Seagate Technology Holdings has agreed to pay a $300 million penalty in a settlement with U.S. authorities for shipping over $1.1 billion worth of hard disk drives to China’s Huawei in violation of U.S. export control laws.

Seagate sold the drives to Huawei between August 2020 and September 2021 despite

an August 2020 rule that restricted sales of certain foreign items made with U.S. technology to the company. Huawei was placed on the Entity List, a U.S. trade blacklist, in 2019 to reduce the sale of U.S. goods to the company amid national security and foreign policy concerns.

The penalty represents the latest in a string of actions by Washington to keep sophisticated technology from China that may support its military, enable human rights abuses or otherwise threaten U.S. security.

Seagate shipped 7.4 million drives to Huawei for about a year after the 2020 rule took effect and became Huawei’s sole supplier of hard drives, the Commerce Department said.

Even after “its competitors had stopped selling to them … Seagate continued sending hard disk drives to Huawei,” Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a statement. “Today’s action is the consequence.”

The City of London Police force is set to roll out the Motorola VB400 body-worn cameras to its entire police force.

“City of London Police is dedicated to ensuring London is a safe and attractive destination, and the body-worn camera roll out will help our officers continue to serve and protect those who live in, work in and visit the city,” said Superintendent Neal Donohoe, City of London Police. “The new video technology will capture valuable incident footage that provides an objective record to promote transparency and accountability while also helping to keep our officers and communities safe.”

Known for its modern approach to policing, the City’s police force relies on advanced technologies to maintain safety and security throughout London’s bustling Square Mile which hosts around 8,000 residents and 513,000 transient commuters who travel in and out of the City each day. The new VB400 body-worn cameras will integrate seamlessly with the police force’s existing ecosystem of technologies to maximize end-to-end safety, security and productivity. Collaboration with the Pronto mobile digital policing platform will align video footage with other incident report information and connectivity with a wide range of sensors will automate recording when critical events occur, such as an officer pressing the emergency button on their MXP600 Tetra portable radio.

Designed to streamline an officer’s workflow, after a shift, officers simply place the VB400 into its dock where it will automatically upload footage of the day’s events into Videomanager evidence management software. Videomanager will store the data in-country and organize it with time, date and location details along with supporting incident data reported by officers.

“We’re proud to support City of London Police with an ecosystem of public safety technologies that help officers form a more complete picture of everything that’s happening around them,” said Fergus Mayne, country manager for U.K. and Ireland at Motorola Solutions. “Ultimately, clear and timely information helps them to work more efficiently and make better-informed decisions, leading to better safety and security outcomes for all.”

This is the latest in a series of Motorola Solutions’ body-worn camera deployments both within law enforcement and enterprises globally, including French Gendarmerie and National Police, London Ambulance Services, Malta Police, U.K.’s National Highways and rail operators, Metro Rio and Swedish Rail.

ASSA ABLOY’s electronic hotel door lock Vingcard Novel has been named Product Design winner at the Red Dot Awards for its stylish appearance, robust range of advanced functionalities and future-proof technology design.

In fierce competition with approximately 20,000 entries from more than 60 countries, the Vingcard Novel came in first and significantly gained praise for its ability to blend in seamlessly with any property’s style and for its unique modular design approach to components.

The Red Dot Design Award is one of the world’s largest design competitions and The Red Dot Label has become established internationally as one of the most sought-after marks of quality for good design. The award breaks down into three disciplines, of which product design is one, and winners are selected by an international jury.

”Vingcard Novel is a fantastic product and a true confirmation that we are focusing on the right aspects of product design,” says Perla Munhoz, the Global Head of Product Design at ASSA ABLOY. “Since it was first presented, it has been loved by our customers, especially architects and interior designers. Our focus has been to offer a product for indoor and outdoor use that meets all requirements and regulations while also providing a service and experience that’s truly outstanding.”

HID Global has introduced its Seos Bamboo credentials made from sustainably sourced bamboo instead of PVC. The credential is part of HID’s award-winning Seos security solution and is the first in a range of physical access security Eco Cards.

The bamboo is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council, an assurance that the material comes from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.

