, ranging from a system to improve management of nursing homes to a home entertainment gadget, and a better way to grow food! Presenters gave the group their core idea and “elevator pitch,” and attendees could comment, question, or give constructive criticism on ideas and presentations.
The startup roundtable idea isn’t a new one, and I’ve been to a number myself. But most of them are sponsored by advisors for their clients, prepping them for presentations to investors. In other words, the sponsors of the roundtable have a financial interest in ensuring that their candidates present well, so they can bring in the bucks
Not so at Sharon and Aviad’s roundtable – from what I could tell, there was no financial or contractual relationship between the presenters and the sponsors. That said, I’m sure Sharon and Aviad would be happy to find a company to work with, but you have to figure there are better ways to track down companies interesting enough to invest in without spending upwards of four hours listening to ideas that they had no idea in advance would be worth listening to! That is what I call really giving back to the community!
If a criteria of Apple fanboydom is how much money one has given to Apple, I definitely have done my share to support the company. Here are my Apple credentials: I own an iMac, two Mac Minis, two Macbooks, two iPod Touches, and varied and sundry iPods.
With that said, here are my first impressions of the iPad.
1. It’s too big. Yes, I know it’s not a Kindle, but still.
2. The screen looks like it would be easy to scratch.
3 .64 GB memory is nice, but it would need an expansion slot to really be useful. Yes, I know it’s not supposed to be a laptop, but still. Steve says it’s “way better than a laptop,” but still – what would really be nice is if they would put that touch-screentechnology into a Macbook-type device.
4. It appears that Apple is positioning the iPad for use as a video entertainment device. When would you use it? Not at home, where you would probably want a big screen. On the road? But wouldn’t it be better to take a laptop or netbook, so you could get other stuff done besides watching video?
5. That said, it will probably be a big seller. Nothing Apple has ever made has been a bomb (except maybe the Newton, depending on whom you ask.)
The above is not to exclude the possibility that I will buy one myself.
On Saturday – Shabbat – Hareidim will be protesting the fact that Intel’s brand new Jerusalem fabrication plant will be operating on the holy day. And come Saturday night, Israel’s media is going to be all agog. I can already picture the headlines and the stories in papers like Ha’aretz, the Jerusalem Post, Yedi’ot, etc. – each paper has its own style, or if you prefer, slant. But they are all going to get the story wrong. You want to know what’s really going on? Keep reading!
Over the past several years, the intensity of “Shabbos protests” has increased, most recently with the ugly scenes in the center of Jerusalem over the opening of a parking lot by the city. But Intel is no local parking lot or supermarket, and the story, as it will be portrayed by all the mainstream media in Israel, will portray “fanatic Hareidim” pitted against the essence of modernity – the computer chip. Editors should have a field day with that one!
Then there will be the stories about how the Hareidim, who “don’t work,” aren’t just satisfied to sit around themselves, but have no problem jeopardizing the jobs of other Jerusalem residents, by trying to drive Intel out of town – and maybe out of Israel altogether! And, of course, there will be the take on how the Hareidim just want to throw their weight around, and are doing this just to get back at the city for electing a secular mayor – because after all, it’s located in Har Hotzvim, an industrial zone where no religious people (or people of any sort) actually live – so the plant is not going to directly damage anyone’s “Sabbath peace.”
It’s just too easy a story not to be stereotyped, but in this case, things may not be so simple. The anti-Intel protests are being organized by Knesset members from United Torah Judaism (UTJ) – the issue was pushed by UTJ Knesset member Uri Maklev. Although the epitome of what is called “ultra-Orthodox,” UTJ was very reticent when it came to the Karta mess (those protests were organized by a private group, and was steered by “ultra-Hareidi” Hassidic groups). UTJ represents Hareidi “yeshivish” circles, of course, but it also represents the average working Hareidi family, and engages with all the institutions of the state, and much of its Knesset activity involves getting tax breaks and benefits for large families, etc. They’re frequently accused of being “non-Zionist,” but they’re certainly no less (and probably a lot more) Zionist than groups like Peace Now. And while the secular media often disagrees with their positions, no one would consider them to be “fanatics.”
So if there’s any group you would think would not be leading this – who would understand that a fab plant needs to operate 24/7 – it would be these guys. Despite the stereotype, many Hareidim are “plugged in” to some extent, using the internet, e-mail, cellphones, etc. And they certainly understand what’s at stake in this battle. Even more: Considering that the old Intel plant in Jerusalem also operated on Shabbat and nobody seemed to care, and that other Intel plants around the country are open Saturday as well without anyone complaining – and that nightclubs and restaurants even in the center of town, much less in places like Talpiot, are open on Shabbat, without anyone protesting – you have to wonder exactly what is going on here.
