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!
1) From the presentation by Steve Jobs introducing the device, it appears that they will be having a deal with AT&T in the U.S. for the 3G network connection (confirmed, as AT&T announced that it will be offering unlimited iPad connection for $15/$30 a month). On the other hand, the iPad does have wifi, so you can easily bring one in and use it on any wifi network.
2) The new device is apparently unlocked as well, meaning you should be able to use any SIM card you want – but you may not be able to, because it will be using a new “micro” (3FF) SIM that you may not be able to get from other carriers. According to Engadget, “In fact, from AT&T’s perspective, this is better than a software lock in some ways — you’re not going to be able to download a hack that gets you on another network, so you’re totally at the mercy of your carrier at choice for providing a compatible card.”
3) Meaning that when considering official imports of the iPad, iDigital, Israel’s authorized distributor (which is NOT an Apple Store!) will have to work out deals with Apple for the import of the device, deals with one (all) of the cellphone companies for the 3G network (it’s hard to imagine Apple authorizing the imports without that, even though there is a wifi only version), and deals with someone to manufacture a SIM card for the Israeli market.
4) And, since the content you will be able to download, sync and use will be coming from the iTunes store (with Kindle-like book syncing probably to be added to music and video downloading, which will be an issue EVEN with the wifi-only version of the iPad) – access to which Israelis still don’t have even on “ancient” iPods and already old-hat Kindles – don’t look for the iPad to be officially sold here any time soon.
“Regarding [the iPad's] reaching Israel, it is still too early to determine [when, how and if that will happen]. We are acting in accordance with Apple policy, but we are working with the world [Apple] organization in regards to localization.”
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.
That new sub-$200 tablet they showed at CES 2010? Its innards were developed in Israel!
I’m talking about the Freescale Smartbook Tablet, which PC World said last week out-Appled the rumored Apple tablet at CES (in that it is an actual product at this moment, as opposed to vapor-hardware). But at $199, the Freescale device beats any netbook – real or imagined – hands down, based not only on price, but on features as well.
The Freescale Tablet is a real hybrid device, combining the best of the cellphone side with the more convenient features of notebooks and laptops. It’s got a 7-inch touch screen, a 3-megapixel camera, a smartphone-style accelerometer, an ambient light sensor, Bluetooth, and options for a 3G Modem. And from the PC side, it’s got 512mb RAM, slots for MicroSD cards (up to 64 GB storage), a 1 GHz processor, and Wi-Fi. Plus a load of other features. The models shown at CES ran Android and Linux OS’s. And, it comes in cool colors! The company says it expects to be available commercially by the summer.
In this article (in Hebrew), Freescale Israel chairman Moshe Kashat discusses the i.MX515 processor, developed at Freescale’s labs in Herzliya:
“Leading edge users are demanding small devices with strong usability features. Our (i.MX515) processor provides them with high performance, including improved graphics processing, and very low energy use – with the result that users can go longer without recharging, up to a full day. We will undoubtedly provide a strong challenge to the netbooks using Intel Atom processors, and their challengers.”
(“… and their challengers.” Sounds like he’s talking about alternative processors – like the one Apple is planning!). The article also quotes Freescale Israel CEO and Marketing Director for Eastern Europe, Shmuel Barkan:
“Our smartbook opens a door to a new and wonderful world. We believe that our tablet will be adopted by the consumer market as the popular choice for the next generation of smartbooks. Freescale plans on being a leading player in paving the way for the smartbook to be a winning device.”
So the iPhone finally came to Israel – overdue and overpriced. As I predicted, I might add (not that you had to be such a genius to figure it out!).
Don’t bother. The iPhone is so “this year” (maybe even “last year”). Save up your money so you can buy the real game changer – the First Else, made by Else (formerly Emblaze Mobile). I interviewed the CEO of Else for Israel21c.org (look for the full article there) and saw the First Else live and in person.
And it’s like no other phone you’ve ever seen! The video below doesn’t do it justice. This is an elegant – dare I say it? – work of art, that was ergonomically designed from the ground up to provide maximum usability and minimum (actually zero) futzing around.
I don’t want to give away too much because I want you to read the whole article (I’ll link it when it comes out), but I wanted to be sure to let you know what the future holds. Else CEO Amir Kuperveis and I discussed much about the philosophy behind the First Else (appropriate for a device that was designed from the bottom up), comparing it, of course, to the iPhone. Suffice to say that the one advantage the iPhone has – the thousands of apps you can install in order to improve functionality – comes off as a primitive band-aid solution to getting your device to work the way you want.