Introducing highly secure access cards made from bamboo—a renewable resource that grows quickly and requires less water and pesticides than traditional card materials—demonstrates HID’s continuous innovation without compromising security and customer experience.

“Our journey to offer alternative options to plastic cards and badges began 10 years ago with the introduction of HID Mobile Access—a first in the industry,” explains Martin Huddart, Senior VP and Managing Director of Physical Access Control at HID. “Seos Bamboo offers an additional option for sustainability within the physical access ecosystem, as it supports a more eco-friendly value chain in areas where physical access cards are still required.”

Seos Bamboo cards also support organisations seeking green building certifications, including the internationally accepted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and the Zero Waste to Landfill certification.

The Multispectral Camera Market is estimated to be USD 1.4 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 2.2 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period, according to a new report from research company, Marketsandmarkets.

The analysts found the driving factors for the multispectral camera market to be an increasing demand for these systems in various applications such as military and defence, surveillance and security, aerospace and aviation, commercial like survey & mapping, life science and medical diagnostic, remote sensing, environment monitoring and others. Multispectral cameras are used for gathering information from the visible, infrared, SWIR, MWIR, LWIR parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and they are widely used for target & tracking, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, imaging systems.

Commercial sector looks strong

The platform segment has been segmented into defence and commercial. The growth of commercial segment can be attributed to the increasing need of remote sensing, agriculture, environmental monitoring, survey and mapping, life science & medical diagnostic which drives the market. Multispectral cameras are growing in commercial applications due to their ability to provide valuable insights and data for various industries, including agriculture, environmental monitoring, geology, and infrastructure inspection. They can capture images across multiple wavelengths, enabling better analysis and decision-making for businesses and organisations.

UAV and satellite payloads

Based on end use, the multispectral camera market has been segmented into man-portable and payloads. Multispectral cameras are in growing demand for UAV and satellite payloads due to their ability to capture images across multiple spectral bands, enabling more accurate and detailed data collection for precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, and natural resource exploration, as well as for defence and security applications, and the development of autonomous systems and remote sensing technologies.

Cooled cameras offer more accuracy

Cooled multispectral cameras currently have the largest market share in the multispectral camera industry due to several reasons. These cameras use a specialised cooling system to maintain a constant temperature of the sensor, allowing for more accurate and detailed image capture in low light conditions, and across a wider range of spectral bands. This makes them particularly useful for applications such as remote sensing, astronomy, and defence and security. In addition to their advanced imaging capabilities, cooled multispectral cameras also offer a high signal-to-noise ratio, enabling better detection and discrimination of signals from background noise. This is especially important in applications such as remote sensing and astronomy, where low-level signals must be detected and analysed.

Near-infrared segment leads the way based on spectrum

The near-infrared (NIR) multispectral camera is projected to lead the multispectral camera market due to several reasons. NIR cameras are designed to capture images in the spectral range of 700-2500 nm, which is beyond the range of the human eye, allowing them to detect features and materials that are invisible to the naked eye. One of the primary factors driving the demand for NIR multispectral cameras is their growing use in precision agriculture. These cameras can provide detailed information about crop health, moisture content, and nutrient levels, allowing farmers to optimise their use of resources and improve yields. The increasing focus on sustainable agriculture practices and the need to feed a growing global population is driving the demand for advanced technologies such as NIR multispectral cameras.

Asia Pacific projected for highest growth

The multispectral camera market is anticipated to be dominated by the Asia Pacific region in 2023. China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the rest of Asia-Pacific are the regions that were looked at in this market. One of the primary international players operating in the Asia Pacific region is China, India, and Japan, which makes significant investments in the creation of multispectral camera technologies.

Key players

Some of the key players in this field and mentioned in the report, include, Teledyne Flir, Leonardo, Collins Aerospace, Hensoldt, JAI, Tetracam, Telops, DJI, Paras Aerospace, Cubert, HGH Group, Ocean Insight, Spectral Devices, Silios Technology, Unispectral, and Opgal Optronics Industries. These companies have well-equipped manufacturing facilities and strong distribution networks across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.