Israel Active

Intel Haifa’s RealSense is using Israeli 3D tech and the Israeli-developed Skylake microchip to give robots sight. (See previous newsletter). Intel bought Israel’s Omek in 2013 to help develop Intel’s 3D cameras and infrared lasers so that robots can interact with their environment.

The town of Harish, east of Hadera is being developed into a major city (see previous newsletter ). Buildings will be built according to official Israeli Standard 5281 for green, or sustainable, construction. The Israeli government has allocated NIS 9 million to build new schools.

The Israeli app Pricez is helping the hundreds of thousands who have downloaded it to save money by directing them to the stores where the products they need are the cheapest. It uses location data, plus the database that Israeli stores must by law update automatically direct from their cash registers.

The Israeli app Green Wave tells drivers the ideal speed to drive at, in order not to have to stop at a red traffic light. Green Wave came third in Hyundai’s i-Way hackathon, winning 15,000 shekels. The app uses municipality data and a crowdsourced database.

For the first time, a scientific study by Itai Roffman of the University of Haifa, has observed bonobos (an analogous race to chimpanzees) making and using tools to search for food. One bonobo even fashioned a spear from the branches of a tree and used it to threaten Mr. Roffman.

I reported about Silentium’s Anti-Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology in previous Newsletters. Here is an update in a video from the CES 2015 event in Las Vegas.

A team of Israel Technion researchers including Professor Hossam Haick (famous for the cancer breath test) has developed a synthetic polymer that mimics human skin and can be integrated into flexible devices so that future smartphones will be able to “heal” any scratches or damage.

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded 24 of its 291 early-career starting grants to 24 Israeli researchers - making Israel first place for the number of research grants per capita.

Israel’s Lucidlogix based in Netanya is the developer of PowerXtend - power-saving technology that extends the battery life of smartphones (see newsletter). Lucidlogix has recently licensed PowerXtend to Meizu, one of the top ten smartphone brands in China.

Israel’s Circ MedTech, developers of PrePex, won the Sutter Health award (part of Applied Materials’ Tech Awards - considered “the Oscars of Silicon Valley”) honoring individuals and companies that use new or existing technology to improve health conditions around the world. The Israeli company is donating the $50,000 cash prize to help fund HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa.