IP video surveillance - Security beat

Surprise – shock, even – was the initial reaction of most in the industry to the announcement earlier this week of Canon’s intent to acquire Axis. Maybe it was the (apparent) suddenness of the move, or its scale ($2.8 billion!) that caught us off guard. Maybe it’s the continuing ripples the move is likely to cause through the industry that has us still talking about it. It’s clearly the biggest story in our market in years. But after you think about it a couple of...

Is Axis Communications getting ready to expand its business beyond IP video cameras and even access control? A recent comment by Axis founder Martin Gren appears to suggest as much. In a Q&A sponsored by Memoori Research, Gren was asked about “adjacent markets that will merge with IP video” as they relate to the Internet of Things (IoT). Here is his answer: “If you’re talking about IoT, you’re talking about all types of intelligent sensors. Our DNA (at Axis) is...

When is an acquisition not really an acquisition but rather the “sale of shares by one corporate conglomerate to another?” Such is the core question in the aftermath of Samsung’s sale of its interest in Samsung Techwin to fellow Korean conglomerate Hanwha Holdings. Samsung announced sale in late November of its 32.4 percentage ownership in the video surveillance company (as part of a larger sale of its defence and chemical affiliates). The 32.4 percent of stock represents the...

There’s a new international company in the security market this week with the acquisition of Siemens’ Security Products business in Europe by Vanderbilt Industries, a new U.S. company that rebranded the Schlage Security Management Systems (SMS) product line after acquiring it from Ingersoll Rand in August 2012. The European arm of the new global player will be called Vanderbilt International, based out of Germany and led by Managing Director Joseph Grillo, who many remember from his...

A year after its launch, PSA Security Network’s National Deployment Program is creating new opportunities to enable local integrators to have a shot at getting business from large companies with a nationwide footprint. Collectively, PSA Security Network’s some 250 electronic security systems integrators are responsible for more than $2 billion in annual security systems design, installation, integration and maintenance business related to access control, video surveillance, intrusion...

Video cameras were big news at the ASIS International Seminar and Exhibits in Atlanta, but the eagerly anticipated new 4K Ultra-HD cameras took a back seat to other camera innovations, including a rash of new panoramic view cameras in various flavours and types (including faster frame rates) and a renewed emphasis on cameras as intelligent system components. Samsung announced its new Open Platform program that leverages the added computing capacity of Samsung’s WiseNetIII computer chip in...

A busy first day at the ASIS International Seminar and Exhibits in Atlanta ended with a surprise strategic announcement by one of the industry’s largest suppliers and one of its most successful up-and-comers. Axis Communications and Sightlogix announced a strategic agreement to sell both technologies cooperatively to end-user customers through dealer channels. Despite the broad product range Axis brings to market, the company does not have a perimeter security solution, which is the stren...

I love Wikipedia, not just because I use it every day, but also because it reflects the value that can be created when a large community works together. When each member of a community contributes a small part, the result is monumental. I saw an estimate somewhere that it would take a million pages to print out Wikipedia. Is there an opportunity to leverage video in the same way; that is, to tie together the capabilities of millions to create a central repository that could be useful? Consider...

The Silver Comet Trail is a 61-mile hiking and biking trail west of Atlanta that follows a route previously travelled by the Silver Comet passenger train from 1947 to 1969. I heard about the train when I was growing up but was never a passenger. As an adult, I have been on the Silver Comet Trail a couple of times; it’s mostly level and great for biking (or walking). The former route of the railroad tracks has been paved over, extending through a beautiful, natural environment that feels li...

If a video surveillance system is installed using public funds, should the resulting video therefore be accessible to the public? A poll in the United Kingdom suggests the majority of Britons think it should. 64 percent of 1,345 people surveyed believe that British taxpayers, who pay for cameras placed in public places, should have access to the video feeds through live web streaming. The survey was conducted by installer CCTV.co.uk. There could be advantages to providing public access to vide...

Anixter International’s acquisition of Tri-Ed could help to accelerate implementation of IP video and access control by small and mid-sized dealer/integrators. In announcing the $420 million acquisition, Anixter emphasized the opportunity to expand its IP business through the new Tri-Ed customer base that has previously been more focused on analogue video as well as access control, intrusion detection and fire/life safety. It’s just one of the opportunities for Anixter to leverage t...