Like I said, taking on Intel is not like taking on a parking lot, and the UTJ Knesset members who are leading this have to know that they are going to have a very hard time defending their position to the secular public. Ergo, we can take them at their word – that the reason they are doing this is, besides defending the “honor of the Sabbath,” they are worried that other businesses will take their cue from Intel and open on Shabbat as well (this is one of the top reasons mentioned by the organizers).
However, I believe something else is going on here; we’ve been handed a hot potato from the One Above, who wants to see how we are going to manage.
In this issue, we’re faced with a stark choice, it seems – the sanctity of the Sabbath versus the pull of modernity, the essence of modernity; the world’s biggest manufacturer of computer chips! But in this battle, the side that “wins” loses, too; if Intel packs up because of this, no one will be happy – including the Hareidim, because members of their community (mostly female) work at good jobs at Intel, supporting their husbands in Yeshiva. Without those jobs, the financial situation of dozens of Yeshiva families will be very precarious.
And if Intel “wins,” the Jewish people as a whole lose; the Sabbath is not an institution to be regarded lightly, as Jewish history tells us. Religious Jews believe they have an obligation to protest against desecration of the Sabbath, and there are plenty of sources in Jewish writings that mention this. As an observant individual, I take Shabbat seriously, and personally I believe that figuring out how to integrate the modern world with Shabbat – and vice versa – is one of the major challenges G-d has given our generation.
It’s been said that G-d often does things with an “ironic” twist – as in, “you wanted X to happen so badly, well let’s see how you handle it when it does.” Seen in that light, the Intel story is a challenge to both “sides”. While the Hareidi leadership has an obligation to lead battle to preserve the Sabbath (if they don’t, who will?), they’re also a part of the Jewish people, and the modern State of Israel. So, apparently, it’s been decided on High that the time has come to work out a balance between the two. The same goes for Intel; for years, it’s been profiting off the genius of Israel, the Holy Land – a place where the Sabbath means something. The time has come for it to figure out how to respect the moral Law of that land, even with a fab plant that has to operate 24.7.
So that’s our choice – coming together or oblivion, one way or another. The latter is too painful to picture, regardless of who “wins.” The fact that this showdown is being waged by those who are considered the “safekeepers” of Shabbat in Israel, and the epitome of modern computer technology, is so rife with symbolism and meaning that you have to be blind not to get it. But imagine if both sides manage to pull it off – if they do figure out a way to preserve the Sabbath, and keep the plant going! Imagine being able to meet that G-d given challenge successfully! Who could imagine the benefits – the “blessings” – that would emerge?
Chalk up another successful export industry Israel is a player in: Satellites. Earlier this year, Israel’s first communication satellite, Amos-1, was sold to Intelsat, one of the largest operators of communication satellites in the world. Amos 1 will now be known as Intelsat 24, and will be used for communications in East Asia – meaning that Iranians watching channels like India’s Star TV may be getting their shows from an Israeli-made satellite!
According Amitzur Rosenfeld, director of MicroSat Israel (a joint venture between IAI and Rafael to build micro-satellites), Intelsat is directing eastward Amos-1, which is still in orbit. Speaking recently at a scientific conference in Tel Aviv, Rosenfeld said the original plan had been to use whatever fuel was left on the old Amos-1 (launched in 1996) and fire it out of the earth’s orbit, to make room for new satellites. By doing so, Israel was being a good world citizen; according to NASA, there are over 9,000 (!) satellites and/or other “artificial objects” orbiting the earth, so things can get crowded up there!
Israel, it turns out, is one of the most advanced countries in satellite technology anywhere, because of the launching technology it has developed, along with breakthroughs in imaging. Most of the country’s communication satellites (like the Amoses) have been launched from outside the country (France, India, Russia, etc.), because of the need to fire satellites in an eastward direction, the direction of the earth’s rotation. That works fine in Florida or Texas, but in this part of the world, an eastbound launch might be construed as an attack by Jordan or further neighbors.
