Apple’s newest Pro and Air iPads do not feature a physical SIM slot. Photo: Apple
Following the iPhone’s footsteps, Apple has switched entirely to eSIM on the 2024 iPad Pro and Air. The two tablets’ cellular models lack a physical SIM slot altogether.
With this move, Apple has transitioned two major product categories to eSIMs.
2024 iPad Pro and iPad Air jump on the eSIM bandwagon
In markets outside the US, you can purchase the iPhone 15 Pro series with a physical SIM slot. However, that’s not the case with the new M4 iPad Pros and M2 iPad Airs. Apple’s tablet listing in the EU and the UK only mentions eSIM support and incompatibility with physical SIM cards.
This move from Apple will only help accelerate its transition entirely to eSIM worldwide or at least across major markets.
An eSIM-only option on the iPad makes much more sense than on the iPhone. Once you set up a cellular connection on the tablet, you are unlikely to switch operators soon. Plus, eSIM makes it easy to handle multiple networks while roaming.
However, the lack of a physical SIM slot can be an issue if your operator or MVNO does not support eSIMs. If nothing else, this might force them to speed up their transition to eSIMs.
No Apple stickers with new iPads
The physical SIM slot is not the only thing missing from the 2024 iPads. Apple has also stopped bundling its iconic stickers with them.
While Apple did not discuss this during its “Let Loose” event, it mentioned the change in a memo distributed to Apple Store employees, as seen by 9to5Mac. The report says the company removed the stickers to make the tablet’s packaging plastic-free and reach its environmental goals.
When buying a new iPad Pro or iPad Air, you can request an Apple Store employee for a sticker. Reportedly, Apple is shipping out a small batch of stickers so employees can provide them to customers upon request. But this benefit only appears to be available when you purchase the new iPads directly from an Apple store and not a third-party retailer.
Physical: 100 has developed something of a cult following, and it’s easy to see why. Netflix’s South Korean fitness bonanza marries bizarre concepts (pulling a boat up a slope, anyone?) with genuinely grueling physical tests to deliver compelling entertainment.
For those who haven’t seen it, the show starts with 100 contestants of all different shapes, sizes and genders before periodically whittling this number down to one “ultimate physique” through a series of tasks, or “quests”.
It’s the uniqueness of these quests that, in my eyes, makes Physical: 100 one of the best Netflix shows. Season one included a series of tests inspired by Greek myth, including the Sisyphean task of repeatedly rolling a boulder up a hill until you drop, and the first task was deceptively simple: seeing how long each contestant can hang on a bar over a tank of water until they drop. However, the recently released second season kicks off with a more straightforward mission: running.
Contestants were met with a room containing 100 curved treadmills. These machines sap more of your energy than a standard treadmill because the user is responsible for powering the belt – check out our curved treadmills vs motorized treadmills comparison for all the differences. The athletes’ challenge was to run as far as they could in three timed intervals.
And, as a fitness fan watching 100 people suffer from the comfort of my couch, I immediately knew I wanted to give the test a go for myself.
How to try Netflix’s Physical: 100’s endurance test for yourself using an Apple Watch
Contestants had to run as far as they could in 10 minutes, then seven minutes, and finally five minutes, with short rests in between. After the first round, the bottom 50 athletes were eliminated, after the second 40 more were given their marching orders, and the final interval decided the order of top 10. This ranking gave top-performers preferential treatment in future quests.
I don’t have a curve runner. Neither does the gym I train at. But I do have a park nearby, so I set up a custom outdoor run on my Apple Watch Ultra 2, laced up my best running shoes and set off.
Set a custom workout on the “outdoor run” multisport tracking option of your Apple Watch (or equivalent if you’re using another fitness tracker). Read our guide to find out how to set up a custom workout on your Apple Watch.
This custom workout should have three timed interval runs of 10 minutes, seven minutes and five minutes respectively, each separated by a three-minute recovery period.
Warm up and get to work.
The aim is to run as far as possible over the course of those three rounds.
What happened when I tried Netflix’s Physical: 100 endurance test
I like doing difficult things. I lift weights most days, run twice a week and never say no to sports in any form. But there was a point during the second interval of this Physical: 100 test where I questioned why I was so keen to try it.
You’re running for 22 minutes in total so I figured, with a couple of three-minute breaks along the way, I should make it to five kilometers fairly easily.
