Author: Jeremy Ungar

That voice you hear when you call the phone company’s information line most likely does not belong to a person. It belongs to a computer, as do the voices giving us information and instructions on GPS devices, websites, toys and games, cell phones, remote controls and many other places. All use a technology called text-to-speech, […]

Israeli director Joseph Cedar won the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday for his film “Footnote.” “Footnote” tells the story of a rivalry between a father and a son who are both Talmudic scholars. Cedar’s previous film Beaufort was nominated for an Oscar in 2007 and won the Silver Bear Award […]

Limelight Networks Inc. acquired AcceloWeb Ltd., a provider of technology that helps speed the presentation of websites and applications, for about $20-30 million. AcceloWeb, which builds Internet scale software that improves end-user experiences on the Internet, is headquartered in Israel with US offices in Boston. Limelight Networks, Inc. is a provider of content delivery network […]

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is acquiring privately-held Taiyo Pharmaceutical Industry, Japan’s third largest generic pharmaceutical company for $460 million. Taiyo has one of the most comprehensive generic product portfolios in the Japanese market and has a strong presence in all major distribution channels in Japan. Japan is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world, […]

“With SC Square Ltd., Broadcom is acquiring an expert team of engineers focused on security” – BroadcomConsumer device chip maker Broadcom has acquired Tel Aviv-based security software maker SC Square for $42 million. SC Square is Broadcom’s ninth acquisition in Israel. Since October 2010, the company acquired semiconductor developer Provigent for $340 million in March […]

Israel’s unemployment figure dropped by about 2 percent as 60,000 job seekers found employment over the past two years. With only 185,000 people out of work, Israel’s unemployment figure is near an all-time low. The majority of the unemployed were absorbed by the high-tech sector. Due to rapid growth of the Israeli market, and of […]

The International Institute of Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, in its 2011 World Competitiveness Yearbook ranked Israel in the 17th place among the world’s 59 leading economies in terms of competitiveness. Israel was also ranked 17th in 2010. The Israeli economy remained first in the world in total expenditures of R&D as a percentage […]

Israel’s economy grew 4.7% in the first quarter of 2011, supported by growth in consumer spending and exports. Consumer spending increased 6.8%, while exports of goods and services climbed 16% and imports rose 15.9%. The growth in GDP follows a 7.6% rise in the last quarter of 2010 and a 4.8% increase in the third […]