AMBA: law enforcement body camera

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/force-protection-video-present…

"CARY, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Force Protection Video Equipment (OTC Markets: “FPVD” ) which sells HD body camera systems and accessories to law enforcement announced its participation at the 2015 South Carolina Sheriffs annual conference held July 12-15. Force Protection Video was also an invited guest to participate in South Carolina Sheriffs’ Body Camera Forum which was attended by Federal, State and local law enforcement. Key items discussed were the recently enacted South Carolina law S.47 (Act 71) which provides funding for the purchase of camera and maintaining of evidence from Body Cams such as the LE10 from Force Protection Video. Individual demonstrations were given to the 46 South Carolina Sheriffs and their staffs. Also in attendance were representatives from NSA, Homeland Security, DEA, FBI , Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service and ICE. The company’s president, Paul Feldman, who attended the conference commented:

“The response I received from the attendees of the Body Camera Forum for the Force Protection LE 10 was extremely encouraging . Two of the major features of our products which I presented were extremely well received. Those features are that there is no contract and fees to store video and the ability of the LE10 to transmit via WIFI. The video quality of the LE10 was duly noted by the attendees.”

The LE10 is a small bodyworn high definition (HD) camera which is half the size and half the price ($195.00) of most law enforcement cameras currently available. The LE10 is rich with features such as still picture ability 8MP,WIFI, 4x zoom and audio recording. The LE10 does not require special software or expensive storage contracts. The video files can quickly be downloaded into a standard Law enforcement case file and the micro SD cards are sealed in the provided static evidence bags and then securely stored in the departments evidence locker.

The Force Protection Video LE10 camera is a rugged HD design which incorporates Ambarella (AMBA) made chips that allow cameras and other devices to record high definition video. It is the chip supplier of the popular GoPro (GPRO) sports cameras.

In addition, the Company filed its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2015, with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 15, 2015."

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This is why I think analytics is going to be so important to AMBA going forward, and why I like the acquisition they made. Speaking specifically of law enforcement, recording what happens is fine, but wouldn’t it be so much better if the camera had automatic facial recognition, license place recognition, body-language monitoring to alert the officer of a potential threat, hidden weapon detection based on how the clothing lays on the person, and on and on? This is where the camera begins to become a genuine tool that provides tremendous day-to-day benefit – far more so than just another bump in resolution.

And law enforcement or security is just one use case. There are thousands of them, undoubtedly many that AMBA has never even thought about: that’s the great thing about building these capabilities into the chip and then letting others decide how best to use it for their particular needs.

Avigilon is already working on a lot of this stuff in the security realm (object tracking, license plate detection, etc), so it’s not new. But it’s still a whole world of massive productivity gains that are largely untapped, and I like the potential future and growth runway that opens up.

Neil
Long AMBA

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