In the end, the cell device is about getting things done – and the ease of use in the First Else (here’s a tidbit: you can do everything – but everything – that you need to do on the phone with one finger, your thumb! It was designed that way) blows away any and every device on the market. If the First Else is a color high-def digitalTV, the iPhone is an ancient early color analog set – while my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is like radio!
Once again, Israel is left out in the cold. The 100 countries that Amazon will be selling its new international version of the Kindle to does not include Israel. If you’re willing to go to Cyprus, though, they’ll be happy to sell you one. But you still won’t get all the content of the American version.
The Kindle, of course, is Amazon’s nifty e-book reader that lets you buy and download books, magazines, newspapers etc. directly from the Amazon bookstore to your Kindle device. Beginning October 19, an Amazon statement says, the “Amazon Kindle is now for sale to customers in more than 100 countries…’We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books,’ said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. ‘Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.’”
Why not Israel? We’ll get to that a little later. First, though, I have to give props to Amazon as one of the few U.S. online stores willing to take Israeli credit cards. If you’ve ever tried to order anything using an Israeli card from any department store site, Wal-Mart, Buy.com, and a slew of others, you’ve felt the burning shame of rejection. Not at Amazon, though, which is open-minded enough to take the money you’re offering them for whatever it is they’re selling. They’ll even ship many (but certainly not all) items to Israel. But you can order anything with your Israeli credit card and ship to a U.S. address (if you don’t have one, try http://www.mustop.co.il/).
So you’d think that Israel, with its large community of English language speakers and readers, would be a natural for the Kindle. But not so fast; digital rights aren’t the same as “traditional” rights, as far as purchasers and suppliers are concerned. Just like you can’t buy music from the iTunes store if you’re doing it in Israel (you can’t even download the free music on the iTunes site!), you can’t buy MP3s from Amazon. But, you can order any CD you want and have it shipped here. Why? Because of fears of piracy, many music publishers fear selling outside the U.S., where DRM laws may be more lax.
That’s understandable. But the story with Kindle is somewhat different. Although e-books (and Kindle books) can be pirated, anyone downloading them directly to the device must be registered with Amazon, and the device must be registered as well. Of course, you can easily load stolen e-books (in .txt format) on a Kindle, but you could do that anyway, with a Kindle or any other e-book reader, or even on your computer. In other words, it’s not the Kindle sales model that is the problem here; that’s rock solid, and there would be no reason for publishers to fear piracy using the Kindle download model. Besides, most pirates aren’t going to bother to spend $300 for the Kindle anyway, when there are far cheaper alternatives for reading e-books (like on your cellphone).
So what’s the issue? I got a hint from a New York Times article on the story, where the author writes the following: “One challenge for publishers is navigating complex foreign rights issues: Books are often published by different companies and bear different prices in each country.” In other words, there are pre-existing agreements between distributors of books for publishers, and those distributors will want a piece of the action.
In Israel, the chief distributor of English language books is Steimatzky. A few years ago, you may recall, a mini-scandal erupted when an importer began buying best-selling books in the U.S. at wholesale prices and shipping them to Israel – and was still able to sell the books at significantly lower prices than Steimatzky did. And Steimatzky screamed bloody murder, threatened to sue – and, pulling out its trump card, threatened to withhold sales from stores that bought books from this importer (an act that would be illegal in lots of places). All this, because they had more or less cornered the market on book imports, and weren’t willing to share. You can witness for yourself the power of Steimatzky’s near monopoly by taking a ride to the Bnei Brak Industrial Zone (near the Ayalon Mall), where you will see one of the biggest warehouses of any type in Israel – bearing the name Steimatzky. Is that the reason Amazon won’t/can’t sell the Kindle here? I can’t say, as I don’t have any inside info. But is Steimatzky likely to ask for a piece of the action? I wouldn’t be surprised.
One of the great things about a smartphone is the ability it gives you to connect to the wider world – through its data connection. And now, with relatively fast 3G internet networks, you can really hook into lots of great services. While the iPhone usually gets most of the glory, plain old Symbian or Windows devices can do most of us just fine.
