Video: Israel's Conceptic Helping Restaurants Go High Tech

Probably one of the most stressful parts of ordering food at a restaurant is...well the ordering!

While many (if not most) waiters/waitresses are excellent at receiving orders from their customer, there is always a chance that a mix up can occur--especially if someone orders one thing while expecting something completely different.

Conceptic, a company based in Israel hopes to change all of this by offering a hi-tech solution in order to avoid a potential problem.

(Video: Conceptic has developed new e-menus that allow restaurant customers to order their meals from a touch screen. Credit: Israel 21^st Century)

Conceptic is fairly confident that this technology will benefit not only food lovers, but the respective restaurant owners as well.

Cell Phones Can Aid Medical Personal With A Diagnosis?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an image capturing a disease is probably worth a million, especially if it can help save someone's life.

Unfortunately many medical facilities do not have either the technology, funding or training to take advantage of imaging a disease, a fact all to familiar to those living in third world countries.

Despite this fact, many of these doctors, nurses, etc. do have cell phones, and one Israeli scientists is trying to take advantage of that in order to help these medical professionals aid their patients.

(Israel 21^st Century) Israeli researchers have discovered a way to transmit medical images via a cellular phone, opening up the possibility of providing sophisticated diagnosis and treatment to millions of people who live a long distance from modern medical centers. [...]

"Imaging is considered one of the most important achievements in modern medicine," said Rubinsky. "Diagnosis and treatment of an estimated 20 percent of diseases would benefit from medical imaging, yet this advancement has been out of reach for millions of people in the world because the equipment is too costly to maintain. Our system would make imaging technology inexpensive and accessible for these underserved populations."

Using Rubinsky's technology, an independent data acquisition device (DAD) with limited controls and no image display, at a remote patient site, would be connected via cellular phone technology with an advanced image reconstruction and hardware control multiserver unit, at a central site (which can be anywhere in the world).

According to Rubinsky, this technology should also help bring down the cost, which will make these tests more affordable (and hopefully conducted more frequently) for medical outposts in remote areas.

This technology has the potential of helping not only doctors located in remote places around the world, but also disaster sites (which are often located in isolated regions due to the disaster or geography).

(Image Credit: Nicky via Israel 21^st Century)

Israel Tech Could Help Reduce Heart Attacks

When it comes to avoiding heart attacks, a healthy diet and even good old fashioned exercise can help keep ones heart happy, healthy and (most importantly) beating at strong rhythm.

Unfortunately this may not be enough for some people--especially for those suffering from endothelium dysfunction (also called ED).

Fortunately for these patients, there is a new device that may help them and their doctors detect this in order to avoid a potential heart attack.

(Israel 21^st Century) Before now, there were only two real techniques to measure ED - neither of which were very practical according to Amitzur, one of Israel's top cardiovascular experts, and the inventor of the Endotect.

In one method, an invasive operating procedure is necessary, and in the other, an expensive, complicated ultrasound-type device is used to measure the endothelium, requiring a large investment and intensive training for proper use (Israel, for all it's advanced medical infrastructure, has only one medical center with the device).

The Endotect, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive, and easy to use - so easy that any doctor will be able to run tests in their offices, in as little as 15 minutes. The Endotect determines the condition of the endothelium by non-invasively measuring the pulse at two main points on the arm (radial artery and brachial artery), comparing the pulse before and after pressure is applied to the arm.

According to the article, this device is very close to being approved by the FDA, so your local heart physician probably does not have access to one of these--at least not yet.

Hopefully once approved, Endotect will be able to not only help reduce the number of heart attacks by providing early warning of ED, but potentially the cost of doing these tests (which could translate into lower bills for patients).

(Image Credit: Cardiatec, via Israel 21^st Century)

Video: Israel's Guardium (Think Batmobile Minus Batman)

(Hat Tip: Gizmodo)

As any Israelis soldier knows, their is nothing "romantic" about patrolling a hostile border along the Israeli security fence. Especially when you have insurgents focused on causing you harm.

But instead of sending out soldiers to confront those who seek to trespass the security fence, Israel may end up sending a robotic rover courtesy of the Israel Aerospace Industries.