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I was wrong. The first 10 minutes went surprisingly well, and I benefited from a slight downhill to ease me into my “quest”, as Physical: 100 refers to it. By the end of the first set I was breathing hard but feeling good, having covered 2.3km. This would have been enough to make the top 50 in Physical: 100. The top performer on the show recorded a distance of 2,416m, and the elimination cut-off was 1,841m.
Having used curve runners in the past, I should say that I find them significantly slower and more taxing than simply running outside – but it was still fun to have scores to compete against.
Following my first interval I stopped to take the prescribed three-minute breather. But after what felt like 20 seconds, my vibrating watch told me it was time to get moving again. I did as I was told, only to find that someone had surreptitiously swapped my legs for lead columns while I had been “recovering”.
(Image credit: Future / Harry Bullmore)
Legendary endurance coach Chris Hinshaw once described the 5,000m as a “true test of overall athletic fitness”, requiring both physical and mental capacity. I was definitely fighting a battle on both fronts by this point, with my body in constant discomfort and my mind trying to distract me from this pain by counting steps.
I finished the second interval and leant aggressively against a nearby railing, having accumulated 2,800 meters according to my Apple Watch. This would have been on the edge of being disqualified, with the tenth-placed Physical:100 contestant recording 3,803m. The winner was flying ahead on 4,160m, while the highest-placed female contestant (handball player Park Ha-Yan) finished 36th with 3,375m.
Once more, the three minutes of rest went by in the blink of an eye, but this time I knew what to expect and adjusted accordingly. As a result, I was able to pick up my speed from the previous round, averaging 4’04”/km (with a sprint finish) rather than 4’41”/km. As the final second ticked over, I reached 5.02km and promptly collapsed onto a park bench.
“Never again,” I muttered to myself, knowing full well I’d be returning to this test at a later date to try and better my score, as well as those of the Physical: 100 contestants.
My distance would have seen me finish in 10th place, with the winner (former firefighter Hong Beom-seok) reaching a lofty 5,472m. Roll on season three.
Apple today began informing early Apple Card customers that their physical titanium cards are set to expire this summer, with replacements to be sent in the near future. Customers who signed up for the Apple Card in August 2019, when the Apple Card launched, will be receiving the notice.
It appears that the physical Apple Card is designed to last for five years before a replacement is sent out. Most of the Apple Card’s functionality is digital, with options for rotating security codes and credit card numbers for online purchases, but there is a number associated with the physical card that’s used for in-person transactions. Credit card companies add expiration dates to physical cards for fraud prevention purposes, to introduce new technology, and more.
From Apple’s email:
We’re sending a replacement titanium card to your billing address so you can continue to use it at physical locations. Remember, even without a physical card you can always use your Apple Card at any location that accepts Apple Pay. Your new titanium card will be shipped within 2 weeks from the date of this communication.
You can continue to use your titanium card until it expires or you activate the new one. You can still use Apple Card with Apple Pay and your virtual card number to shop at merchants that don’t yet accept Apple Pay by typing in your number from Wallet or using Safari AutoFill.
Replacement cards will include a prepaid shipping label so that customers can send in their old Apple Card to be recycled. Apple recommends that Apple Card users who receive a new card activate it when it arrives, as the current card is scheduled to stop working at its expiration date.
Customers who signed up for Apple Card at some point after it first launched will likely receive emails at the five year mark. Note that some customers have been receiving emails for the last month or so, but these may be customers who were able to sign up for the Apple Card early as part of a beta test.
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the “biggest” update in the iPhone’s history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more….
There are widespread reports of Apple users being locked out of their Apple ID overnight for no apparent reason, requiring a password reset before they can log in again. Users say the sudden inexplicable Apple ID sign-out is occurring across multiple devices. When they attempt to sign in again they are locked out of their account and asked to reset their password in order to regain access. …
Apple used to regularly increase the base memory of its Macs up until 2011, the same year Tim Cook was appointed CEO, charts posted on Mastodon by David Schaub show. Earlier this year, Schaub generated two charts: One showing the base memory capacities of Apple’s all-in-one Macs from 1984 onwards, and a second depicting Apple’s consumer laptop base RAM from 1999 onwards. Both charts were…
On this week’s episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the announcement of Apple’s upcoming “Let loose” event, where the company is widely expected to announce new iPad models and accessories. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple’s event invite shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Apple CEO Tim…
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman outlined some of the new products he expects Apple to announce at its “Let Loose” event on May 7. First, Gurman now believes there is a “strong possibility” that the upcoming iPad Pro models will be equipped with Apple’s next-generation M4 chip, rather than the M3 chip that debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac six months ago. He said a …
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of “Let Loose” and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more …
We love to give practical buying advice on the latest gadgets here at TechRadar. But sometimes what we love even more is to indulge in the most ridiculous, high-end, cutting-edge, luxurious tech on the planet. That’s what we bring you in these Money no Object columns – you can read the whole series here.