For instance, I like having the option of hooking up internet phone calls on my cellphone using Skype. Skype has an application, called Skype Lite, which lets Java phone users dial into Skype via a regular cell phone call, with the call forwarded from the local connection to your Skype contact anywhere in the world. That’s a great way to save on international phone calls, but if you want to avoid the phone call charge itself, you can make a free Skype call using your smartphone, if you’re using a wifi connection. What if there’s no wifi? A smartphone lets you easily switch between the different connection options, such as WAP or 3G.
My Nokia 5800 phone is a Symbian device, and as of now Skype doesn’t have a native application for Symbians. So, I use an app called Nimbuzz, which very neatly lets you connect with your Skype account and call your contacts – as well as your the contacts in your phone book (I used Fring for awhile, but found Nimbuzz to be much neater in its approach).
Other notable apps that let you hook up with the rest of the world: Qik, a great app that lets you broadcast (via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook) whatever is happening around your phone live to the rest of the world; vTap, a video sharing site for mobiles; and Waze (http://www.waze.co.il or http://www.waze.com), which uses your phone’s GPS settings to determine where you are, and informs you of traffic problems or speed traps in your area.
As I wrote in the Jerusalem Post, you can connect to services like these via wifi, or 3G. But when using cellular internet, you are being charged by the kilobyte for all data you transfer on the network. For Orange customers, for example, the basic surfing package gives you almost unlimited surfing within the Orange site network, but once you try and connect to the rest of the world, you find that the 30 MB in data transfer you get with the basic NIS 21 package just isn’t enough.
Unfortunately, the concept of unlimited data connection is unknown in Israel, unlike in the rest of the world. On the other hand, the commensurate cost of the data connection is cheaper, because you get to choose from one of four data connection packages, so you can decide how much or how little you want to spend. Fortunately for me, I’m able to do a lot of my work in wifi-friendly environments, so I use my phone’s wifi connection to connect to most of the cool services I use. But having that 3G backup “insurance policy” is essential; for example, I was able to use soft modem Joikuspot to get my work done while helping my wife keep vigil recently at the hospital for a sick relative.
Having already received a warning that I was running out of allocated data time, I decided to upgrade from the 30 MB to the 150 MB package, which costs NIS 41 a month (to fund it, I dropped the GPS, which was NIS 21 a month, so my bill is essentially the same). The next package in the series, 5GB of data connection time, should put paid to any concerns I would have about going over the transfer limit; but that package is NIS 81 a month.
Since I don’t want to pay any more on my monthly bill than I already do, I didn’t upgrade to the 5GB plan – but if I could drop another NIS 40 in existing services that I don’t need as much, I would. Unfortunately, since most of my bill consists of set charges (for minutes and SMS usage), there’s almost nothing I can cut out without going to a different call package. But if I could shave off some of that cost – maybe take a package that doesn’t include 200 free SMS messages (I don’t use nearly that many), I could cut down the talk package and apply that money to the data package.
So here’s what I’m planning to do: I’d like to call Orange and figure out what the absolute cheapest package they offer is, and figure out whether signing up for that, along with the 5 GB data package (or even the 20 GB package, for NIS 80), comes out cheaper. My wife, for example, pays a basic charge of NIS 8.57 per month, and then by the minute (about 60 agurot). Which sounds expensive, and would be if I used it to talk the 200 plus minutes a month I usually use my cellphone. But – what if I were to make all my calls using Nimbuzz/Skype? I’d still have to pay SkypeOut minutes if I call non-Skype customers, but maybe that would be cheaper than paying for the cell phone minutes.
And even if it cost the same (I suspect it would), I would have the greater flexibility of being able to use the data package anyway I wanted, which is much more efficient than having services I don’t really need or want (extra SMS messages, which Orange is always giving away for free anyway – their latest promo was 1,000 free messages in honor of Ramadan!). With 5GB (or 20GB!) of data connection, I wouldn’t even have to use Skype; I could contact everyone directly on Facebook, Messenger, or e-mail, with actual talking over Skype taking place only when necessary (how many times do we just need to convey information, as opposed to getting into a conversation, when calling colleagues, customers, etc.? That’s why SMS messages are so popular!). If nothing else, this would be a cool topic to write about. I figure I could get three columns out of it!
I’m always on the outlook for cheap cellphones, considering how much I (and my wife and three teenagers who have lost a coule over the years) depend on them. But I got tired of getting ripped off by Orange, Pelephone, et al, not so much for the service, but for the old phones they try to pawn off on us, selling them for twice the price they retail for when new! As I wrote a couple of years ago, all you had to do was compare the web stores for the Israeli phone companies where they list the prices for their devices, and compare them to the prices you can buy them for unlocked on Amazon.