(Video: Animation coupled with real footage showing how The Guardium can help thwart potential terrorist attacks. Credit: Israel Aerospace Industries)

(Fox News) The Guardium, an unmanned ground vehicle commissioned by the Israeli military and shown to The Associated Press on Monday, is essentially a robotic soldier, among the first in the world to be operational. It can replace human soldiers in dangerous roles, cutting casualty rates.

Like the pilotless drones that have become a mainstay of air forces in Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere, the four-wheeled Guardium is operated from a command room that can be far from the front line.

It can be mounted with cameras, night-vision equipment and sensors, as well as more lethal tools like machine guns.

Following pre-programmed routes, it can navigate alone through cities — the vehicle knows how to deal with intersections, traffic and road markings. It can patrol borders, its cameras scanning 360 degrees at all times, and alert operators if it spots anything suspicious.

The Guardium costs around $600,000 for the vehicle alone--millions more if one includes ammunition and software to run this vehicle.

Even though its not battle tested yet, hopefully the Israeli's will be able to launch several dozen of these (note: with a group discount included) as it could not only save lives for Israeli Defense Forces patrolling the border, but also their enemies as it may prove to be a useful deterrent.

Israel: Turning Garbage Into Energy

Like most countries, Israel has to deal with the problem of land fills. While recycling helps reduce the amount of trash that ends up in land fills, its affect is minor at best in countering how much garbage people put out (especially for cities).

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.

Kosher Silicon Valley, With A Medical, Agricultural Twist

Image via Wikipedia To those who only glimpse the Jewish state through an average media portal, the holy land at best is a place full of ancient religious relics or at worst a region full of conflict.

But what many of them may not realize is that Israel is actually a land full of innovation--affecting the world both in cyberspace, as well as offline.

(Jewish Exponent) But perhaps a sampling of innovations that originated in Israel conveys the story more powerfully. Beginning with modern drip irrigation -- an agricultural technique that has been replicated around the globe -- Israeli innovators soon left soil behind and moved directly into cyberspace. They created the Pentium III and Centrino microprocessors; the computer program that became AOL Instant Messenger; the first mass-market firewall that protects a system from viruses; and an ingestible camera that allows doctors to peer inside a patient's insides without making an incision.

Whether its creating oral insulin, terrabyte DVD's, flying cars, purifying water or even finding ways to create energy from seaweed, Israel is quickly establishing itself as the land of innovation.

Note: Did I mention that Israel is close to bringing us hydrogen powered cars? ;-)

Israel Tech: Find Your Facebook Friends, Offline?

One of the greatest things about social networks like Facebook is that it gives users the ability to connect with friends (both old and new), not to mention easily communicate with each other without maxing out the phone bill.

Unfortunately for many people (if not most), social networks only work if one is connected to the world wide web. WiPeer (previously reviewed on IsraGood) may have developed a "solution" around this by allowing users to connect with friends over short distances, even when both of you are offline.

(American Technion Society) Imagine you're stuck in an airport during a delay, and (gasp!) you don't have an Internet connection. Thanks to a new Facebook application developed at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, you'd still be able to use your laptop computer - sans Internet - to detect Facebook friends (and friends of those friends) who have also installed the application, making it possible to network, chat, share files and directories, play collaborative games, or actually meet face-to-face.

According to scientists at the Technion, there are two components to the application, dubbed "Peersonalizer": a Facebook application and a module inside the free, downloadable WiPeer software (http://www.wipeer.com) developed by lead researcher Professor Roy Friedman's team last year. [WiPeer makes direct wireless (WiFi) communication between computers possible - without intermediary devices (such as Internet routers) - at distances of up to 900 ft.].

The article goes on to elaborate that this technology could potentially be applied to the iPhone, which would delight Apple fans everywhere (note: this author included).

Users can check out the Facebook Application, although hopefully these guys (as well as gals if any work there) will consider creating a version for Google's OpenSocial, in order to tap into the other social networks around the world.

Mytopia: Israeli Innovation For Social Network Gamers

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).