And, in addition, Israel’s new TecSAR satellite provides superior imaging capabilities, enabling sensors to pick up what is going on down below even during cloudy weather. Israel and France are developing a satellite that will enable farmers, fishermen and governments to better keep track of the land and sea environment, and according to “informed sources,” NASA is set to build a satellite in Israel using TecSAR technology to be used to map the usually very cloudy planet Venus. Nowadays, here in Israel, “space cadet” is a compliment, not an insult!
After many months, the Modu phones finally go on sale in Israel this week. The Modu, for those not familiar with it (informative article about it right here) is the modular phone that changes its functions, depending on the “sleeve” you put it in. They have, for example, a sports module, which lets the phone record steps, running speed, distance, etc. Another module turns the phone into a mini-boombox, which plays great stereo music. Yet another module turns the device into a full screen video system, letting you watch movies anytime, anywhere.
At 43 grams, the Modu is the lightest cellphone in the world, all by itself (you don’t need a sleeve for the basic phone functions). At NIS 500 (about $130), the Modu is a bargain, considering the usual cost of phones here. Unfortunately, it’s only available for Cellcom customers right now. It is also to go on sale soon in the Philippines, Central and South America, India.
The Modu was supposed to have been released months ago, but according to Modu CEO Dov Moran, the project suffered unforeseen delays, with investors getting cold feet and supply issues (Texas Instruments, which Modu relied on for the phone’s chips, announced it was getting out of the cellphone business, and the Chinese company that manufactured the unit and the sleeves shut down). All’s well that ends well, though, and Moran finally has fulfilled the Modu dream of developing a phone with advanced functions that won’t strain users’ budgets.
Usually, mixing business with politics isn’t such a good idea if you’re trying to sell somebody something. You never know whom you’re going to offend, and the customer (and cash) is king.
But if you’re just giving away your product, I guess politics can play a role – maybe a big one. That’s definitely the philosophy of Zvi Schreiber, CEO of G.ho.st. When you hold an opening event at a gap in the security fence (“separation wall”) separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem, you’re wading ankle deep in one of the hottest political issues in the region.
That’s exactly what Schreiber did, launching the final beta version of his G.ho.st virtual operating system at “this symbol of division,” according to special guest Tony Blair, who added “I’ve done many launches in my life, but this ranks as about the most unusual.”
With G.ho.st, users can store up to 15 gigs of files, and use an office suite with their files, browse the internet, and access their e-mail from any computer in the world. User accounts are stored in the “cloud,” the one run by Amazon, and you can log into your G.ho.st account anywhere.
Why the security fence? Because most of the programming for G.ho.st is being done by programmers who live in Ramallah! G.ho.st’s corporate offices are in Israel proper, but Schreiber has outsourced almost all of the G.ho.st architecture work to programmers in the Palestinian Authority (according to what he told me). “I’m perhaps the only CEO in the world who can’t visit the company’s main office, even though it’s like 15 kilometers my house in Jerusalem,” Schreiber said at the event.
In my interview with him, Schreiber described how staff meetings are held in a gas station near Jericho. “We’ve even had company meetings there, since it’s the only place we can get together that both sets of employees can get to,” he said. But it’s worth it, he added; “I’ve always wanted to make a contribution to coexistence, and a high-tech firm with offices in Israel and the PA seemed like a good way to do it.”
What to make of G.ho.st? The question come up because there are those who are accusing G.ho.st of “exploitation” in the guise of “promoting coexistence.” Why? Schreiber says his PA programmers are well compensated – “I’m not aware of any other company in the PA that gives out options to its employees,” Schreiber told me – but for sure the salaries those benefits are based on are going to be significantly less than he would pay to Israeli employees.
In that sense, Schreiber has succeeded in replacing Bangalore with Ramallah. If you think there’s nothing wrong with exporting jobs to the Far East, then there’s nothing wrong with exporting jobs to the Palestinian Authority; if you believe employers have a responsibility to their national entities and the citizens of the country that afforded them the opportunity to be in a position to employ others, then you have a problem with G.ho.st.
In addition, because the Palestinians are such bitter enemies of Israel, some would argue that Schreiber is wrong on two counts: One, he’s providing jobs to Palestinians who want to see us dead (or maybe just deported), and two, he’s exporting jobs that Israelis would be happy to do during these recessionary times.
According to this AFP article, most of the Ramallah employees work for a third of the pay of their Israeli counterparts. Quoting Dror Globerman of Ma’ariv, the article says:
“I think the incentives are definitely there. (The West Bank) is cheap and close, and Palestinian engineers are talented people.”
