News emerged earlier this week that Apple had acquired Israel-based fabless chip maker Anobit for as much as $500 million. Beyond the team and flash memory technology Apple will gain from the acquisition, the company reportedly plans to use the Anobit’s facilities as a research and development center. The deal is big for Apple on several levels — Anobit’s class-leading flash memory chips are already used in the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air — but one former Apple executive believes fear was am...

Apple reportedly has plans to open a new office in Israel, its first center outside of its Cupertino, California headquarters. The outpost will be headed by Aharon Aharon, Israeli business news site Globes said Wednesday, noting that Aharon is a well established figure in Israeli technology circles. Aharon currently serves as the chairman of radio frequency imaging firm Camero Tech Ltd. He has also served on the board of Discretix and once worked as a vice president for Zoran Corporation. Israeli’s new...

Google’s latest social networking effort follows a long line of failed attempts to break into a space owned by the likes of Facebook, Twitter and (somehow) Myspace, and Google seems to finally have a hit on its hands with Google+. The service amassed more than 10 million users within two weeks of launching as an invitation-only beta, and it now reportedly has more than 40 million users following a public launch. As Facebook approaches 1 billion users, however, Google has quite a bit of ground to make up...

Microsoft secretly participated in a recent $25 million funding round for Israel-based navigation solutions provider Waze, Israeli tech site TheMarker reported last week. Microsoft makes very few investments each year according to TheMarker’s source, but the tech giant apparently took quite an interest in Waze’s unique brand of navigation apps. “Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road. 100% powered by users, the mor...

AT&T on Wednesday gave the world its first look at the telecommunications giant’s new International Innovation Center in Ra’anana, Israel. For the first time, Israeli press was granted access to AT&T’s newest incubator, which has been operational in a temporary facility since July last year. AT&T established the foundry — its second such facility — alongside Israeli tech company Amdocs, and the company describes the Innovation Center as a “collaborative environment where AT...

Microsoft’s Israeli research and development team may have recently teased an upcoming Xbox 360 feature that is sure to interest a few gamers out there: 3D. Late last month, Microsoft’s R&D team posted a link from its official Twitter account pointing to a Hebrew-language Gadgety.co.il post about an interesting rumor. In a nutshell, the rumor suggests that Microsoft is currently prepping a software update for the Xbox 360 that will enable HD stereoscopic 3D. Included with Microsoft’s tw...

Google was recently granted permission to purchase a patent portfolio previously held by Modu, a now defunct Israeli cell phone maker that couldn’t find a market for its minuscule mobile phones. Modu emerged in 2008 touting a peculiar modular cell phone that could be placed in a variety of sleeves to perform different functions. The unique phones, while certainly interesting, lacked mass appeal and were only picked up by a few carriers. Modu would later unveil several new tiny cell phone models as itÂ...

From the brink of an IPO to the brink of mass layoffs, Modu appears to be in deep trouble. The Israel-based company, known for building very tiny, very quirky phones, has turned its back on a recent IPO attempt. According to Israeli financial paper Calcalist, there was simply no interest in the company. Instead, CEO Dov Moran said Modu would be forced to let go of most of its staff. “My heart hurts but [I] had no choice,” Moran told Calcalist. The company currently employs 130 people but only a fe...

There is one trend in the mobile market we would like to see more of: dual-core tablets. Israeli newspaper Ynet is reporting that Asus is due to release a 8.9-inch touchscreen tablet known as the EP90. The EP90 will have a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution (same as the Galaxy Tab), weigh in at 650 grams (30 grams lighter than the Wi-Fi iPad), have a dual-core 1 GHz Tegra processor, and come in a 16 GB and 32 GB model. The translation of the article is a little dicey, but we do see mention of an HDMI-out port, Blu...

With rising concerns for privacy these days, advertisers are having an increasingly difficult time gathering personal consumer data. MobileRL, an Israeli start-up, is looking to change or “revolutionize” the way information is collected for ad purposes. The Israeli company wants you to download software onto your phone which will allow them to turn it into an eavesdropping device. Your phone’s microphone can be turned on at any time, at MobileRL’s discretion, so it can listen to what&#...