While most companies would probably find it impossible (or at least very hard) to find wealthy individuals willing to finance a project, it looks as if Israeli startups within the cleantech (or green technology) industry are still attracting investors in New York and Boston.

(Globes Online) Investors in New York and Boston participated in two meeting of the Israel Cleantech Investor Conference last week for Israeli water and alternative energy technology start-ups and venture capital funds. The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and the Israeli economic attaché in New York organized the conferences. Participants said that the conferences were great successes, belying earlier worries that the global financial crisis would keep away potential investors. [...]

Oren added that the economic difficulties currently facing many countries are an opportunity, not an obstacle, for companies offering advanced technologies aimed at solving global problems. “One of the results of the financial crisis will be a significant rise in unemployment in many countries, probably including in the US. One of the usual solutions for dealing with unemployment is government spending on infrastructures. This creates opportunities for cleantech, and the proof is the great interest shown by investors in Israeli technologies.”

Most of the startups represented were “water-tech” companies, which included:

• Aquatal: a company who creates water treatment and water dispenser systems.
• Cequesta Water: a startup in the business for wastewater treatment (as well as sludge dewatering).
• AquaPure: Another wastewater treatment company.
• CheckLight: This innovative startup uses glowing bacteria to determine water safety.
• En Gibton: Yet another water treatment company (note: are you noticing a trend here *smiles*).
• E.P.C.: This company provides onsite water waste treatment (which may separate them from the rest).

Hopefully this is just the beginning for Israeli corporations, as the tiny Jewish state has a lot to offer the world (at least as far as green technology goes).

Android, a mobile software platform developed by Google is seen by many in the “geek world” as a way to bring some of the iPhone’s best features to power a variety of  mobile devices.

In order to compete against Steve Jobs beloved iPhone, Google is giving away $10 million in prize money in order to attract developers to create powerful software applications (aka apps) for Android.

While many of the apps featured will probably not be able to compete against the iPhone, there is one that give the iPhone’s iPod app a “run for its money.” (note: some images and songs in the video may not be “kosher” for kids).

This music app was developed by an Israeli startup called TuneWiki, who was one of 20 finalists to win prize money from the search engine king for creating an app that (in my honest opinion) actually puts the iPhone’s music player to shame.

Even though I am still hoping that Israeli’s will be able to acquire the iPhone in the near future (as they now have an official Apple store within the holy land), they may not need Steve Jobs glorious tool–especially if other Israeli startups develop interesting software to power these devices.

However it looks as if a new Israeli startup called TGE Tech has found a unique way of turning trash into gas–which is good news for major cities everywhere.

(Israel 21^st Century) But with the TGE system, “the trash is turned into syngas, which can be burned for fuel like any other material. The trash is gone, and in its place is electricity, which can then be used to supply power to a whole neighborhood or small city,” says Ohayon.

Syngas is not as effective as oil or coal, Ohayon realizes; it only has about 15% of the calorie (energy) power of its authentic siblings. However, Ohayon explains, that level of energy is more than enough to power the gasifier, the waste treatment plant, and probably all the streetlights and traffic lights in a city on any particular day.

“One ton of garbage can generate 0.4 kilowatts of electricity an hour, which isn’t a huge amount, but can definitely contribute somewhat to the energy pool in a locality,” he says. And at the same time – the garbage is gone.

Even though this technology would do nothing to help lower gas prices (something Israel’s scientists are trying to do via hydrogen), it may help lower taxes for citizens paying for garbage pickup.

Energy benefits aside, this technology may help many communities remove the ever expanding problem of landfills, making our planet a greener place for future generations.

(Globes Online) Spikko Ltd., a start-up that has been operating in stealth mode for three years, claims that it has found a way to offer free telephone calls and make a profit at it. The company’s technology offers VoIP telephony services gratis for members. The only way to join the service is by invitation from an existing member. The service currently has 50,000 members. [...]

Spikko CEO Shay Gilboa: “Each user receives a local telephone number and an initial grant. For each incoming call, he receives credit to make an outgoing call by either landline or mobile. Each call goes to a computer, and will soon also go to a mobile telephone. The calls go to the devices’ data channel, which means that the average payment (for airtime) will be no more than NIS 0.05 per minute, which will be collected by the cellular operator.”

It will be interesting to see Skype reaction to this (that is if they actually consider them to be a serious threat). Currently Skype offers users various rates that range from two cents a minute to a quarter (and even more!).

Despite the high rates to other countries, Skype still seems to be cheaper in Israel than Spikko, although if the latter can keep its prices at a nickel a minuete (regardless of which country you call) we may see this author switch over…at least when calling friends in India.

One neat phenomenom about social networks is that they give users the ability to communicate and “poke” friends, even from long distances. While many of them have games on them, very few allow users from once social network to play the same game against a player from another.

Fortunately it seems as if an Israeli company called Mytopia hopes to change all of that–real soon.