So it’s all about the money for G.ho.st – or is it? The AFP article goes on to say:
However, the persistent threat of political instability still encourages most Israeli entrepreneurs to look to calmer parts of the globe. “No one can guarantee that a Palestinian engineer will always be able to reach his office or have an Internet connection,” Dror says. “Israelis are used to having these fears addressed to them by foreign investors.”
In other words, Ramallah is not Bangalore. Given the volatile political and security situation, work could be suspended due to an IDF action in response to a terror attack at any time, or (probably more likely) a shootout between Hamas and Fatah troops near the G.ho.st offices. (Given the rampant crime in the PA, I wonder if Schreiber has to pay protection money to criminal gangs – or the “official” police - in order to be left alone? See, that’s a question you can’t ask a CEO!). For dealing with those issues, Schreiber deserves a lot of credit.
And G.ho.st fits right in with Binyamin Netanyahu’s declared desire to help the PA economically – the idea being that once Palestinians get a taste of the “good life” in Israel, they’ll have a strong incentive to play peace ball. That there is something to this is clear when you speak to Arabs in Wadi Ara (as I did) about what they think of proposals to move the border and rope them into Palestinian Authority controlled areas.
So what do you think the Palestinians think about all this? Do they feel “colonialized” or “exploited” by Schreiber? Not according to this article by Ma’an, the official PA news agency.
The project, three years in the making, was funded by the Benchmark Capital Fund and Noa Rothman’s foundation, and hired Palestinian and Israeli developers trained in local universities to push forward the development.
“It was a program aiming to bring some of the prosperity and skills to Palestinians that have brought success to the Israeli [IT] industry,” one organizer said.
The program’s launch, in front of Israel’s separation wall in the Bethlehem-area town of Beit Jala, focused on the potential of creativity and economic development for the creation of a stable future for both Israel and Palestine.
Of course, there was the requisite paragraph afterwards on how there needs to be a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and the return of descendants of refugees, etc. etc. But it sounds to me like Ma’an knows a good thing when it sees it. As the AFP article quotes Ramallah office director Khaled Ayyash as saying:
“We are creating jobs, we are getting good salaries, and we can work here in Palestine instead of going abroad.”
Cynics would say it’s about time Microsoft released a free anti-virus program – after all, aren’t most of the viruses that infect Windows systems the result of the all too easy to bust registry?
But we’ll leave aside the politics of the registry for now. What I like about the new, free Microsoft Security Essentials is that it was developed right here in Israel! As of today (June 23), the package is available for download (I found a link for all versions here, but by Wednesday it should be on the official MS security page).
The download is free, and available for now to users in the U.S., Israel, and Brazil. According to a bunch of articles I read, the reasoning is that the U.S. has lots of computers, Israel is where it was developed, and Brazil has lots of infected computers, so the feedback will help MS improve the product. It’s not exactly an anti-virus suite like Norton or the others, but it’s good at nabbing trojans and viruses in e-mail and downloads.
At a press conference, Moshe Lichtman, the director of Microsoft Development in Israel, unveiled not only the antivirus program, but 13 other innovations the Israeli unit came up with, including a new version of Messenger for dual computer/cellphone use, that will display messages on the phone as SMS messages, and as regular Messenger messages on the computer – automatically.
Microsoft’s Israel labs have had a long tradition of innovating killer products for the company. Like – developing much of Windows NT (the precursor of Win2k and XP)! From an article I wrote a couple of years ago, where I tried to ascertain Israel’s role in the creation of Windows:
After lots of Web surfing, I decided to give Microsoft Israel a call. Apparently, they get this question a lot; the very pleasant young lady I spoke with said that “Parts of Windows NT were definitely developed in Israel,” but that she could not specify which ones – other than to say they were “probably” mostly “security related.” Security, of course, was NT’s biggest selling point, so this young lady may have said more than she meant to. Hmm. On the other hand, she seemed to indicate that NT, as all of Microsoft’s products are, was a team effort, with different research groups working on different parts of the program.
Which would mean that Israel, although perhaps an important contributor, did not necessarily develop “most” of NT or XP. I was ready to take that as the situation, in fact – attributing the statement on the poster to overenthusiastic Israel-loving (not that there’s anything wrong with that) – until I came across this site (http://tinyurl.com/nwe5w), a technical site that made this statement, in the context of a computer show it was covering in Tel Aviv: “Microsoft also announced Windows NT Embedded which is to be released this year and is being developed at Microsoft R&D centre in Haifa, here in Israel.” Well, if they developed NT Embedded, why not NT itself?
