Who will create the world's first Virtual TV Network?

NBC, BBC, ABC... and maybe soon RayV TV as well. Israeli RayV raised a second round of $8M to develop live 24 hour broadcasts of quality programming for the PC and TV in what they call a "Virtual TV Network". Facebook's investor Accel Partners, one of Israel's most active VC funds, financed the round. Accel has more than $4B under management worldwide, $1B of which in two European funds that also invest in Israel.

So what's a virtual TV Network (VTN)?

According to the stealth-mode start-up, RayV developed proprietary internet protocols forming a generic grid network, basically enabling anyone to broadcast live TV to an unlimited amount of concurrent viewers at zero cost.

In other words, the first Virtual TV Network is a secure, scalable and manageable distribution vehicle of live real-time media without the need for centralized network resources. Similar to free web TV service Joost, RayV is also requires a download. You can get the beta here.

What are the benefits for the consumer?
According to RayV's website:

"Sure, we love the big networks - after all, they show us all the live Paris Hilton we can handle - and lots of other stuff too. We just want it at high quality on our TVs and on our PCs, anywhere in the world... and more...

We also want to watch live news channels from smaller, independent sources with correspondents around the world. We want channels of live performances from the newest bands at the University of Calcutta. And live coverage of rugby matches from England. And short-film channels from NYU Film School students. And coverage of local politics. And cooking channels for Vegans. And cooking channels for Carnivors."

RayV is not the only one attempting to join MetaCafe and BlogTV on the list of successful Israeli Video startups. Several Israeli companies are working on IPTV solutions:

• TVdoTV - The next generation of web TV
• Koala Technogies -Developing innovative interactive systems
• And possibly boxee - still in super stealth mode

RayV was founded in January 2006 by Omer Luzzatti (CEO), Ron Zuckerman, and Oleg Levy. It has 15 employees and offices in both Tel Aviv and New York.

Source: Globes

Dapper launches AppMaker - Mass Production of Facebook Apps

If you build it, they will come.

Israeli based Dapper, a widget creation site has announced the launch of AppMaker - a tool that converts any Dapper feed (Dapp), into a fully independent Facebook app. If you are not familiar with Dapper, I recommend checking out the video demo here.

This could be a huge boost to the already booming Facebook app marketplace, as anyone can now create a Facebook app, without writing a single line of code.

From the Dapper blog:

"Use your own header, footer, background styling — really make it yours — and with absolutely no programming. If you can make a Dapp, you can make a Facebook app."

AppMaker launched on 9/26, and it's already getting traction from several of Dapper's content providers. Israeli based Answers.com made this app while the service was in private beta. MTV Programming is working on several apps, among others see their MySuperSweet 16 app.

Founded in 2006, Dapper is headed by CEO Eran Shir and CTO Jon Aizen and employs a team of 15. The company raised a $1.2M funding round from Accel Partners and is currently in process of setting up their San Francisco office.

UPDATE: Google Launched their a Google News Facebook App this week, but here was already an unofficial Google News application created by Dapper a couple of months ago. The official one is a little faster, and can handle multiple queries in a more gracefully. See the screen shots below.


Dapper's Goo News:


The Official Google News: