Taiwanese Network Video Recorder specialists QNAP Security have released their latest Firmware update V3.5.0 for their VioStor NVR series for free. Their press release describes the key improvements of this version and new features such as:

• Dynamic E-map: allows users to pinpoint the position of each IP camera on a multi-layered digital map.
• Video Segment Backup to External USB Device: users can now back up specific video segments of the camera channels from the VioStor NVR to an external USB storage device.
• Real-time Digital Watermarking: real-time digital watermarks are embedded to the videos of the IP cameras as soon as they are recorded to the VioStor NVR.
• 16-channel Simultaneous Video Playback: the new V3.5.0 firmware has largely increased the maximum number of channels for simultaneous remote playback from 4 to 16 to enhance the efficiency of video investigation.
• New IP Cameras Support: in addition to more than 1,000 models of IP camera and video server, QNAP Security has added the support for Samsung, Yokogawa, and ONVIF-compliant Bosch, EverFocus and Hunt IP cameras to its compatibility list for the VioStor NVR series.

For more information, the QNAP press release, the firmware download and our product pages for QNAP VioStor NVRs please use the links below:

• QNAP Security Press Release
• QNAP Firmware V3.5.0 Download
• QNAP NVR Product Pages

We’ve just received this Latest News from MI5:

Jonathan Evans, the Director General of the Security Service, gave an interview on Tuesday 6 January 2009 to a number of national newspapers. This was the first time that a serving Director General of the Security Service has given an interview to the media. The interview marked the start of the centenary year of the Security Service, which was founded in October 1909. The interviewers were from The Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, The Sun, the Daily Telegraph and The Times.

During the interview, the Director General discussed a number of topics including:

• the Centenary of the Security Service – trends and themes from past to present
• the threat from international terrorism – Al Qaida and related groups
• the threat from dissident Irish republican groups in Northern Ireland
• other security threats facing the UK and UK interests
• future challenges for the Security Service, including the 2012 Olympic Games and recent technological developments

For coverage of this interview from the newspapers involved, please see the links below (all links will open in a new window):

• “Opening up, but not lifting the lid“ (The Guardian, 7 January 2009)
• “‘We’ve got the terror gangs in check’, says casually-dressed MI5 head in first-ever interview“ (Daily Mail, 7 January 2009)
• “Terror trials ‘reduce threat to UK’“ (Daily Mirror, 7 January 2009)
• “We’re foiling terrorists – but threat remains“ (The Sun, 7 January 2009)
• “MI5 chief warns of threat from global recession“ (Daily Telegraph, 7 January 2009)
• “MI5′s spymaster Jonathan Evans comes out of the shadows“ (The Times, 7 January 2009)

Anybody can sign-up for the latest News updates at the MI5 website.