ITGumbo: spicing IT up

It's no secret that mobile devices are experiencing a period of exponential growth. We already know that there are over 3 billion mobile accounts in use around the world and such growth will continue for the foreseeable future. Driving this trend is the improvement in features and applications offered on mobile devices, and their diminishing physical size. The iPhone has become an instant hit and is expected to sell 10 million by the end of this year. It is currently open to 3rd party application installations and by year's end or early next year, Google's Android, a mobile OS also open to developers, will also be released for mobile devices.

Third party applications may seem to offer the perfect opening for security breaches and to be a nightmare for any IT professional whose company has employees using smartphones or other mobile devices, but manufacturers and outside companies are working hard to assure that they are safe. While mobile device manufacturers primarily take care of the security protection themselves they are getting help from third party manufacturers, such as the not-so-small Israeli embedded security solutions company, Discretix.

I recently had the chance to interview Discretix's Director of Corporate Strategy, Jacob Greenblatt, to discuss what exactly the company does to help secure mobile devices, what the trends in mobile security are and where the company sees itself and the industry in 5 years time.

LD: Can you give a brief background about what your company does?

JG: Sure. Discretix was founded in 2000 and is the largest single company in the world dedicated to embedded security. It focuses on consumer electronics products that are portable, such as mobile phones and mp3 players. Most mobile devices have limited resources due to the cost and as a result, a lot of memory can't necessarily be deployed. We provide security that meets the price point of the device. We are an INC 500 company and are one of the fastest growing private companies in North America. We own 33% of the market and have 100 employees. Manufacturers that include our security solutions on their devices include, SonyEricsson, Motorola, Samsung, Panasonic, SanDisk and a variety of other chip makers.

What are your main products?
Our two main products are CryptoCell and CryptoFlash. CryptoCell targets the mobile device market, such as smartphones, by securing all components of the device and its applications. CryptoFlash is for flash memory products, such as USB flash drives, mp3 players and ipods, and secures those components.

How are you funded?
To date we have raised 30 million in VC funding from Sequoia Capital, Pitango and Genesis.

Who is your main competition?
Our main competition is internally developed solutions from in-house teams dedicated to security and commercial companies. We also face competition from SafeNet which is US-based and the Department of Defense.

The increasing popularity of third party add-ons for mobile devices such as the iPhone, has been accompanied by a new host of threats and concerns among information security professionals. What specific threats do third party add-on applications pose?
In a mobile phone, the operating environment can be exposed to threats from third-party downloads that the user accepted. If it infects the device, it can prevent the user from making calls and the phone operator loses money. On the other side, if a user can't make calls, then it can't serve as a phone, and is frustrating for the user who needs to communicate. Rogue applications that are downloaded can alter certain areas of the phone, however, Discretix's embedded security provides a secure execution environment, in which applications are executed in a restricted area and can't stray. In a sense, it is in a bulletproof operating environment.

What are some of the current trends in mobile security?
Security is being included on more and more devices. We started out securing mobile phones, but have expanded to new markets, such as gaming, GPS and flash memory, to help them meet their security requirements. We are also seeing more sub terrains. People are downloading applications in a more open environment and new solutions need to address that. 

There is also a heightened awareness against device cloning, where a competing manufacturer will clone software onto their device. In gaming, there is a desire on behalf of the the manufacturer and developers to prevent reproduction. They are also driving their customers online to build a relationship with them and to offer them promos. While they want to validate the gamer's identity, security is needed to do that successfully.

How will the current economic climate help or hurt Discretix sales?
Given the current state of the world's economy, mobile phone manufacturers feel the pressure to cut back. Making a phone usually costs $100 and companies are responding in different ways. Motorola, which has experienced massive losses, is finding outsourcing security solutions to be effective, while Nokia is outsourcing its chip development. Overall, the current economy is offering compelling reasons for mobile device manufacturers to come to us as an outsourced solution.

What can we expect Discretix to look like in 5 years from now?
In 5 years from now we expect to be a security vendor for the new age of mobile devices and have company offerings for multiple markets. We would like to have hardware, middleware and software offerings and more application reach, looking to the development of security applications themselves, which would utilize the underlying infrastructure.

