Cisco Aquires SyPixx 78
illeism writes "Forbes reports that Cisco is getting into the video surveillance business. From the article,"Cisco made the acquisition to capitalize on the trend that has been underway which is moving video surveillance from analog to IP.""
I give this less than a year... (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't like powerful companies who are in bed with the government. I almost wish they were Israeli or Argentinian or something.
Re:I give this less than a year... (Score:4, Funny)
...yet.
Re:I give this less than a year... (Score:2)
Not surprisingly (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not surprisingly (Score:4, Insightful)
Thank you cisco for doing your part!
God bless America!
Re:Not surprisingly (Score:2)
Hahahaha... just kidding. I'm glad it freaked you out, though it's even more scary now that you seem to be the only one...
Re:Not surprisingly (Score:1)
LilGuy -- was there no irony in your post or am I just reading it completely wrong?
Re:Not surprisingly (Score:2)
Re:Not surprisingly (Score:2, Funny)
So many cameras, I get invites all the time to do my part in keeping an eye on what goes on under their watchful eyes! Now that is democracy in action. I've not seen many criminal acts commited yet, so they must be working!
Brazil (Score:1)
Oh! which one, you say? Brazil!
It's a twist on some of the 1984 concepts, as with a number of other films by Gilliam
Color me surprised? (Score:3, Interesting)
Not that I have anything against surveillance... just as long as it isn't abused [aclu.org]
Re:I don't care what you say, surveillance works. (Score:1)
Re:Color me surprised? (Score:1, Interesting)
Cisco Systems acquires SyPixx Networks, Inc. (Score:5, Interesting)
Now we have DVR backup, etc. Interestingly enough, SyPixx is a Linux based product. http://www.sypixx.com/ [sypixx.com] It's cool though that Cisco is giving it a go, they actually might do a good thing here. I would like to suggest a few features: like lower cost on.. dvr capacity options, pan-tilt, zoom, feature software set, (Linux based options) and low lux options.
surveillance is good for business. Now, the cost? (Score:1)
Fair enough, lets talk pricing. (Score:1)
I say if it's under the $5000 price range, it take off like wild fire, but over this price point and it will be too costly for most small businesses.
My IP-Tivo is watching me (Score:4, Funny)
Re:My IP-Tivo is watching me (Score:1)
I sure am glad I invested in Cisco, that way at least that my TV can watch me getting rich, even though I'm depressed about how. Not that I really had any foresight as an investor, but I am learning one can never be too cynical.
Evil (Score:1, Interesting)
Don\t mod this "troll" or "insightful", it's just a gut response.
Re:Evil (Score:3, Funny)
That's wireless IP based laser beams, thank you very much. Oh, and the sharks will also be controlled over IP [slashdot.org].
Re:Evil (Score:1)
Re:Evil (Score:2)
"Evil" is a term relating to morality, not legality.
That's what Cisco does (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure about this. (Score:5, Interesting)
When companies start talking about keeping a diverse portfolio (ie: lots of totally unrelated product lines), what does that mean? Well, the "obvious" conclusion is that they're not confident enough in anything they're doing and are not confident in decisions that might make or break things for the company down the road. They're not consolidating, they're not buying in any technology or IP they don't have but could use (I can't see how they can use any of it, and what they can they probably have), so that leaves hedging their bets and covering their backs.
If Cisco think IP-enabled CCTV can possibly make enough of a difference to cover the cost of the investment AND believe that none of their own products could produce as much or better return for that same amount of money, I'd look a lot harder at alternatives.
(It doesn't mean I think Cisco will fold - they're far from doing that. It means I think Cisco have run out of ideas, which is generally a much worse place to be. You can always borrow money, but fresh, quality ideas are tougher to find.)
Re:I'm not sure about this. (Score:1)
Re:I'm not sure about this. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'm not sure about this. (Score:2)
It means I think Cisco have run out of ideas, which is generally a much worse place to be. You can always borrow money, but fresh, quality ideas are tougher to find.
This analysis holds true for small companies who are unable to find the innovations needed to grow their market or their share of their market, but for big companies there's another reason to diversify: When your market is no longer growing rapidly and you own most of if, there is simply not much growth potential in doing what you're doing.
Re:I'm not sure about this. (Score:2)
MARS
Two different wireless companies (Aironet and Airospace I think)
The WebVPN/secure desktop/Clientless.
Their IDS/IPS devices
Their PIX Firewalls (ASA is a PIX's w/ Trend micro and other tech they bought)
CSA
Didn't CATOS and some switches come from other companies too?
I know I am missing a lot of other techs and companies.
So in the end, you can't compete very well against Cisco, because Cisco will buy out who they think
Re:So... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:So... (Score:1)
Cisco's reasoning (Score:5, Informative)
"If you can digitize all video, you can record it, timestamp it and instantaneously get access to video across the IP network much more efficiently than having to send an actual tape," said Marthin De Beer, a vice president in Cisco's Emerging Market Technologies Group. "It also lets people coordinating a disaster halfway across the country to get live video feeds from cameras connected to an IP network, so they can see what's happening."
In addition, it makes sense for businesses that have already embarked on consolidating their networks to decide to carry all of their corporate data and voice traffic over an IP network. Cisco also provides storage area networking gear, which is essential for customers who must store all the video.
