CTech’s Weekly Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Waze Hebrew Voice Sues Apple for Siri Identity Jacking. The longtime voice of Waze navigation app in Hebrew is suing Apple for using her voice for Siri. She takes particular issue with the type of content her voice is coaxed into saying as Apple’s digital voice assistant. "Her voice on the Siri app is nothing but syllables joined together by an algorithm," Apple said in response. Read more

 

Capital raised by Israeli tech companies hits a six-year record in 2018. Israeli tech companies raised a total of $6.47 billion across 623 funding deals in 2018, according to a new report. Read more

Interview | CyberArk sees opportunity in small and medium businesses. While big cloud vendors invest in cybersecurity, they pass the responsibility of keeping the data safe to customers, said Cyberarks CEO Udi Mokady. Read more

Cannabis inhaler company Syqe Medical raises $50 million. Syqe develops a pocket-sized metered-dose inhaler designed for precise delivery of cannabis molecules. Read more

Israel GDP growth slows, still tops OECD countries. Israelis spent more in 2018, but the country’s growth has stalled compared to 2017. Read more

Interview | Passing on open code, Israel missed on Elastic, CEO says. In October, Israeli-linked IT and data analytics company Elastic floated on NYSE, attaining a market capitalization of around $2.5 billion. Read more

Opinion | Five trends set to impact the chip industry in 2019. From autonomous things, to edge computing, and 5G, these five trends are expected to have a deep impact on the semiconductor sector in the year ahead. Read more

Demand for tech workers in Israel down in 2018, according to a new report. A new report by Israel-based human resource management firm Ethosia lists declining markets and the looming China-U.S. trade war as the reason for a 6% drop in the number of new jobs. Read more

IAI in talks to acquire probed drone maker aeronautics. On Monday, Aeronautics reported it is in talks with unnamed third parties regarding a partial or complete acquisition of the company. Read more

Despite a wave of deadly accidents, implementation of new Israeli e-bike regulations postponed. Nineteen people, most of them teens, have been killed in e-bike related accidents in Israel in 2018. Read more