Archive: March 2008
Off to ISC West
March 28, 2008Martha Entwistle
Just an FYI that'll be out of pocket until Tuesday, at the earliest. If, like me, you're heading to ISC West, please take a minute to stop by the booth and see me. I'll be there, at #23149, from noon to 1 p.m. on Wed. and Thurs., and from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday. If no one comes by, I'll be forced to blog in the booth, and no one wants to see that...
If you won't be at ISC, then you'll need to stop back by the blog Wed.-Fri., as I'll be posting some thoughts and observations and maybe posting...
CS Security & Sound acquires Domus Technologies
March 27, 2008L. Samuel Pfeifle
RENO, Nev.--Though he might have wished for different circumstances, CS Security & Sound president Craig Snair is happy to have added Domus Technologies, based here, to the fold. "Unfortunately, [former owner Mark Fielder] came down with a severe illness," he said. "We'd been talking about merging over the summer, but nothing came of it. Then, when he got sick, his wife knew we'd been talking and she called me and we came up with a deal. It closed pretty quickly."
CS has an office here, as well as...
Honeywell and Bold collaboration targets access control
March 27, 2008Leischen Stelter
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Honeywell, a manufacturer of security products, announced on March 24 a collaboration with Bold Technologies, a developer of software solutions for central stations, to offer an integrated access control solution for central stations. The collaboration between Honeywell's Win-Pak Pro Central Station, the remote managed access control system, and Bold's Manitou central station automation software will "allow central stations to manage data using one database instead of two or more,"...
CoreStreet lands funding from In-Q-Tel
March 27, 2008SSN Staff
By L. Samuel Pfeifle
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.â€â€CoreStreet got a boost for its converged access control solution this week with a strategic investment and technology advancement agreement from In-Q-Tel, the investment firm affiliated with the U.S. federal intelligence community, chartered by Congress. The funding, the amount of which was not disclosed, will be used to enhance CoreStreet’s Card-Connected technology, which “uses strong cryptography to extend...
SIA delivers first OSIPS standard for video
March 27, 2008Leischen Stelter
ALEXANDRIA, Va.--The Security Industry Association announced on March 21 the release of the first deliverable standard from its Open Systems Integration and Performance Standards (OSIPS) body of standards. The new standard, DVI-01: Digital Video Interface Data Model, gained American National Standard (ANSI) approval in February, according to Monica Rigano, director of standards for SIA. "This video standard focuses on any kind of integration and interoperability with a video component," she said....
An interesting UTC-Diebold development
March 27, 2008Martha Entwistle
Looks like UTC has had a card up its sleeve all along: It already owns 3.5 percent of Diebold's outstanding shares.
Kapow!
Actually, I'm not sure what that means.
UTC believes it's the sixth largest shareholder of the company, which should give them a little juice, but it's not exactly sitting in the catbird seat. Should they team up with a couple of the top five shareholders, then maybe they're all in business to come up with a slate of board members and start really shaking things up. (My apologies...
L-1 to acquire Digimarc's ID systems biz for $250m.
March 27, 2008SSN Staff
STAMFORD, Conn.--Biometrics giant L-1 Identity Solutions announced March 24, that it will acquire the ID Systems business of Digimarc in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $250 million.
"Digimarc's expertise in centralized production of credentials, together with L-1's biometric recognition and document authentication capabilities, will enable us to provide a secure end-to-end solution for issuance of government credentials like driver's licenses," said Robert V. LaPenta, chairman...
Maschmeier and Molczyk launch Home Security
March 27, 2008Martha Entwistle
COLUMBUS, Neb.--Two police officers have launched a new residential security company here called, appropriately, Home Security. Gilbert Maschmeier and Doug Molczyk are now ADT dealers, having opened their business in January.
"We saw a void in Columbus; we don't have a lot of people offering home security and monitoring," Molczyk said. "We decided it was a good way to continue to serve the community and start our own business."
Molczyk said they decided to become ADT dealers because "we liked their...
Did I leave my coffee pot on?
March 27, 2008Daniel Gelinas
Everybody wants a piece of the remote monitoring pie. Here's an article about SureWest, a California communications company, launching a remote monitoring service. Sounds like a plug and play system where they send you a camera, some sensors, a little bit of hardware/software and, of course, instructions.
I'm always curious if these companies have dedicated customer service for new ventures like this, because frankly, no matter how simple it sounds, most of us are mildly-to-severely technologically...
American Idol featured a security guard, and I didn't know it?
March 27, 2008Martha Entwistle
I'm blown away by a throwaway line in this story about not-very-good American Idol contestant Chikezie getting sent home last night.
As in, the 22-year-old airport security inspector from Inglewood, Calif.
What? I totally would have been rooting much harder for the big man if I had known this. How did this get by me? And what a great opportunity missed for the security industry (I'm assuming, perhaps wrongly, that he's working for a private guard firm contracted with the TSA). This guy should...