Google CEO Eric Schmidt has invested in Israeli mobile application start-up Any.Do Ltd. Genesis Partners, Blumberg Capital, and Schmidt's Innovation Edeavors invested $1 million in Any.Do's first financing round. Private investors, including Palantir Technologies co-founder and CEO Joe Lonsdale, also invested in the company.
Any.Do also hired Facebook mobile manager Eric Chang and Twitter search location-based manager Elad Gil as advisors.
Any.Do CEO Omer Perchik co-founded the company with two others in January 2010. Perchik served in the IDF computer unit. The founders developed the product in a garage. Perchik says that the company will use the proceeds from the financing round to complete development of the product and hire employees to work on the product's software, algorithms, marketing, and user interface.
Any.Do's technology analyzes users' intentions to help them carry out daily tasks in real time over their mobile telephones. The technology can be activated by voice ID by analyzing natural language and personalizing the services offered. Perchik says that the technology will change attitudes towards mobile telephones and further enhance the user's experience. The product is due to reach market in 2011.
Sensors to alert Israeli commanders not only to vehicle fuel levels but also soldiers' hydration
The Israel Army plans to develop a sensor that would monitor the physical state of infantry soldiers.
Military sources said the Army has approved a plan to develop sensors that could tell commanders the physical state of their soldiers before major operations. They said the sensors would be strapped to the wrist of the soldier and linked to a database.
"The sensor would be crucial in operational planning as well as allowing commanders to understand how much they could push their men," a military source said.