About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

During the week of May 4, 2008, Israel turned 60 and a few technology companies announced that they will be featured "Enterprises of Tomorrow" during the Israeli Presidential Conference Facing Tomorrow taking place on May 13 to May 15, 2008. The Conference has been organized by Israeli President Shimon Peres and, as the title implies, will focus on the future.

Twenty-seven dignitaries including President Bush and former Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair, will be on hand for the event, as will several tech luminaries, including Google Co-founder, Sergey Brin; and Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Yossi Vardi, perhaps Israel's greatest entrepreneur, is the Director of Science and Technology Track for the Conference and will lead one of the panels.

In anticipation for the Conference, which I will be attending on May 15th, this post as well as others to come this week will be in relation to the Conference, Israel's 60th and technology, and the 60 "Enterprises of Tomorrow." To get started, here are 10 headlines, mainly from the past week of May 4, 2008, that relate to some of Israel's "Enterprises of Tomorrow."

modu at the Presidential Conference

STMicroelectronics and Mobileye Deliver Second-Generation System-on-Chip for Vision-Based Driver Assistance Systems

AqWise Launches the Next Generation Remote N' Control(TM) Solution for Total Nitrogen Removal and Introduces Its AGAR® Process at IFAT 2008

Israel Cleantech Ventures closes $75m debut fund

Project Better Place debuts electric car

Comsys Selected as ‘Enterprise of Tomorrow’ to Feature at Israeli Presidential Conference

Updated fring version for iPhone (pre-release v. 0.9785)

Israel startup developing software system to identify terrorists

Camero Launches Handheld “Through-Wall Vision” Product

C-true Imaging - "Your Face is your key"


About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and Israel-related headlines and topics.

Israeli company, N-trig has successfully raised $28 million from venture capitalist firms, Canaan Partners and Evergreen Venture Partners, among other investors, in its latest fund-raising round and will use part of it to further develop its advanced pen and touch technology.

N-trig is best known as the provider of DuoSense™ technology that "combines pen and zero-pressure touch for mobile computers into a single device." According to the N-trig website,

N-trig provides a true hands-on computing^TM experience, by enabling OEMs and ODMs to provide innovative new technology for the next generation of mobility by making notebook PCs more mobile, productive, user-friendly, natural, and intuitive to use. DuoSense is easily integratable and supports any type of LCD, giving OEMs and ODMs more flexibility.

N-trig's DuoSense is also "enabling new market opportunities in gaming and multimedia."

N-trig is currently working very closely with computer and mobile manufacturers on developing new products that utilize DuoSense technology. IT professionals who make laptop purchase recommendations and decisions in their companies and have demands for such technology can consider Dell's recently launched Latitude XT Tablet PC for now and keep an eye out for similar products with N-trig's DuoSense technology in the future.


Company Facts

Founded in 1999.

Dr. Meir Morag, Founder and President.

Amihai Ben-David, CEO.

Products: Touch and Pen Digitizer.

Website: www.n-trig.com.

Related entries:
Companies in brief: 26 Israel-related technology headlines from the week of December 9, 2007


About the author: Lisa Damast is the Membership Manager of ebizQ.net and currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog or ebizQ membership services can be directed to her via email at ldamast (at) ebizq (dot) net.

According to a news release from Amazon.com, the Nintendo Wii topped the 2007 Video Games list of "bestselling products," "most positively reviewed," and "most-wished-for." This domination isn't surprising as the game console's innovative remote sensor provides users with the most realistic gaming experience on the market by giving users the opportunity to just "wave, point, rumble and listen".

While it is likely that in 2008, the Nintendo Wii will continue to hold its ground and gain more, two Israeli companies, Prime Sense and 3DV Systems are at the forefront of the next revolution in motion sensing and gaming and intend to challenge the success of the Wii in the next few years.

Both companies have developed motion and depth sensors that can turn a 2D gaming experience into a more interactive 3D one, without having to use a controller. They were also both present at the CES conference that unveils the latest consumer electronic technology last week and have been competing for deals with major gaming console companies, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to use their technology.