Personally, I'd like to see more development of sousveillance [wikipedia.org]. IMHO, the solution to the problem of "Who watches the watchers?" isn't to ban watching, but to make everybody a watcher. It'd be great to have a publically-uploadable website designed to facilitate the coordination of images and video for events and places of concern.
Re:Cisco's reasoning (Score:2)
Not to mention that crimes would be made much easier if you can watch the spot where it is to take place, without having to be there, for as long as you like.
But getting away with a crime would be much harder if others can watch the spot while it's taking place, and especially if records are kept so that the crime can be watched even after the fact.
Solution worse than the problem.
I disagree. Not that the solution isn't bad, and not that there might not be a better solution, but I think the problem
SyPixx (Score:4, Informative)
Check out the SyPixx web site [sypixx.com] for more about the products that Cisco is aquiring, or download this PDF catalog [sypixx.com].
Mod Parent Down: Viral Marketing (Score:2)
Slashdot should demand a higher standard of viral marketing troll. We deserve better than this amature.
Re:Mod Parent Down: Viral Marketing (Score:2)
Cheesy marketing sigs is cause for modding down? If so, go ahead, I've got karma to burn. You might as well mod down hundreds of other ./ers while you're at it....
Great Move by Cisco (Score:1)
Given their dominance in the Networking market, I guess, we'd see cheaper/better products to stream videos on the net and may be quite a few new technologies brought out by them, creating new parallels in a market where there is a high degree of segmentation between various products and services provided by the current manufacturers/organi
I don't think IP Cameras are there yet (Score:5, Interesting)
The requirements came down to being weatherproof, and also having low light capability for night surveillance. As I began pricing things out, I found IP cameras could be had at low starting prices, around $200, but that those models were useless for real surveillance apps. Here are the pitfalls I found.
A) Most IP cameras below $400-$500 lack an auto-iris, but rather simulate one in software. If you can't mechanically restrict how much light is getting to the CCD sensor, you have to sacrifice sensitivity to the point where night time images won't be useful.
B) Many IP cameras use cheap CCD chips. In the CCTV industry people look for SONY Super-HAD and Ex-View CCD chips because of their night time sensitivity. Try finding something IP based with one of these CCDs and see what it costs you. An analog b&w SONY Super-HAD night camera can be had for $115, and a color daytime model only $185. IP Camera? About $1000. Want color and a good night picture? You need a model that uses solenoid to remove the IR cut filter when it gets dark, otherwise the night picture will be no good. Good luck finding an IP version with this at a reasonable price. The cost for a color analog camera with a mechanical day/night filter is $235.
C) Weatherproof models command a much bigger premium than their analog counterparts.
D) Network bandwidth may be an issue for large setups, as full frames are sent via mjpeg. Court precedent says that to be admissable, digital video footage must be stored as complete frames, so count out any of the mpeg codecs.
Now also figure this, whether you use an analog or IP camera you will still need a computer to store all your footage. $50 is what a 4 channel BTTV based CCTV capture board will cost you, and they are much less on ebay. In terms of software, ZoneMinder [zoneminder.com] is open source and will stream compressed video across the internet while recording high quality frames locally. It supports any format ffmpeg supports, even flash video, and does things like auto-cycling and motion detection recording w/ user definable sensitivity areas.
For a 4 camera setup an IP camera solution will cost nearly 3x to 4x as much as analog. So I have judged them as being useful only for large corporate customers with deep pockets. Anyone here using ip cameras, especially for outdoor surveillance? What do you use and what did it cost?
Re:I don't think IP Cameras are there yet (Score:2)
Re:I don't think IP Cameras are there yet (Score:1, Informative)
The other thing to consider too, is that CCTV cameras have a wide variety of generally interchangeable lenses (C or CS mounts), whereas most IP cameras do not have interchangeable lenses.
Further
Re:I don't think IP Cameras are there yet (Score:2)
Storing analog on tape is slow and if you want to review a tape, better hope you have a spare tape player. If not, you will have to suspend your recording to review a tape.
Storing digital, on the other hand, gives you the ability to easily review past recordings without affecting the current recording. It also allows you to record multiple streams on the same medium in full resolution.
Re:I don't think IP Cameras are there yet (Score:2)
Regarding the use of MPEG, that's simply not true. Most MPEG video indeed uses inTERframe techniques (aka B and P frames) to greatly reduce bandwidth, but if you care about each frame standing on its own, you can simply restrict the encoder to inTRAframe compression (aka I frames). N
Re:Cisco- reads and sees all. (Score:1)
Cisco getting into Reality TV (Score:4, Funny)
It used to be that you had to watch your servers carefully, now the servers will carefully watch you. [cisco.com]
Easy win for Cisco, nice windfall for SyPixx (Score:3, Interesting)
How they run with the ball (Score:2)
Ciscoworks is one of the worst software packages ever inflicted on people. If you have any other java product on your PC, either it will stop working, or you won't be able to access ciscoworks in any way other than the co
Sypixx != Big Brother (Score:3, Insightful)
My Best Friend Works for SyPixx (Score:2)
Of course, this means their R&D is supposedly moving to CA (from Waterbury, CT), which doesn't make me happy.
Cisco Aquires SyPixx? (Score:1)
Poor Cicso, I heard that you could take penicillin to clear that up...