A Colorful Way To Detect Cancer

(Image Credit: Zetiq, via Israel 21^st Century)

Despite the fact that this disease is probably fairly well known to the western world, detecting this deadly disease is still a cumbersome process to most scientists and doctors.

Fortunately it seems as if Zetiq Technologies, an Israeli company, has not only developed a way to alert doctors whether or not cancer cells exist in a tissue sample, but created a "colorful chart" easy enough for a child to understand.

(Israel 21^st Century) In conventional diagnostics, a large cell population will often contain only a very small number of malignant cells. Using traditional diagnostic techniques these cells are often undetected because they are so scarce in number, or because the distinction between the cells and the background is so minor.

Using CellDetect, the difference is clear. "It's like moving from a black and white TV to color," says Ami Eyal, the CEO of parent company Bio-Light Life Science Investments. "We bring a visualization tool into the field that will revolutionize the way people do diagnosis based on looking at cells. You can't miss the cells, they are red."

Another advantage over traditional tests and biopsies, says Elkeles, is the fact that the test can be used to detect a wide range of different cancers - no other diagnostic tool can do this he asserts - and in addition it can be used for drug development. "This has great clinical and business value," he tells ISRAEL21c.

This innovative device could help doctors accurately test thousands of patients without the worry of running into false positives (or at least significantly reducing the number).

Note: Zetiq Technologies, which is a subsidiary of Bio-Light has more information about the device kits over here.

Israel: Another Giant Leap For Hydrogen Powered Cars

(Image Credit: Jerusalem Post)

Despite the fact that another Jewish mind is pursuing hydrogen powered vehicles, it looks as if some Israeli innovation could bring about these energy wonders much sooner than we think.

(Israel 21^st Century) Most hydrogen vehicles on the road use a liquid form of the material, which requires a super strong and super heavy storage tank. Liquid hydrogen is unstable and needs to be insulated from the excess shocks of bumps and potholes that are a part of everyday driving, so the tanks themselves are large and heavy, and hold at most 20 liters of fuel - enough for barely 250 kilometers of driving. [...]

The difference? C.En's tank uses hydrogen gas, collected from the environment (i.e. not produced from fossil fuels) and enclosed in a thin but leak proof glass container. The best part: You'll be able to buy your "gas" at automotive or discount stores, fueling up every 600 kilometers or so.

"We can build a 60-liter tank that can travel up to 600 km. and weighs no more than 50 kg.," Stern said, unlike tanks currently used for liquid hydrogen that weigh hundreds of kilos.["]

Stern's latest breakthrough has caused so much concern in the oil industry that according to the article they allegedly offered him $50 million to shelve the product.

Fortunately for us, Stern chose the higher path, and if successful his invention would allow consumers to simply store extra "hydrogen batteries" in their car trunks, popping them in only when they run out of fuel.

Kosher Science: Using Seaweed To Power Everything?

One word sums up the current financial crunch afflicting our lovely but rowdy planet: oil.

It powers our cars, planes and keeps the lights on at night. With most of it concentrated it the hands of a prominent few, the price of oil will probably accelerate into the near future.

Fortunately for us, Israeli scientists are working on some new technology that may allow our societies to run on seaweed--not to mention a few other items.

(Ha'aretz) What if it turned out that corn and cane sugar fuels, considered substitutes for more polluting fuel, were also the cause of serious environmental damage? We would then search for greener substitutes: seaweed, animal fat and other fruits and vegetables containing oil. Over the past year, Israeli researchers have accelerated attempts to develop various types of "green" fuel, and research groups are hard at work developing technology that will become part of a global oil substitute trend. At Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), they are working on a new diesel fuel based on plant and animal fat. Several researchers are trying to develop the technology to produce oil from seaweed, which would then serve as a basis for fuel. [...]

"We are using fat that remains as surplus from meat processing, and a wide variety of oils from plants," says Prof. Moti Hershkowitz of BGU. "What is unique about our product is that as opposed to other biological fuels, which at present cannot be placed directly into the engine and have to be mixed with other components, we have developed a diesel fuel that can be used directly in the vehicles."

While diesel power (via seaweed, etc.) looks to be within reach, only time will tell whether or not other vehicles will be apart of the energy blessing.