Uri Geller may or may not be a phony, but thanks to Israel’s TrixCell, anyone can pull a Geller – using their cell phones! Trixcell’s latest digital trick is so cool, it’s even better than the one where your cell phone spews out money – a trick that got Trixcell nominated for a Meffy!
I see by the look on your face that I am going to have to explain that last paragraph! It’s actually very simple: Trixcell makes “magic tricks” you can use on your cellphone. Yep, you read that right! In one of their tricks, for example – called Pyro – you get a picture of a fire on your screen. Blow on it – and the fire goes out! But even better: After you’ve blown the fire out, “relight” the screen, and pass it around to others – and watch them huff and puff, trying to put out a fire that just won’t go away!
A digital coin is trapped inside the phone. It acts realistically and moves in sync as you tilt, shake and rotate the phone. A final jolt kicks the coin out of the screen, causing it to materialize as a real coin in your hand!
So how do they work? What, you expected a magician to give away his secrets? I met the guys behind Trixcell - Shlomi Grandes and Menny Lindenfeld, the latter a world famous magician – when I interviewed them for an Israel21c article earlier this year.
In another trick previewed for me by Grandes, CEO of TrixCell (which he said would be great to use for bar bets) I was asked to think about one of four alcoholic beverages I preferred – beer, whiskey, martini, or wine. And – you guessed it! In about three minutes, Grandes guessed my preference, with the drink being virtually drained as he spoke. Repeat performances didn’t change the result, by the way – Grandes batted 100%, guessing my choice each time!
And then there’s that spoon-bending trick, a la Uri Geller – you concentrate, stare at the screen, and watch the piece of cutlery of your choice (knife, spoon, fork, etc.) as it bends! Check out this video!
Now, Trixcell has been nominated for a Meffy – a top award from the Mobile Entertainment Forum, in the category of best content of the year. Considering the cellphone giants nominated along with TrixCell (see the list), this is quite an accomplishment!
Now, everyone loves a magic trick, as anyone who has ever seen a streetcorner magician knows. So, getting a TrixCell trick puts you in a very cool category! So what can you do with this new power? The sky’s the limit – take bar bets, for example, and make some drink money. Just be ready to run for it if you hoodwink the wrong person and they decide to demand a “refund.” Grandes, though, is a lover, not a fighter – according to him, the TrixCell tricks are a great way to hook up with that “special someone,” impressing him/her and breaking the ice. A cellphone application that makes love happen – now, that’s real magic!
You’ve probably tried out CamSpace, the Israeli “Wii Killer” that lets you interact with your computer screen without a mouse or keyboard – just using your body. And if you haven’t, shame on you, because you didn’t read my great article about it at Israel21c. CamSpace is still maturing, but already you can play dozens of games that let you be “in” the game, waving your hand around while playing tennis, boxing, playing Donkey Kong type games, etc.
Well, it turns out there’s yet another Israeli company working in this space – and its technology is apparently going to be at the heart of Microsoft’s Project Natal which will be included in future Xbox editions. According to Engadget, Israel’s 3DV Systems’ ZCam, which
“is at the size of a typical webcam, and provides home users revolutionary gesture recognition capabilities in addition to real-time background replacement, enabling them to control video games and personal space through intuitive body gestures and immerse themselves with virtual reality”
will be the piece of hardware Natal uses to connect users to the their screens!
The ZCam is actually a hybrid between the Wii’s approach and the CamSpace approach (but closer to CamSpace); using dedicated motion detection hardware and software like the Wii does (CamSpace is software and works with any web cam), with a full body orientation like Camspace allows, instead of just limiting you to interactivity with the remote control, like the Wii. According to Engadget,
“Project Natal really couldn’t be further from the Wii when it comes to motion controls. Instead of representing potentially arbitrary controller motions and gestures, Microsoft has its sights set on capturing the motion of the entire body. The technology is certainly impressive, combining an infrared camera and traditional camera to capture motion and 3D location in with glorious resolution and responsiveness — from furious full body flailing to the subtle motion of an imaginary steering wheel, gas pedal and gear shifter.”
And that camera combination will apparently be coming to you courtesy of Israeli startup 3DV Systems. Apparently a deal for MS to buy 3DV has been or is about to be completed, and it’s possible the first ZCams (or whatever they evolve into) will show up in Xboxes next year.
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