(TechCrunch) There is a new casual gaming network in town that’s got some serious cross-platform chops. Don’t be fooled by the cutesy graphics. Today, Mytopia is simultaneously launching across Facebook, Bebo, MySpace (currently pending approval) and its own Website with eight games (Chess, Backgammon, Sudoku, Dominoes, Bingo, Spades, Hearts, Video Poker). On Monday, it will release the same games across the major Web and desktop widgets: iGoogle Gadgets, Apple Dashboard Widgets, Yahoo Widgets and Windows Vista Toolbar Widgets.

Here’s the thing: the games work across all of these platforms. You can be on Facebook playing cards with one friend on MySpace and another on Bebo. And you can control what people on each network see about you. For instance, you can present your real profile to your friends on Facebook, and a different Mytopia avatar to everyone else. These are the sort of apps that could one day break Facebook’s, or any social network’s, hold on its members.

As the popularity of this game spreads, it will not be all that surprising to see Mytopia spread to other social networks with a more international flavor (such as Hi5 and orkut).

Note: Hopefully Mytopia can find a way to add this program to the iPhone, as many users (this author included) would be dying to play chess against friends on Facebook during the lunch break).

(Globes Online) Microsoft Corp. has announced its intended acquisition of Israeli start-up company Kidaro, a provider of desktop virtualization solutions for enterprises. The announcement does not mention the acquisition price, but sources in Israel’s high-tech industry estimate it at between $90 million and $100 million. “Globes” reported the impending acquiistion announcement yesterday. [...]

Microsoft’s announcement said, “In combining Kidaro’s virtualization technology with its suite of desktop management tools, known as the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance, Microsoft will enable IT professionals to optimize their desktop infrastructure by providing management capabilities for Virtual PCs, streamlining deployments and easing application compatibility issues.”

Microsoft has made a steady habit of shopping for the best of Israeli minds in an attempt to thwart Google (who has secured its dominance upon Silicon Valley).

The software giant sees Israel as a means to dethrone Google, who has ironically been making various assaults against Microsoft’s “bread and butter” by purchasing iRows.

It will be interesting to see in a decade which company comes out on top, but regardless of the results Israeli’s (along with their American friends) are going to enjoy reaping the rewards of this mega tech war.

In its eternal quest to conquer Google, it looks as if Microsoft has assimilated another Israeli company–one with the potential to help the Redmond giant compete against Google’s AdSense.

(Globes Online) YaData’s technology will enable Microsoft to provide its advertisers with richer targeting capabilities so they can connect with their audience in more efficient and engaging ways, at the same time providing its customers more relevant and focused ads. The YaData team will join Microsoft’s R&D center in Herzliya and YaData’s solutions will be deployed through Microsoft’s Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group. [...]

YaData CEO Amir Peleg said, “YaData fully believes in the potential of behavioral targeting to enhance the value of online advertising for publishers, advertisers and users. Microsoft has the resources to unlock the potential in YaData’s technology and create a truly innovative online advertising solution. We’re excited to see what the future holds.”

Microsoft has previously bought out another startup, not to mention the fact that they have been scouting out Israeli’s with super geek skills for quite some time now.

It will be interesting to see whether or not YaData, which means “You Knew” in Hebrew (hat tip: Eze Vidra of VC Cafe) will be able to help Microsoft defeat the search engine king in the near future.

Although other systems such as Nintendo Wii (or games like Dance, Dance, Revolution) have pioneered this already for years, what separates Extreme Reality from the rest is that players will not need a remote control in order to partake of the fun.

(Israel 21^st Century) This is XTR – Extreme Reality, a south Tel Aviv startup that has developed a technology that allows a user’s three-dimensional body movements to be translated onto the computer in real time. When you run, so does the animated character in the game. When you throw a punch, or mimic the moves of tennis, the computer character does the same.

While many game developers are moving rapidly into this field, what makes XTR unique is that players don’t require any special hardware to play these games. All they need is an ordinary webcam – something many computer users already own – and software. ThinkMinority Report, but without the glove.

What makes this technology really interesting is the fact that users can also apply similar movements towards “everyday business chores” which will probably make this software a corporate fad at offices around the globe.

Note: From the video, it looks as if the software is “WinXP friendly,” although it would be great if they made this Linux, Mac and Windows Vista friendly as well.

A new phone feature developed by an Israeli called “Call My Name” may end up revolutionizing the entire phone industry–at least in Israel that is.

(Israel 21^st Century) How does this work? Say you wanted to call travel agent. But which one?, Well, how about one that you could reach by ‘dialing’ the phrase “I-800-T R A V E L?” That’s Call My Name – instead of dialing phone numbers, you dial the name of a business, an industry, a service, or even a person, as a name, not as a phone number! [...]

Because of that flexibility, it was no big deal for Call My Name, in conjunction with cell phone service providers, to set up a number for Israel’s Mizrachi-Tefachot mortgage bank that consisted of the Hebrew word for “mortgage” (mashkanta). Nachum says that during a pilot advertising program, the bank experienced a 200% rise in callers inquiring about a mortgage – because entering the key word “mortgage” directed clients to the bank!

Call My Name, developed by Ehud Nahum, has applied for several patents around the globe, and is already talking to several US companies about integrating this into their network.

Although Apple’s iPhone would be a perfect companion for Call My Name, I am hoping they sign up a deal with Verizon, as it would make my life a whole lot easier!