Israel Active

Israel’s Nexar has come a long way since I’ve been reporting it. In addition to its “bad driver” reporting function, it now says it has created the world’s first vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network that aims to detect dangers on the road and prevent collisions.

The cyber solutions from Israel’s Aperio alert and take action when hackers try to damage critical infrastructures, such as electricity grids or water supply networks. They detect anomalies, such as a wrong noise or temperature, in an apparently otherwise perfectly working device.

Israel’s Inokim, based in Moshav Avichail, has launched a new electric scooter - the Quick 3, which can be folded in 3 seconds and taken on a bus or a train. The scooter can travel 30 km on a full charge, at a speed of 25 km per hour. It can be activated and secured by smartphone app.

One of the Israeli companies highlighted at the CSR Experience Conference (see above) is the Hadera Paper company, producer of the world’s most recycled & environment-friendly paper.  Repaper is made entirely of wastepaper and free of cellulous or any polluting chemicals.

Israeli startup Oryx Vision has raised $17 million to build a depth sensing solution for autonomous vehicles. Its “coherent optical radar” is based on a long-wave infrared laser and nano-antennas that receive light waves like radio waves. Unlike alternatives, Oryx’s system can see in fog.

Assessing a diamond’s color and clarity used to be a laborious and subjective manual process. Now Israel’s Sarine Technologies has developed machine learning technologies to automatically and objectively grade the clarity and color of stones, far more accurately than the human eye.

Israeli startup Strayboots provides mobile experiences for corporate team building, group adventures and city exploration. It has set up scavenger hunts and other activities in over 50 cities worldwide and is used by more than 1000 companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Nike.

Israeli startup Ai Type offers computer users personal assistance based on keywords in the messages they type.  For example, type “I have to collect my kids early” and Ai Type can offer to connect you to a cab company.

US telecomms giant AT&T has launched DirectTV - a new TV project, in which content from 120 channels is streamed to the web. The app (for Apple and Android in the US) was developed by AT&T’s Israel R&D center, which was formed when AT&T took over Israeli startup Interwise in 2007.

The BusinessH2O Summit in Las Vegas on Dec 12 features Governors, CEOs, academics and a veritable “who’s who” of Israeli water experts.  They will discuss best practices in corporate water stewardship and public policies to address the growing demand for water.