Israel is currently pursuing ways of drawing energy from fungus, radioactive waste and even cow manure.

While some may wonder why such a tiny (yet innovative) nation would pursue so many different routes to keep its cities lit up at night, it may have to do with the fact that it is better to create your own energy, than to rely upon the grace of others.

Video: Israeli Designer Turns Tires Into A Fashion Statement

Despite the fact that the government of Israel "encourages everyone" to recycle their tires instead of dumping them, it looks as if one fashion designer has gone the extra step by turning abandoned tires into attractive wallets and purses.

(Israel 21^st Century) Some women send their husbands out of the house to get rid of the trash. Israeli Elanit Neutra, 37, sends her husband to fetch it in: in this case used rubber inner tubes from old tires at a local garage.

After a scrub and clean, Neutra cuts the rubber to a desired shape, patches the pieces together and creates one-of-a-kind designs - wallets, purses, notebooks, and laptop bags - all making treads in the fashion world, both in Israel and in the US. [...]

Wallets are her most popular item, she guesses, but people also like the messenger bags and purses - the trendy accessories that look like leather, but which have distinctive patterns and qualities of their own.

While her products are available at certain stores in Los Angeles and New York, American readers can order her goods over at i Design which features a host of Israeli made products awaiting American hands.

Readers can check out small sample of her work over at Neutra.co.il, although there does not seem to be a way to order these eco chic sensations online (editor's note: that's unfortunate, as I was looking for a laptop bag too).

Israeli Med: Cartilage Regeneration For Those Bad Knees

(Image Credit: Sharon Kanon / Regentis Biomaterial)

Whether you are a simple jogger or a sports fanatice, injured knees are no laughing matter. Especially if one happens to damage the cartilage, which can be a "show stopper" for many active people in life.

Fortunately it seems as if an Israeli company has come up with a unique way to rejuvenate damaged cartilage without involving major operations or a "larger than life" dent in ones wallet.

(Israel 21^st Century) Israeli company Regentis Biomaterials has developed an innovative biosynthetic hydrogel plug-in, called Gelrin, which promises to stimulate tissue regeneration. The hybrid material, which has undergone pre-clinical trials, looks a little like a jellybean, and can be placed in situ in the knee to help cartilage regeneration and seamlessly integrate new cartilage with the surrounding environment.

The patented platform technology could be a medical breakthrough, and while the company's first application is for cartilage regeneration, it is also suitable for other regenerative processes, such as bone repair and spinal fusion. [...]

Synchronized tissue regeneration and biodegradation is the key to Gelrin's innovation. "During production of Gelrin, the structure is engineered to degrade away," explains Tal. "Degradation is synchronized with the growth rate of new tissue. We improve on nature, which lacks a control system. More PEG slows the biodegradation process and gives the cells time to properly heal the injured tissue."

What makes this technology really innovative is that this "jellybean" can either be placed in the injured area, or injected via liquid form to fill in a cavity. This will not only help out patients with busy schedules, but also help cut down costs to treating this fairly common problem.

Unfortunately this technology is still in clinical trials, although Regentis Biomaterials CEO, Yehiel Tal, expects this product to launch within the medial market in about two years.

Helicopter Plus Elevator Equals "Elecopter?"

While to many the cross breading of helicopters and elevators sounds like an engineering project "gone wild," this combination brought about by Israeli minds may be critical towards saving lives--especially in burning buildings.

(Israel National News) An Israeli engineer has designed a "elecopter" that includes an elevator in a helicopter, enabling it to rescue people from high-rise fires or from ravines too narrow for regular helicopters to navigate. [...]

[Nehemia Cohen] helicopter's cabin is designed like a sling basket that is connected to sets of cables, like an elevator. The helicopter can lower the cabin up to 1,000 feet, a distance that would prevent the heat of the fire from damaging the aircraft. "The basis of the idea is to separate the rescue unit from the helicopter," Cohen told Globes.

Created by Olive Engineering, the Elecopter interest may expand beyond the civilian sector, as the military could use to evacuate troops from uneven terrain.

As an emergency vehicle, the Elecopter may also prove to be more useful than the electric flying car, as the chopper could stay above harms way as it rescues civilians trapped in a potential burning building.