Highlighting China’s Video Surveillance Giants, this is the second in a series of articles on the growing international presence of China’s top three video surveillance/CCTV companies. Check out articles on Hikvision and Uniview, which are also part of the series. Dahua Technology Co., Ltd. is a Chinese video company with roughly 75 percent of its revenue coming from the huge domestic Chinese market. The rest reflects Dahua’s growing international presence in the video survei...

Highlighting China’s Video Surveillance Giants, this is the first in a series of articles on the growing international presence of China’s top three video surveillance/CCTV companies. See other articles in the series from Dahua and Uniview here and here. For three years now, Hikvision Digital Technology Co. has been ranked as the world’s largest CCTV and video surveillance equipment provider. IHS Research estimates the Chinese manufacturing giant’s global market share in...

Conventional wisdom has been that analogue video has remained popular at the lower end of the security market because of the complexity of installing IP systems. The proliferation of NVR appliances, self-configuring systems and end-to-end solutions today addresses the requirements of even small systems and has overcome issues of complexity. The new systems are plug-and-play and require little expertise on the part of the installer. Ease of installation was among last obstacles to total IP adopti...

Camera manufacturers are coming up with new ways to use the intelligence inside today’s IP cameras. We all know that cameras now have chips inside, and Moore’s Law (look it up) tells us that processing power increases every two years, which means today’s cameras should be (and indeed are) much smarter than the IP cameras of several years ago. Some of that intelligence is being used to accommodate higher resolutions in many of today’s cameras, and it is making possible mo...

I am visiting IFSEC for the first time in several years, and one revelation is how well the event reflects the increasingly global - and diverse - nature of the security market. On the second day of the show, I was struck by the diversity of attendees, apparent in the many languages you hear spoken in the exhibit hall. I also kept coming upon confirmation of the variety of global security companies from around the world who are exhibiting at the event -- another reflection of a thriving worldwid...

It took a crowded ride during rush hour on the London “Tube” to get me there, including multiple transfers, but the first day of IFSEC at its new venue, the ExCel in London, yielded a couple of newsy announcements and busy traffic at many of the stands. The industry is still reeling from bombshell news last week of the acquisition of Milestone by Canon. The ink may be barely dry, but the agreement was celebrated at IFSEC with a press event and big photo opportunity involving Rokus v...

Ever wish your smart phone could see in the dark? Sure you have, and FLIR Systems has just the gadget to make it possible. It’s the FLIR One, the “first personal thermal imaging device for consumers,” introduced earlier this year. Now available for the iPhone, with a version for select Android models coming soon, the product sells for less than $350. It allows its users to “see what the naked eye can’t.” According to the manufacturer, FLIR One “provides...

Every security system has a storyOur industry’s technology solutions are at work almost everywhere, if you think about it. You might see Kelvin Hughes high-resolution radar pictures providing protection for Maryland’s oyster beds. At the 2014 Oscars, Axis pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras kept watch around the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. At The Marque, an exclusive membership club in Houston, Texas, MorphoTrak 3D facial recognition technology secures access and enables the club to be &ld...

Privacy or Security? Privacy: Does it really exist? Does it matter? You still hear about privacy concerns in our market, but in many ways the privacy ship has sailed. A session on privacy at ISC West reminded me how much privacy expectations have changed in the era of Facebook. Now people think nothing of posting personal information in a public forum that clearly identifies who they are. What a shift from the days when anonymous screen names both protected identities and encouraged greater can...

After days of back-to-back meetings at ISC West, you start hearing some repetitive themes, but then something will surprise you. That happened to me at the NVT booth when I saw a display showing transmission of power and IP video signals over barbed wire (rather than the more familiar Cat-5 or coax cabling). Wondering about possible applications at correctional facilities (or cow pastures), I was assured the display was intended to make the point that NVT products can transmit video and power ov...

Data overload describes both my condition in the midst of a busy trade show and the current condition of the industry itself. At an opening session at ISC West in Las Vegas, I hear that technology development now means there are more sensors and cameras providing more and better quality data all the time. As if making the case, Axis introduced a 4K “super high resolution” camera for under $1,000. Other companies also introduced 4K cameras, including Sony, Bosch, and several more. Ho...

I shot these photos of a room full of video surveillance cameras during my recent tour of Genetec's facilities in Montreal. And the photos don't even show them all. Definitely a lot of cameras, and they're just some of the ones Genetec uses to test and ensure integration with the company's software. How does a company like Genetec, and all the other video management system companies for that matter, integrate all these security cameras into their systems? My visit to Genetec reinforced the ongo...