Samsung’s Galaxy S4 flagship Smartphone arrived in Israel this week with an official price tag of approximately $1,100 (3,600-3,700 shekels).

Prices may drop a bit if local mobile carriers try to undercutting each other, and one retailer already is offering it for $920.

The Samsung S4 has a five-inch screen with a super-thin glass and thin battery. It also features a dual video function for video conferences.

The IDF soon will install protective systems onboard its smartphones used by the IDF to protect them against digital Trojan horses and prevent various spyware software using the devices eavesdropping, Israel Defense reported.

The military’s Information Security department has determined there has been a significant rise in risks to the sensitive data found on cell phones of IDF officers who have yet to receive considerable protection.

Viruses take over the cell phones, via SMS messages, and allow hostile entities to know its location, view the contents of the device and even remotely operate its camera.

Smartphone apps provide a wide range of services, including information and entertainment, but in Israel, the apps have another unique life-saving use – finding a bomb shelter.

Following the recent security-related tension in northern Israel as civil war rages in Syria, i-Apps, an Israeli Smartphone application development company, has updated its “Merkhav Mugan” [residential secure space] app to include all secure shelters throughout all of Israel.

The GPS-based app helps people fleeing from rocket fire to locate the closest bomb shelter or secure area, providing the fastest route to it. Updates from the emergency authorities are also provided in real time. The app enables anyone to add information about available shelters which are not yet listed on the app.

The app was first launched six months ago and provided service to the residents of southern Israel who were under the threat of rocket fire from Gaza. i-Apps received information from the municipalities on the location of shelters in the north and have updated the info on the existing app.

The idea was presented to i-Apps by two residents of Ashdod, who have learned the necessity of this life saving app first hand.

Unique Purim apps available to smartphone users help make the holiday marking the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia an even more unique experience both in Israel and across the world.

For the complete reading of Megillat Esther, there is an app available for Android users, which includes the Hebrew text of Esther, complete with vowels and cantillation marks, seven different font sizes, as well as a verse-by-verse English translation. One of its unique features is that it provides a noisemaker (grogger) to drown out the name of the evildoer Haman during the reading, with several options for noisy sound effects.

The English translation is based on the 1917 Jewish Publication Society version, whose text has been updated to replace “thee” and “thou,” “hast” and “didst,” and similar archaisms.

In addition, the app also includes the text for the Purim Service (seder Purim) with the appropriate texts for four different customs: Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Nusach Sefard and Nusach Ari.

The app is available on Google Play Store by the name of Esther by ZigZag Inc. and costs $1.99 or NIS 7.46.

Other Purim apps, which are both fun and free, include the Megillas Esther app, which was made available to Android users this year after having been available to iPhone and iPod Touch users last year.  According to the Google Play Store description, the app allows you to scroll through verse by verse with a flick of a finger and the ‘virtual’ noisemaker allows you to choose the noises, including crowd booing, air horn, firecrackers, and machine gun for the reading of Haman’s name. There is also a helpful Haman highlighter.

And finally, in order to enjoy a safe and happy Purim, there is SoberApp, developed in Israel, which helps a person monitor the intake of drinks and estimates the blood and alcohol level. By entering basic information about weight and gender and the type of drink a person has had as well as the time he had it, the app will inform if one can drive now or later or if the drinker has exceeded the alcohol limit in whatever country he is located.

The free app is available on Google Play Store and is especially suitable to those celebrating Purim with plenty of traditional drinking. Happy Purim!

In the days before Elie was called to Operation Pillar of Defense, he showed me an iPhone application he had found on the Internet. It was called “Color Red” – the same name used to indicate an incoming missile. And what it did – was alert you that a missile had been fired from Gaza and tell you how many seconds you had before impact. It even had a stop watch which you could start and then time yourself as you ran. Sick humor…

Elie called a short while ago – he found another application – it’s called, “The Next War” and what it does is tell you where the nearest bomb shelter is – based on your location as identified by GPS. Wonderful. He thought it was hysterical. He was particularly amused that according to this application, the nearest bomb shelter to where he was – working as a security guard in the mall in Maale Adumim – is a 40 minute drive to the southern part of Jerusalem (ignoring the bomb shelter that is in the mall in Maale Adumim and every other bomb shelter between us and Jerusalem). There was a link to report additional bomb shelters.

What does it say about us that we create programs to measure how fast we can run and where we can seek shelter? I actually think it shows how well we are adapting. No, I really doubt that either of these applications would be used in a real war. Who has time to pull out your phone, open the application and then consult it as you run for the 15 seconds to one minute it takes for the missile to arrive?

So maybe the better question is what is says about our enemies.

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