Perhaps it’s just
the aftertaste of Security 2009 but the electronic security market seems to be
bubbling again after a period of tedious quiet. As the year ripens a slew of
new kit has hit the streets and much of it is just fantastic.

Let’s take Bosch.
In the last month Bosch has released the Dinion 2X, a cracking new analogue
camera that’s clever as a fox. Most manufacturers tend to serve up one course
at a time but Bosch has dug deep. Not only has it released Dinion 2X, there’s
also a new version of the company’s IVA with significantly enhanced features.

What’s really
important to me with IVA is this. Video analysis is something we all want and
yet know is going to be a tough nut to crack. Success in this area will come
down to hard work so any company that develops capable video analysis and
brings it to market is going to get serious kudos in these pages.

Another nice
release from Bosch is a standalone IP PoE camera with up to 32GB of onboard SD
storage. We don’t think this has been released in Oz yet but we can’t help
mentioning it. And if that’s not enough, Bosch has also released Solution 16i,
the latest version of the company’s benchmark intrusion panel with a Connetix IP
module, a voice module and a simplified user interface. Another neat feature of
16i is email transmission of alarms, events and reports via dialler.

Who else has cool
stuff? Seadan and Sprint do – both these distributors are now carrying a new
Bluetooth solution called ECkey which turns a user’s mobile phone into a
credential and keypad to allow access to doors or gates.

Then there’s
Omega. At Security 2009 the big wholesaler showed an especially neat multi-headed
dome camera that allowed an amazingly complete coverage of a room or site using
a single coax and power cable run. Want to see four depths of field at once?
Omega can.  

Other new things
include ASSA ABLOY’s new CardaxFT interface for the Aperio product. It’s an
integration that allows Aperio – which was already a great product – to be
linked to existing wired systems in applications like hotels or fast growing commercial
buildings. And on the topic of Cardax – CardaxFT Version 6 is on its way. The
people at Cardax play their cards (ahem) pretty close to their chests but this
company has some monstrous installs including a Macau casino of behemoth
proportions that I’m probably not supposed to mention, either. CardaxFT Version
6 is one to look out for.

When you start
talking management systems it’s hard not to think about Milestone XProtect
Version 3.0 – and then there’s the new DVTel iSOC V6 from Pacific
Communications. The market’s been waiting for iSOC V6 for a while and this
product looks strong.

You can’t mention
Hills without thinking about other things Australia’s biggest wholesaler is up
to. The beautiful new VoiceNav keypad and the Panasonic SD5, which is going to
be backed up by an IP SD5 range and a bunch more. Pacom also has Pelco Sarix
which we like. In a recent release Stanford University announced the
development of digital still camera for the consumer market with an SDK that
allowed consumers to ‘make their own camera’. It’s a level of flexibility that
applies to Sarix, too. It’s great now but if you want more – go build it.

This month we’ve
got reviews on Pacom’s new Fluidmesh upgrade, Dallmeier’s new HD domes, Sony’s
new HD PTZ camera with it’s cool 2-finger release, Vivotek’s megapixel network
dome, FSH’s MEM award, CBC’s new megapixel lenses, Neovo monitors and a hell of
a lot more.

So – if you were worrying
about the state of universe, stop. There are good things happening and all you installers
and end users are the beneficiaries.