Tech Talk: A mission to change the TV market

A look inside Israeli tech.

CELLCOM TV’S interface is extremely user friendly. (photo credit: Courtesy)
CELLCOM TV’S interface is extremely user friendly.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Israeli TV industry is undergoing tremendous changes these days, as smartphones become even more prevalent and more people use them for viewing entertainment content in real time. With the advance of Netflix, Hulu, and Video On Demand, people can now watch shows and movies whenever they want and wherever they happen to be.
In Israel, TV broadcasting has been controlled for years by two subscription TV systems: HOT (cable) and YES (satellite). Both of these companies charge customers monthly subscription rates, and a large cross-section of viewers subscribe to one or the other in order to receive access to entertainment content.
Last year, Cellcom, Israel’s biggest mobile phone operator, decided to join the competition and launched a low price, Internet-based service with a special fixed price NIS 99 package. It was a bold decision for a large mobile company since all the competitors were charging consumers much higher rates.
Cellcom was the first mobile provider to understand that the Israeli public was hungrily searching for a service that would offer quality programs at competitive prices, and as a result Cellcom TV quickly attracted over 100,000 subscribers.
Although Cellcom still has fewer subscribers than HOT and YES, it added 12,000 members in the fourth quarter of 2016, while HOT and YES lost customers.
A little over a month ago, Cellcom launched its new app – Cellcom TV – that works with Apple TV box. Cellcom TV customers have access to a variety of VOD channels, access to all Israeli TV and cable channels through internet connection, which solves any reception problems.
Cellcom TV’s interface is extremely user friendly and the cooperation with Apple TV makes Cellcom even more desirable for Israeli consumers, which up until now used Cellcom TV mainly to access Netflix and Apple movie rentals. Tens of thousands of Israelis have purchased streamer devices on which they watch pirated content due to the high prices YES and HOT charge.
“We had a mission to change the TV market,” Cellcom Chief Executive Nir Sztern told a news conference.
“This move enables clients to disconnect from the set-top box. We need to bring broadcast over IP (Internet protocol).”
Advertisement
SmartHeart
Heart disease is considered the number one killer in the world and is responsible for about a third of early deaths.
Since the risk factors in most cases of heart disease are known, many deaths due to heart attacks could be prevented.
SmartHeart is a smart phone-enabled electrocardiagram (ECG) device that only takes 30 seconds to analyze your heart and email the results to your doctor.
Eran Kristal, general manager of Israel operations of SHL Telemedicine, recently announced the launching of SmartHeart Pro, the first wireless 12-lead hospital grade ECG device.
With SmartHeart, no longer do patients need to go to the emergency room to have an ECG performed. The device is fast, user-friendly, reliable and smart and it’s FDA-cleared and CE-marked.
Data is stored in the cloud and the system meets the HIPAA security and privacy standards.
Most heart attacks sufferers are men over 45. Some of the symptoms of a heart attack are: pain in the back, arms, or upper stomach; weakness; sweating; and pain in the jaw or neck.
Heart attacks can be prevented – or at least the damage they cause minimized – by using the SmartHeart device. The strap that holds the device can be used by both women and men, and fits different sizes, so there is no need to use different devices for each patient. The ECG results are then transmitted immediately using Bluetooth technology to the doctor’s smartphone (iPhone and Android). It’s very easy to carry out the test – the doctor straps on the device on the patient’s chest and within seconds the results appear on the smartphone screen.
If you run a young startup, have developed an interesting app or have a question, please feel free to contact info@social-wisdom.com.
Translated by Hannah Hochner.