While it has yet to prove itself in the "real world" (as they say), this Israeli invention could easily become the norm worldwide within a decade after entering the market.

(Image Credit: Olive Engineering)

Nirosoft: Turning Bad Water Into Fresh Water (Video)

"Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink."

~The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
(by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

Note: Video at the bottom. Image Credit Israel 21^st Century.

Despite the fact that water covers 70% of our planet, this vital liquid is a scarce resource due to our inability to "digest" salt water.

While we have developed ways of purifying salt water through a process called desalination, this often can be an expensive (or tedious) endeavor, especially for third world countries or medium sized corporations.

That is unless you purchase a desalination unit from Israel's Nirosoft, which has found an inexpensive and simple way of purifying water from salty or polluted oceans and streams.

(Israel 21^st Century) "Desalination is cheaper than melting ice," said Mino Negrin, managing director and founder of Nirosoft, which simulated the environment at the Davis Station in its R&D labs.

The company's self-contained desalination unit provides up to 100,000 liters a day of purified, desalinated water. Its Lego-like portability makes it easy to ship by air. "We can produce drinking water from almost any source - sea water, rivers and lakes, brackish groundwater, estuaries and lagoons," said Negrin, who hopes to visit the Antarctic Station sometime this year. [...]

Lack of an energy source is not a constraint. The Israeli company has shipped containerized, self-powered units easily transported by small trucks, to supply drinking water to villages in disaster areas in Honduras, Guatemala and Colombia. Water produced meets the most stringent World Health Organization quality standards.

While Nirosoft has helped out medium sized nations as well as island countries, they may find a large demand coming from China who has yet to figure out a way to quench the thirst of its billion plus population.

Hopefully Nirosoft will be able to meet global demand, as their technology could potentially help make water droughts a distant memory of the past.

Israel: Test Thy Water Using Glowing Bacteria?

(Image Credit: CheckLight)

Water, water everywhere, but is it safe to drink?

That is the question citizens often ask their respective governments, especially if their is a water contamination crisis. Unfortunately it seems that in order to verify if the H₂O is "good to go," one must spend some serious money, not to mention the lag time waiting for the lab results to come in.

Fortunately it seems one Israeli company called CheckLight is setting out to change all of this by using some of the tiniest creatures to warn us whether or not the water from our facets is safe to drink.

(Israel 21^st Century) Luminescent bacteria glow at night on the beaches in Costa Rica and the Mediterranean Sea. Now an Israeli start-up has developed a novel and economical solution that uses these unusual micro organisms to help keep drinking water clean and safe. [...]

When the bacteria are placed in drinking water that contains harmful chemicals, they glow a warning signal, which can be read by a machine measuring light intensity. [...]

"We can go out to the water source and test on the spot. You will know in 15 minutes - the time it takes for the bacteria and sensors to respond to any number of contaminants in the water. Our system detects them at low concentrations, and very quickly," she explains.

These tests could help governments save millions of dollars as CheckLight's system is both inexpensive and fast. According to the article, the United States is already considering using this to test their water supplies, and it would not be surprising to see other nations contacting CheckLight in the future as well.

Organic Clothes For Your Organic Kids

(Image Credit: B Nature)

While some parents are willing to spend their last cent in order to provide safe, comfortable clothes for their kids, others are more interested in getting a bargain for their shekel (or dollar).

Now it seems as if a clothing company has found a unique way of meeting both interests--without harming the environment or the workers who create it.

(Israel 21^st Century) Messer's Tel Aviv based company, B nature, designs, manufactures and markets a line of organic baby and kids clothing made from 100% color grown (non-dyed) and natural dyed organic cotton. A family owned operation, B nature has been on Israel's clothing scene for a year and recently debuted in the US retail market. [...]

"In clothing manufacturing we understood a long time ago that the West is using the East to produce products cheaply. But the entire reason I got into organics was because I wanted to make a change. To show that we can make a product and preserve human rights and give workers fair salaries and get rid of the myth that everything coming from China these days is tainted with poison or child labor," said Messer, who personally visits B nature factories in Shandoong and Canton Provinces several times yearly.

