US firms buy Israeli big time

There were at least six big US takeovers of Israeli companies in the last month. Facebook bought face.com; Shutterfly bought Photoccino; Stanley Black & Decker bought AeroScout; JMI (with UK’s Apax) bought Paradigm (for $1 billion); TPG bought iMDsoft and Primus bought AOD.

Now Israel really is the heartbeat of Intel

Intel Corporation has acquired Israeli medical device company IDesia Biometrics. IDesia uses an electrical signal generated by the heartbeat to create an “electro biodynamic signature” unique to every individual, establishing a biometric identity that cannot be forged.

The sweet smell of success

Israeli-Canadian perfumer Ayala Moriel was raised in Clil, a unique village in the Western Galilee. Many of her 50 aromas are based on the memory of scents and smells from her childhood.

The Louvre – protected by Israeli security

Israeli subsidiary Synel is installing its access control security system at the famous Paris art gallery. It will include fingerprint verification, keypad entry, magnetic cards, barcode cards, proximity cards, contact-less smart cards and facial recognition.

And so is British Telecom

International communications giant British Telecom has chosen Israel's Cyber-Ark Software to monitor and secure its privileged accounts. Gadi Tirosh, a partner at Cyber-Ark’s funding company JVP, said: "This is further proof that Israel is a leading force in the cyber protection field."

Gas flows from Noa field

Noble Energy has completed development of the Noa natural gas field, and gas has begun to flow from it. The Noa field is estimated at 2.3 billion cubic meters of gas and it is expected to produce 1.2 BCM.

Substantial gas found at Samson well

Isramco has announced "substantial signs of petroleum (natural gas) have been found at the Shimshon 1 exploratory well." The aptly named Shimson (Samson) well has an estimated prospect of 2.3 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Russia is open to Israeli business

Some 400 top Russian government, industry, and education officials accompanied Russian premier Vladimir Putin on his visit to Israel. Israeli technology features extensively in Russian civilian aircraft. Russia’s firms seek Israeli medical technology and its citizens visit for treatment.

Moving from oil to natural gas

Israel Chemicals Ltd’s Fertilizers unit will build a 250-megwatt natural gas-powered power plant in Sedom. The new plant replaces its diesel and heavy fuel oil plant, reducing the company’s energy costs, protecting the environment and meeting ICL Fertilizers' needs for the next 20 years.

Now Dell wants to expand in Israel

Dell Inc. executives - VP strategy David Johnson and president software division John Swainson - visited Israel last week with the goal of expanding the company's presence in Israel.