Before the CES conference, VC Cafe blogger, Eze Vidra predicted that 3DV Systems would be a company that would garner a lot of media coverage at the event. He was right. At the CES show, 3DV Systems had an interactive booth that showcased its relatively inexpensive and recently released, ZCam. Anyone passing by the booth at the event, including media members, had the opportunity to interact with it or watch others do so.

Aside from gaming, 3DV Systems and Prime Sense have plans to apply their technologies to other fields that can benefit from advanced real-time sensor technologies, such as automotive-safety, security and robotics. In the next few years, look for the 3DV Systems or Prime Sense brand to be part of your virtual reality experience in gaming and any of these other fields.

When you go to the doctor's office, ever wish that your doctor actually had your full medical history, including what medications can and can't be prescribed to you?

The Med-O-Card, an impressive USB card the size of a credit card, intends to make that wish come true. Created by Israeli health management company, CEPCO Holding Ltd., the Med-O-Card is an alternative to having a centralized medical information system for patients histories. Cepco, short for CEntral Patient COmmunication, is already providing this technology to the NAV Virchow Bund, a major doctors' association in Germany, and is in talks with other health care groups around the world, including the U.S., to make this technology available to everyone.

I recently had the chance to ask Cepco founder and Chairman, Gil (Gunter) Pollanz, a few questions about this revolutionary new technology that's coming to you soon.

Can you give a brief background about what your company does?
The company was started seven years ago to collect data in structured form so that individuals could have access to the same information and software quality as hospitals and medical practices have. We originally created web-based patient portals to hold this information. Today, our Med-O-Card allows for the storage of not just data that would be in a file usually, but also the installation of an entire operating system with software that can act on a hospital information system and will be offered to health care providers for their patients.

You have an interesting story about how you came up with the idea for this company, can you explain?
I am an economist and lawyer by profession and consider myself pretty active in sports. I didn't think health was an issue for me because I was active. However, 11 years ago doctors found cancer in my lymph nodes. I was given a few weeks to survive and the option of taking a medicine that would destroy 99% of my immune system and would give me a 30% chance of surviving only. After doing my own research, I decided to reject hospital treatment and managed to survive.

About a year after the diagnosis, when I realized I was still here, I decided to create a firm which deals exclusively with providing a technical way to have data and information available at the moment when catastrophe strikes, if it is needed. That's when I created this company.

Are you solely based in Israel?
We are based in Hod HaSharon, but part of our team is in Germany as well.

What's the background of Cepco's funding?
I started this company using $1 million from my family business. Now that we are working with health funds in Switzerland and the United States, any production costs is beyond our financial means though.

What type of funding are you currently looking for?
We're currently looking for two stages. The first stage is seed money to finance the trials and tests in Germany and the second stage we need money for the launch. For the first stage we need about 1.5 million euro and for the second stage we need about 3 million euro. Once we've proven the need for this product, there's a good chance investors can exit with 10 times the amount that was put in.

What's the Med-O-Card's advantage over other solutions?
Using Walletex's USB storage card technology, the Med-O-Card has a technical unique advantage over other solutions. It looks like a credit card or any other card you might have in your wallet and can have ID information on it like but it also functions as a storage card that can hold one to 8 gigabyte of data and can have an entire operating system on it like a computer.

Using this technology, we rewrote the entire software for the Web portal system that we created, and the card is able to act on hospital information system. For a patient it allows input of data in a structured form. It provides a diagnostic health database for any country in the world and can combine different information to create on the card an instant high-tech risk analysis of a patient, including what prescription medications conflict with each other.

What are some other benefits of having the card?
The card has three major benefits. The first is that it is a storage card and not just a "smart card." As such, this allows for the storage of all the necessary data, and instant access to vital information for the doctor and/or patient. The second is that most medical data is on large servers that make it hard for patients and doctors to easily access or meaningfully analyze and the information is vulnerable to serious security breaches. This card was designed to prevent any security breaches and as a decentralized method, it decreases those risks as well. The third benefit is that with the card in your wallet, it makes the patient an active knowledgeable partner to the health care system and gives the patient more control over their health care.

How much should individuals expect to pay for the card once it is on the market?
In Germany, patients on participating plans should expect to pay 4 euro a month for the card.

For more information on the Med-O-Card, check the Cepco Homepage.