According to the article, B Nature provides not only benefits to its workers in China, but also ownership by giving them corporate shares of the business.

Hopefully this company will be able to demonstrate some of their products within the American market, as many parents their are probably seeking out safe, affordable clothing for their kids.

Israeli Med Tech: Freeze Thy Cancer Lump?

(Image Credit: Israel 21^st Century)

When it comes to the removal of a cancerous lump, many patients (rightly) envision being laid out on a table and being cut open like chopped liver.

While using surgery to remove cancer can be somewhat successful, it is often expensive and time consuming for both the doctor and the patient. Now it looks as if some Israeli medical technology may not only make removing these lumps easier, but cheaper as well.

(Israel 21^st Century) IceSense provides that solution by offering the hope of efficient treatment in local clinics without the need for hospitalization, recuperation, or scarring. The IceSense mechanism enables the local application of super-cold temperatures and a fine control of the temperature itself. Liquid nitrogen is pumped to the end of a thin needle probe cooling the tip to the extreme cold required for cryotherapy. Utilizing ultrasound, surgeons can then guide the needle to the exact location of the lump and then freeze the unwanted tissue inside the body.

About the same size as a washing machine, the IceSense apparatus can be operated even in local clinics and medical centers. Providing treatment for breast lumps in local medical centers would be a big step towards the current trend in the US to conduct as much surgery as possible in local clinics by using non-invasive methods. This keeps expensive and over-worked operating rooms and teams free for more serious surgical procedures that require a hospital environment.

According to the article, IceSense would cost less than $1,000 which would not only make it affordable for patients, but many health insurance plans as well.

While this technology has been around for over three decades, IceSense it seems makes this technology not only affordable for the masses, but portable to various clinics as well.

Hopefully this device will make it easier for patients with lumps, especially women suffering with breast cancer to seek out treatment, as IceSense would probably leave less scars (if any) compared to a full blown out operation.

Instead Of Email, Why Not Video-Audio Mail?

While sending a text message may be fun, sending a video message may be even better!

It looks as if a new Israeli company called Voice Me has launched a service that allows users to send audio and video messages to their friends for free.

(Globes Online) Israeli developer of IP voice and video messaging Voice-Me Ltd. is launching a new product. The company's beta website offers an alternative to e-mail. The site enables surfers to send voice and video messages to an e-mail address at no cost and with no need to download software.

While other sites such as YouTube and Odeo allow users to record video and audio respectively, as well as email messages to their friends, neither provide a simple way of doing both.

Voice Me may become a useful site, especially around the holidays, as it may be easier to express ones feeling on video than through text and images.

Video: ClassifEye Tech Could Guard Your Mobile Phone

In the digital age, the possibility of hackers stealing ones ID remains very high. In order to keep their customers trust, many companies have created systems to help distinguish client from impostor, with limited success.

Now it seems as if a new company from Israel called ClassifEye may enable people to safeguard their identification with "a touch" from their finger.

(Israel 21^st Century) Enter the new fingerprint authentication technology developed by Israeli company ClassifEye, which can be used with nearly any mobile phone that has a camera, and eliminates the need for any additional hardware - like fingerprint sensors, USB keys and code generators - substantially reducing costs and accelerating mass market deployment. [...]

Instead of using costly sensors to read the user's fingerprint, ClassifEye's technology works with the existing mobile phone camera: the user just takes a picture of his finger. The software then authenticates the user's fingerprint and authorizes immediate access. It's a process that takes less than a minute, and is significantly more secure than a password.

Since an advanced mobile phone usually has Internet access, this technology will make mobile phones ideally suited for sensitive financial transactions, especially bank transactions where large sums of money are involved.

ClassifEye technology could make it easier for customers to feel safer making transactions with their credit cards, as well as help the industry fight credit fraud in the US (which is at a record high).

Unfortunately for Americans, many US phones may not be advanced enough to handle the software (unlike half the planet), but hopefully as ClassifEye's technology becomes more widespread, US phones will catch up with the rest of the western world.

Note: Video of ClassifEye via Israel Hightech TV. Click the image below to watch.