Microsoft Israel’s Best & Brightest on Parade at ThinkNext Tel-Aviv

Slowly but surely, Microsoft Israel is making itself more and more relevant for the local startup community. In fact, we recently covered its latest major push, the Windows Azure Accelerator.

Then there’s the annual ThinkNext conference which has become one of the local tech community’s staple events. The more interesting portion of the event (in my opinion at least) is the demo area, where startups chosen by the the local Microsofties showcase their goods. So unless you happen to be at the event in the port of Tel-Aviv this afternoon, here’s what you’re missing out:

Everything.me (formerly TechCrunch Disrupt finalist ‘DoAt’) is a search product that empowers users by putting everything they need at their fingertips. It’s simplicity of search with the mobility of apps. Just say what you need and get your results immediately from fully mobile ‘Instant Apps’.

PointGrab provides hand-gesture recognition software for Windows 8, where users can control a PC, applications and popular games from a distance.

TouchApps makes casual and social mobile games that have reached millions of downloads worldwide.

iOnRoad develops apps that improve driving in real-time using state-of-the-art machine vision algorithms and augmented reality.

Photoccino understands photos and their context. Using computer vision and image processing technologies Photoccino classifies, groups, and selects the best photos, then turns them into photo-based products.

Umoove’s technology allows the control of user interfaces of mobile devices using natural head & eye movements, in real-time and with no additional hardware.

Webydo let’s users create websites by converting any kind of graphical design into a functioning website without any programming knowledge whatsoever.

VMP provides intelligent, personalized, interactive and humanized self-service kiosks retailers and service providers.

Fooducate helps people make healthy food choices. Using Fooducate’s app, shoppers can scan supermarket product barcodes and see their “nutrition score”. The app also suggests healthier alternatives to low scoring products.

Kinvestix is a new fitness platform based on the concept of adding adjustable and linear resistance to the user’s gaming movements.

Loudlee is a social music network that gives you easy and unlimited access to music, and helps you discover music with friends.

Play My Tone is creator of Tonify, an app that lets users mix their favorite music into multi-layered, personalized hi-fi mixes in less than 30 seconds and share it with his friends.

Overwolf is a software client that adds a rich layer of functionality to games, without touching the game code. For game publishers, Overwolf is a tool to integrate social media within their games,
boost virality and reduce user acquisition costs.

Vodio is a video discovery magazine iPad app that keeps users up-to-date by matching their personal taste and preferences.

Xtendi lets users design their own augmented reality experience for mobile devices, based on natural human behavior and the proximity of a user from an object.

MetalCompass delivers a mobile gaming experience for real world games
using gaming accessories for smartphones.

DVP provides real-time make-up software for mobile video calls on smart-phones, tablets and laptops.

EPOS provides digital input solutions that rely on ultrasound to enable high-resolution and precision positioning in both 2/D and 3/D. The company’s technology is embedded in mobile devices, enabling pen/stylus input.