Archive for Israel Technology News
I am very excited to announce that my company, Qoof, is a Red Herring Global 100 winner. When starting a company you often dream about being recognized amongst the other big companies if the world. This award is the most prestigious one we have won to date since we were up against thousands of other private Hi-Tech companies around the world who have won awards in their location over the past three years. The Red Herring Global 100 is a huge achievement for our company and I again want to commend the awesome job our team has been and continues to do. We won’t stop till the top 
Mazel Tov to the other three Israeli companies that also won!
Below if the official Press Release:
Qoof, The Video Commerce Company, Wins Prestigious Red Herring Global 100 Award
January 19, 2010, Laguna Niguel, California – Red Herring on Friday announced its Global 100 award in recognition of the leading private companies from North America, Europe, and Asia, celebrating these startups’ innovations and technologies across their respective industries.
Red Herring’s Global 100 list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising new companies and entrepreneurs. Red Herring editors were among the first to recognize that companies such as Google, Yahoo, Skype, Netscape, Salesforce.com, YouTube, and eBay would change the way we live and work.
“Choosing the best out of the previous three years was by no means a small feat,” said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. “After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed down our list from 1,200 potential companies to 200 finalists. Trying to get it down to 100 companies was a task upon itself. The top 100 companies who were chosen should be extremely proud, the competition was difficult.”
Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration. This assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the track record and standing of startups relative to their sector peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list an invaluable instrument of discovery and advocacy for the greatest business opportunities from around the world.
“This is a huge honor for us and shows off the hard work and quality of the entire Qoof team”, says Richard Kligman, Qoof’s Founder. “While this reward recognizes the team and the powerful technology behind our platform, the real reward for us is the ROI we are bringing our clients.” 
“Video Commerce is an arrow that has just been shot in the air”, states Jonathan Stefansky, Qoof’s CEO. “2010 will be a break out year for Video Commerce and Qoof has been the leading video commerce platform since we coined the term back in 2006. We look forward to releasing new technologies in the coming months which will continue our fast paced growth.
About Red Herring
Red Herring is a global media company uniting the world’s best high-technology innovators, venture investors, and business decision-makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters, and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider’s view of the global innovation ecosystem, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy.
For more information contact Anam Alpenia at: aalpenia@redherring.com
About Qoof Ltd.
Qoof is revolutionizing the way companies use video, transforming a branding tool into a fully interactive commerce experience. They are taking the world of rich media advertising, to the next level. Qoof’s unique platform and technology merges video and commerce with analytical reporting and multivariate testing to optimize performance driving higher click throughs and conversions. Given the dominant role that video will play in the future of web advertising, Qoof is well positioned to head that transformation with its industry leading solution.
For more information visit us at http://qoof.com or follow us at http://twitter.com/qoof
Why I won’t be running tomorrow to buy an iPhone when it finally hits Israel
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Those that know me (ahem… My Wife) knows that I love gadgets. It’s true and it is not so painful to admit it. And for the last 3 years every technology blog and magazine has been talking about the iPhone and how great it is and how it’s a game changer (which it is) etc.. I never got one as I don’t believe in jail breaking it since I always feel you will lose out on some aspects and you can never get proper support. So I was very excited a few months ago when it was first reported that the iPhone will finally be coming to Israel.
And now, that day has finally arrived. Tonight at 12:01am or tomorrow morning if you are with Orange you will be able to buy the iPhone in all its glory here in Israel.
But I won’t be running out to get one and I am still unsure if I will get one at all as I have my eye on another phone which I will mention below.
Here are a few of the reasons why:
- Using an Apple product on an Orange network does not sit well with me (ok, that was a very bad joke)
- The Hype: The hype around the product I have no problem with as it is being done around the world and everyone knows that the iPhone is one of the best smartphones, if not the best smartphone on the market today. My problem is also not with the hype and marketing in Israel. My problem is with all the hype without knowing exactly how much it is going to cost, how long you need to be locked into a contract for, what your monthly data plans are going to cost etc. The big companies are all holding back pricing hoping to get the first 240,000 suckers to purchase the phone w/o caring what the costs will be. The fear of missing out on getting one and being one of the first to get one will be too strong for many people and many will be over paying for something they can not afford.
- The pricing: As above we don’t know what the pricing will be, but from what the rumor mill is saying it will cost 800NIS upfront and then 150nis/month for x amount of months plus the need to pay for data depending on how much you will use it. So even though they are selling you a product that seems to be discounted 2000nis, in the end if it is a three year plan you will have ended up paying 6200 NIS plus your data plan. That’s a lot of money to be stuck with one phone for.
- Being Stuck: As above you will be stuck with this iPhone for probably three years yet there will be a new iPhone coming out with even better and more amazing features way before that. As well as other great phones and operating systems that finally are catching up to Apple in terms of look and feel. Are you going to be able to last 3 years with the same phone? I start to get jittery after about 6 months.
- Will it Blend: Ok, I don’t really care if it will blend in a blender, but I do care about how well will it work here in Israel and if all the features work well. Does the GPS work properly? Is the keyboard both in English and Hebrew? Does the Visual Voice mail work well or at all? How is the phone call quality? What bugs will there be that will need ironing out?
