Author: Jay Bartlett
Z-Wave Alliance CES 2026 Ballroom Showcases Innovation
The Z-Wave Alliance, the standards development organization dedicated to advancing smart home and Z-Wave® technology, announced plans for an extensive presence at CES 2026 with a mix of expert-led panels and exhibitions from Alliance member companies. All Z-Wave activities will take place inside the Z-Wave Alliance Ballroom (Titian 2205), which will serve as a central hub for innovation, collaboration, and industry engagement.
Kwikset Launches Aura Reach Smart Lock With Matter Integration
Kwikset® announced the launch of Aura Reach™, a new smart lock that combines Matter and Bluetooth connectivity to deliver flexible, intelligent home access and automation. Aura Reach is designed for DIY connected households, offering hands-free auto unlock, proximity keypad wakeup, and guided onboarding through the Kwikset app.
Smart Access Goes Invisible With Xthings Smart Locks
Xthings is redefining smart home entry by shifting from traditional “smart locks” to a seamless Smart Access experience where presence, identity, and interoperability work together naturally at the front door. At CES 2026, the company unveiled its “Connect Future” vision, highlighting how smart access should feel intuitive, automatic, and secure—without friction or complexity.
License Plate Recognition With Samurai Suite
License Plate Recognition by Samurai Suite delivers real-time detection and evidence-ready enforcement for modern environments that demand speed, accuracy, and accountability. As cities grow more complex, vehicle management, parking enforcement, and access control can no longer rely on manual processes.
Powering Safety Anywhere With Autonomous Solar Poles
Art of Logic’s autonomous solar pole platform delivers lighting, surveillance, and real-time intelligence to locations where traditional infrastructure is unavailable or impractical, enabling safer, smarter environments without trenching, cabling, or grid connection.
Milestone Launches Vision Language Model For Traffic Video
Milestone Systems has released a new Vision Language Model (VLM) purpose-built for traffic understanding and real-world video intelligence. Powered by NVIDIA Cosmos Reason, the VLM underpins two new offerings: Video Summarization for XProtect® Video Management Software and Hafnia VLM as a Service (VLMaaS) for third-party integrations.
ZBeta Appoints Learning And Development Leader
ZBeta has appointed Jim McCormack as Learning and Development Manager. In this role, he will focus on strengthening the company’s commitment to learning, technical excellence, and collaboration across the organization. McCormack will lead ZBeta’s learning and development initiatives spanning onboarding, career growth, and knowledge sharing.
Athena Security Launches Apollo 500 Weapons Detection
Athena Security has announced the launch of Apollo 500, a next-generation weapons detection system designed to pinpoint the exact location of a suspected weapon or prohibited item on a person or in their belongings. Security teams are increasingly required to determine not only whether a threat exists, but precisely where it is located.
Nice Announces Next-Generation Surveillance Cameras
Nice has announced the availability of its next-generation surveillance camera lineup, engineered to deliver sharper resolution, enhanced night vision, and powerful onboard analytics. Designed for both residential and commercial environments, the new portfolio provides greater peace of mind for property owners while enabling integrators to design more unified, efficient, and intelligent security systems.
Netwatch Announces Agreement To Be Acquired By GI Partners
Netwatch has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by GI Partners, marking a significant milestone in the company’s growth strategy. Netwatch delivers intelligent, mission-critical security solutions across multiple verticals, including automotive, retail, banking, manufacturing, construction, and infrastructure.
Voyant Photonics Launches Solid-State 4D FMCW LiDAR
Voyant Photonics has introduced the Helium™ platform, the industry’s first fully solid-state 4D FMCW LiDAR family designed to deliver high-performance depth sensing and velocity data for next-generation industrial, robotics, and consumer applications. Built on a silicon photonics chip, Helium is engineered for reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency as Physical AI moves from experimentation to large-scale deployment.
i-PRO Forecasts Edge AI And Cyber Maturity For 2026
i-PRO Co., Ltd. has shared its outlook on how edge AI, channel education, and cybersecurity maturity will shape the security industry in 2026. The year ahead is expected to be driven by measurable improvements in edge-based AI performance, stronger expectations for channel expertise, and cybersecurity serving as the foundation for every security workflow.
Ki Charter Expands ZeroEyes AI Gun Detection Technology
Ki Charter has expanded deployment of ZeroEyes’ AI-powered gun detection technology to its San Marcos campus, enhancing proactive school security with real-time, human-verified alerts that deliver actionable intelligence to local security teams and law enforcement within seconds of detection.
Acoem Secures Critical Infrastructure With Gunshot Detection
Acoem announced that a large North American utility company is deploying its ATD Gunshot Detection system to protect critical infrastructure across multiple sites. Utilities across the United States have experienced a growing number of gunfire incidents targeting electrical substations and energy assets. Even a single rifle round can disable a million‑dollar transformer by puncturing the cooling system, leading to overheating, fires, and prolonged outages.
How To Structure A Fire, Security, And Suppression Sale
When selling a fire, security, and suppression integration company, the structure of a deal can often have a greater impact on your net proceeds than the purchase price itself. The right structure minimizes taxes, protects your long-term wealth, and ensures the buyer’s needs are met without giving away unnecessary value.
I Can Sleep Through A Storm
I see articles and presentations about what keeps company owners awake at night and it made me thing of a piece ten years ago. In the time since, we have weathered an international pandemic that caused shutdowns and financial stress. The article addressed the importance of financial people but it still applies to every aspect of your business. Be sure to hire the right people to manage your business so that you can “sleep through a storm.”
What Keeps Security Business Owners Up At Night, Ed. 16
Running a business demands both courage and consistency. It requires leaders to balance continual challenges with hard-earned achievements. Within the security industry, where operations never pause and every decision carries significant weight, these challenges are often amplified. Business owners must constantly manage competing priorities: attracting and retaining skilled talent, adapting to rapid technological advancements, meeting evolving customer expectations, and maintaining profitability in a highly competitive market.
Rebalancing The Future: Why Physical Security Systems Are Migrating Back On-Prem
Over the past decade, physical security technology has undergone a dramatic architectural shift. For years, the trend line seemed clear: access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, and identity management were all being pulled steadily into the cloud. Cloud-native and cloud-managed platforms promised simplified deployments, streamlined administration, evergreen updates, and attractive subscription-based economics.
Selling Security: How To Win Over Every Personality Type
If only every prospect came with a clear personality label! In a perfect world, your customers would walk in wearing a name tag that said “Driver” or “Analytical,” and you’d instantly know how to approach them. Alas there is this little thing we call real life, where people are a mix, a blend, of the four core personality types: Driver, Expressive, Amiable, and Analytical.
The Benefit Of Integrators Adapting To Emerging Technologies
A thoughtful industry perspective on how security integrators balance innovation, caution, and relationships as cloud, AI, and connected technologies reshape physical security.