Israel – The “Startup Nation”
It’s no secret that Israel – the “start-up nation” – is a global centre for technology. Culture Trip explores the country’s homegrown developments that are making an impact on a global scale.
Here are 5 innovations you didn’t know were Israeli:
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1) USB flash drive
The birth of the quintessential USB flash drive is disputed by three different companies, but one of the earliest working samples of flash storage media slapped onto a USB interface emerged from Israeli company M-Systems in December 2000 (in collaboration with IBM at the time). The first USB flash drives sported 8MB, 16MB and 32MB storage capacities.
2) VoIP
If you remember Skype, you know how it allowed anyone to call any telephone in the world -- right through your Internet connected microphone. For voice to be transmitted from one computer terminal to another telephone anywhere in the world needed some techno wizardry, which came about in the form of Voice over Internet Protocol (or VoIP), developed by an Israeli company called VocalTec. It did what Skype did much before Skype came about.
3) Waze
Waze is a smartphone navigation app that is now used by over 50 million people across the world. The company was founded in 2007 and then bought by Google for an impressive $1.1 billion in 2013. The app makes use of data from users and their telephones to provide real-time traffic updates and help people avoid congestion.
4) MobileEye
Another tech breakthrough coming from Israel is MobilEye, which pairs a tiny digital camera with intelligent algorithms to help drivers drive their vehicles more safely. The device is linked to a car's steering system, alerting a driver if they change lanes too drastically, and even detects oncoming pedestrians for potential collisions. The system is embedded in GM, BMW and Volvo cars.
5) World's 1st DNA computer
All computers that you see around you run on silicon-based microprocessors. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "the smallest biological computing device" to have ever been built runs completely on enzymes and DNA molecules doing basic math. All thanks to the efforts of Israeli professor Ehud Shapiro, and his team, from the Weizmann Institute of Science for achieving this phenomenal feat in 2003.