- According to this article we won’t have access to iTunes http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110801.html
- I have found a better phone that comes unlocked that is giving iPhone a run for it’s money. That phone is the HTC HD2. You can watch a video review of the phone here: http://smartphones.tv/category/htc/htchd2/ You can do your research, but this phone which runs on Windows Mobile 6.5 and has a larger screen then the iPhone is for me the phone to get. It will cost you a one time fee of about $800 and is really a great phone. The one thing that is holding me back is that I don’t want to get stuck with Windows Mobile 6.5 when Windows Mobile 7.0 should be coming out in 2010 and is suppose to be much better. I am just waiting for confirmation that the phone will be upgradeable.
But before I make a final decision I want to wait for feedback for the iPhone here in Israel and see if there are apps available or apps being developed that makes it a better phone to have here. If people are really raving over it and I can wait till the prices drop a bit or find out that they are not as expensive as I think they will be and there are no other hidden costs, then I may still get one. Time will tell.
So what are you going to do? Please comment and let me know if you will be standing online tomorrow and if you do get one let me know as I would love to share your thoughts with our readers.
Video: Israel: Leader of Business Innovation (NBC)
Posted by: | CommentsThe Video Speaks For Itself Be Proud!
The 3 Biggest winners at TechCrunch50 were all from Israelis
Posted by: | CommentsMazal Tov to all the great companies that made it to the TechCrunch 50. It is astounding that of over 1000 start-ups that applied only 50 made it to the show and the three biggest winners were all Israeli companies.
Follow this link for the whole story from TechAviv http://bit.ly/3nZ4po
Great Video about the Israeli Tech Industry by Sharon Weshler
Posted by: | CommentsVideo: Great Israeli invention for a cross between a bicycle and a stroller
Posted by: | CommentsCheck out this cool invention, perfect for Mothers. A cross between a bicyle and a stroller. Created by a company in Israel with offices in both Israel and the Netherlands. Watch the video below and check them out here.
TW2009 – Some really great Israeli Startups
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Last year Qoof, was one of the ten Israeli startups that was chosen to be showcased at TWS2008. We had a blast and it gave us some great exposure. This year a new batch of startups have made the final cut and it’s great to see the continued innovation coming from Israeli entrepreneurs.
CLICK ON THIS LINK TO GO TO THE TECHCRUNCH POST ON THIS EVENT
Is the Apple iPhone 3GS coming to Israel?
Posted by: | CommentsSo normally I hat those annoying pop-ups from internet explorer that my pop-up blocker doesn’t block, but this one caught my eye since it features the new Apple iPhone with some tantalizing news; that the new iPhone is coming to Israel from Pelephone.
Now if this is true it means two things.
1. That the cell phone game will change in Israel with a lot of people switching over to Pelephone.
2. I am for sure going to get into a fight with my wife in the near future
But how do we know if it is legit? I do have a few questions, but first I did a little research. The domain name being used is GI-Israel.info. Why use a .info name and who is the owner? Plus I’m sure the .com would be available. So first I found out who the owner of the domain was and this is what I found:
Created On:07-Aug-2006 06:33:55 UTC
Last Updated On:23-Jul-2008 09:41:23 UTC
Expiration Date:07-Aug-2009 06:33:55 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Directi Internet Solutions Pvt. Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com (R159-LRMS)
Status:OK
Registrant ID:DI_3654993
Registrant Name:Karin Oshri
Registrant Organization:Grey Interactive
Registrant Street1:154 Menachem Begin Rd.
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Tel Aviv
Registrant State/Province:Ha Merkaz
Registrant Postal Code:64921
Registrant Country:IL
Registrant Phone:+972.3608111
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:giisrael@nethost.co.il
So the next thing I did was check if it was the same company that owned the .com and it was. As you can see it is owned by Grey Interactive. I assume they use the .info domain for pop-up advertising or possible other forms of SPAM or ticking off potential customers, but they seem to be a legit business and are the Israel office of Global Grey Interactive.
So then I decided to go to Pelephones website and there it was on their home page!
So now I started to get excited, perhaps it’s true and the new iPhone will be coming to Israel soon. But I still had a few questions.
1. What does coming soon mean? A month? A year?
2. If it is a legit campaign then why use pop-ups or frankly any advertising for that matter? With Social Media they could get the word out with-out spending a shekel.
My best guess is that they Pelephone does not actually have a deal in place with Apple yet and they are doing this for 1 of 2 reasons.
1. They want their competitors to think they have a deal with Apple
or
2. They want to be able to go to Apple witha large list of “potential” clients and show Apple why they should work with them.
My guess is #2 since if they could get a list together of 250,000 people with there name, address, phone and TZ it could be enough to make Apple take a second look.
I filled out the form… just in case.
Update: Seems like Orange also has the same Ad! Check it out on their home page as well! Great news since I am already under contract with Orange!
Please post updates in the comment areas if you hear any more news.
MagShoe: Another great invention coming out of Israel that will cut the long lines at security gates in airports. Thanks to my Mom for sending me this clip! (see, I don’t delete all the emails you forward me)
Very sad news.
As seen here: http://israelinsider.ning.com/profiles/blogs/israeli-internet-entrepreneur
Sharfman was one of the most accomplished, respected, and influential Internet entrepreneurs in Israel, having co-founded Commtouch (NASDAQ:CTCH) and then led Shopping.com to an IPO and eventual sale to EBay for $650million.