I even proved that it could pay for Israelis to order the phone; even after you pay the customs and the sales tax and shipping, the “full price” devices the Israeli companies are selling can be had from sites like Amazon for a third of the price! And when it comes to the “kosher” phones they market to the Chareid public, the Israeli cellphone companies outdo themselves; for their “mehadrin” lines, they take TEN year old analog phones (probably purchased for 2 cents on the dollar!) and sell them for even MORE than they charge for the latest 3G phones!
So, I took a conscious decision a couple of years ago – never again would I buy a phone from Orange (with whom I currently have my account). Instead, I order unlocked tri- or quad-band GSM phones from Amazon, to be brought back either by me or by friends. Comparing the prices, it made sense.
Somehow, though, this week I found myself in an Orange store – where I saw their latest ads for the latest “deals” they were offering. Like a dog that’s been whipped one too many times, I of course looked the other way – but the salesperson was available and I had to wait around for something anyway. One of the deals showed a tiered pricing system on some devices – like, if you speak a certain number of minutes a month, you pay less for the device. Maybe there was a deal to be had. Who knew?
So I asked. I explained to the salesperson what my strategy was, and how I was going to save a ton of money buying a top of the line, relatively new phone directly and unlocked. He checked his computer and told me, “well, you speak about 200 minutes a month and pay X amount per month on that phone. So you’re a good candidate for a deal.” Yeah, but how good?
“How about this: I’ll give you the Nokia for 499, and a package for 18 months that will give you 200 minutes, 200 SMS messages, 3G internet (the device has wifi too), and I’ll even throw in two months of GPS free.” 499!?! But I told him I was paying 299.
It took me a couple of seconds (yes, I can be “slow”), but then it hit me. This is Israel! And he’s offering me a $299 phone for NIS 499 (in six interest-free payments) – which is about $140 at current exchange rates! Not to mention the 35% I am now saving on my actual phone use! And, to top it off, he threw four Orange painter caps into the bag with the phone (and we all know that we die for the cute “freebies” the cellphone companies give out!).
I’ve been checking the phone out, and it seems to work. I’ve also been searching all over for a “refurbished” sticker and I can’t find one. I mean, there must be a catch! Why would Orange be selling this phone so cheap (of course, they should really be giving these things away, like companies in the rest of the world do). The only issue I could find is that phones manufactured before February 2009 may have an issue with the earpiece getting loose. I haven’t been able to determine the manufacture date of this unit (logic would say that these discounted phones are leftover stock that had problems, but equal logic would say that it’s unlikely Orange or any retailer would have had such a large stock of phones left over from more than six months ago). However, if this is one of the problem phones, I’ve got a one year manufacturer’s warranty, so I’m covered there. Still scratching my head, though – what’s come over Orange to make them so “generous?”
(P.S.: This happy occurence does not make me more optimistic about the pricing structure for the iPhone when it finally comes out in Israel. I explain why here).
At first it sounded like another dream deal: An Israeli company sold a one third interest in a medical device it developed to a British-Taiwanese company for $370 million – making the total value of SafeSky’s LifeKeeper Patch over $1 billion. The deal, between SafeSky and Micro-Star International (MSI), is one of the biggest ever in relative terms for an Israeli hi-tech industry.
According to the company, the LifeKeeper patch can read information about the wearer’s medical state – recording data such as body temperature, heart rate and rhythms, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. When you wear the patch, the information is transmitted via Bluetooth to a cell phone, where an application records the information. The phone program evaluates the data, and if the information being recorded indicates that that wearer is in danger of a heart attack or stroke, it can send an emergency message out to doctors or emergency services, who can then locate the wearer using the phone’s GPS capabilities. (I’m proud to say I had the first full English-language report on this, which you can read here)
Sounds like a medical miracle! And the fact that a company was willing to stake so much money for just a partial ownership seems like a miracle, too – in fact, it’s pretty miraculous that any company would have that kind of money around today!
Maybe it’s jealousy or politics (one of the co-inventors of the patch is said to be a good friend of Prime MinisterNetanyahu), but a smattering of reports have appeared in the Israeli press over the past day or so questioning whether there was a deal, or whether the patch even exists! This, despite assurances by the owners that the deal was done and the check from MSI is already in the hands of SafeSky’s Tel Aviv lawyers. In an interview for a print publication (whose name I am not authorized to reveal online!) the interviewer asked co-inventor Amos Bouchnik about the reports, and he dismissed them:
“We’re not paying attention to them at all. We’ve kept the device under wraps at the request of the purchaser in order to ensure maximum industrial security. MSI will conduct a presentation in Tel Aviv in the near future and demonstrate it to doctors. The company has been examining this device for the past 18 months and it is indeed a device that will change the face of medicine.”
SafeSky is a private company, it made a deal for a product it owns, and it doesn’t have to reveal any details of its work – including to the media. But apparently the media doesn’t agree. Channel One ran a rather snide report questioning whether the device even exists! As if Bouchnik and his partner Arik Klein (Netanyahu’s friend) made the whole thing up! Note that both are very successful dentists, of all things – entrepreneurial dentists, who own chains of dental clinics and are involved in several other businesses. SafeSky, which they wholly own, has other products as well, such as “a better solar panel,” which can collect 100 times more energy than panels currently in use.
Not only do the two own the exclusive patents to the patch: They have never taken VC or other investment money, meaning they don’t owe anybody anything.
And therein probably lies the root of their spate of bad press, if I know my Israeli reporters. Probably some goon demanded to see the patch in action, and Bouchnik and Klein told them no way – to which the reporter got very offended and threatened to do a hatchet job on them. Unimpressed, the two sent the reporter his or her way, and s/he made good on the threat by running a nasty story questioning not only their ethics and reliability, but their sanity (as if they made the whole thing up!)
And if you think I’m being too hard on the reporter, I invite you to listen to the news magazines on Israel’s second radio channel (Reshet Bet), at 9 AM, 10 AM, Noon, and 5 PM. In the many live interviews with newsmakers they conduct, the speakers – ranging from politicians to plain old Joes – have to contend with constant interruptions, innuendo, and overall nastiness and rudeness. I mean it; speakers get interrupted by the hosts at nearly every sentence. It’s as if the hosts have to hear themselves speak every few seconds, in order to make sure everyone knows they’re in charge! That’s the caliber of reporter in Israel’s media – and making up a story just to get back at a company that doesn’t want to play ball with them is definitely not out of the realm of possibility. (Note: Picture is NOT of the LifeKeeper Patch, but for illustrative purposes only!)
Yes, the iPhone is coming to Israel, but I wouldn’t get too excited – unless you like overpaying and getting stuck with what’s probably going to be a whopper of a voice/data plan. If I know the Israeli phone companies, customers who buy the iPhone from the carriers – Orange Israel (Partner Communications) and Pelephone – are going to be paying… and paying… and paying some more!
How do I know? Because that’s just the way things work here. Israeli cell phone companies don’t give out any free lunches – or free phones. Unlike in America, where they give you a phone for nothing (or for a very nominal cost) when you sign up for a plan. Here, you have to buy the phone, for full price – and then some!
Yes, you can pay it off in 36 payments, at NIS 29 a month. So what. Even over three years at 21% interest, with minimum monthly payments, it comes out a little cheaper buying it from Amazon!
But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that this phone is an OLD phone (old in “cellphone age,” that is). It was announced almost a year ago and went on sale last fall (2008). That’s why it’s marked down at Amazon from its $319.99 original price (the original Orange price was correspondingly higher, too). Here, Orange isn’t selling this phone unlocked; it expects you to use it for the next three years, and is treating it like a premium/top of the technology product! Not that there’s anything wrong with this Sony model (we have several Sony phones and they’ve all been great). But why do we have to pay top shekel for older phones that they’re giving away for nothing in the U.S.? Correction – they’re not even giving away that phone anymore; it’s too old! The phones they’re giving away are phones like the Blackberry Curve 8900, the LG CU920, and the Samsung i637. Just for signing up for a plan!
So how much do you think they’re going to want for the latest top of the line iPhone? Answer: It doesn’t matter. Given the history of phone costs in Israel, I predict that regardless of what they decide to charge (note that iDigital, the Israel Apple reseller – which is NOT an Apple Store – is buying the phones from Apple and reselling them), it will be cheaper to spend the $100 on the iPhone in the States, sign up for a month of AT&T service and then pay the cancellation fee ($175) plus other various and sundry costs!
P.S.: There’s much more to say about taking the cell phone service providers taking top shekel for outmoded cellphones; the biggest scam has to be how the companies bought up old analog cellphones for pennies, rebranded them, and sold them for ridiculous amounts of money to Haredim as “kosher” phones. But that’s for another post!
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