I want one of these, reader. The fact that I remember the 1996 original helps, but just look at it – how its vertical design showcases the six-strong selection of CDs you’re spinning today. Don’t you want people to see that? Wouldn’t it be great to see your music again, as you listen to it? And I challenge anyone not to squeal with glee when the the orb of light mechanism (or ‘CD clamper’, as it is affectionately known) quickly, smoothly scales up or down to whichever disc you’ve cued up.
You may remember the Bang & Olufsen Recreated Classics series from 2020, when the company reclaimed, recreated and launched the Beogram 4000c (a turntable initially made in the 1970s) which sold out in 23 hours – well, only 200 were sourced.
Cut to April 2024 and there’s now a second Recreated Classic receiving the 200-units only B&O treatment: the Beosound 9000 CD player, originally launched in 1996. Only this time, instead of the built-in AM/FM radio that came with the original, you get a set of the company’s Beolab 28 speakers, for all of the streaming smarts using Chromecast, Airplay or Bluetooth plus Bang & Olufsen Radio – which can all be controlled by the included Beoremote or the Bang & Olufsen App.
Wait ’til the CD-clamper moves… (Image credit: Future)
It’s beautiful, because it’s more sustainable
I’ve been lauding B&O’s commitment to cradle-to-cradle manufacture (meaning that in essence, every component that goes into a B&O product should be able to come out again, and be reused, even in a totally different product) since the modular, easy-to-service Beosound Theatre I got to hear in 2022. In a glorious nod to Sustainability Week 2024 (which is this very week, folks!) the Beosound 9000c involves using what was already out there, making it better, and re-releasing.
To clarify, Bang & Olufsen sourced 200 of the original Beosound 9000 CD player (from house sales, warehouses, and even auction sites, apparently), and returned them to the company’s factory in Struer, Denmark – the same place they were first created, in ’96. B&O tells me that the CD players were then disassembled and thoroughly inspected by a team of skilled technicians, including many of the same colleagues who worked on the Beosound 9000 in the 1990s, using the original workshop tables. Yes, strong ‘getting the band back together’ vibes – and you love to see it.
Every component was painstakingly cleaned and repaired of course, but it wasn’t simply a case of servicing ’em and selling again. Bang & Olufsen found an engineer to remake the CD mechanism, and the design team re-machined and re-anodized all the aluminum parts. These were hairline brushed, etched and pearl-blasted, so that the team could invert the deep black and natural finishes (using spray this time, rather than the rather more wasteful 1996 dipping technique) of the original colorway.
The corresponding Beolab 28’s meanwhile are new, featuring natural aluminum lamellas on the speakers with a Cosmic Black aluminum base to match the player.
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The Xenera font, though (Image credit: Future)
I miss the days of talking about albums – and this feels like a return to them
The original Beosound 9000 was designed by revered designer David Lewis, who believed in slow evolution – that any product should have a long life, both in terms of desirability and endurance.
But for me, the Beosound 9000c’s main draw is its ‘autovisuality’ – i.e., the concept of the basic functionality being exposed, so that your music can be displayed, thus each user remains ‘in touch’ with music. I miss the days of listening to a full album and talking about it; this feels like a return to that.
And it doesn’t stop there, the Beosound 9000c contains several mechanical movements that delight me still. Aside from the CD clamper’s linear movement, the motorized glass lid of the Beosound 9000c opens and closes with the same uniform movement whether it’s lying down, standing up or hanging on the wall. Two optical sensors and a digital time control constantly monitor the door, which opens (or closes) within the set time limit of 3.5 – 4.0 seconds. And if a child’s finger reaches in during any of this, it simply stops.
I love it; I love that each CD is cued up not only by the hovering of the clamper, but with Xenera (or calculator font) text in red to tell you what you’re listening to, running alongside the CDs. Oh, and it’ll play any recorded CDs too (although not SACDs) so your old ‘mixtape CDs’ are also on the menu.
Ready for the delicate topic of coin? The Bang & Olufsen Recreated Classic Beosystem 9000c (which gets you the 9000c CD player and Beolab 28 wireless stereo speakers) is priced at €50,000 / $55,000 / £45,000 (so around AU$85,000).
It isn’t affordable, and I know that. But remember when CDs were new? I do. Remember when the artwork wasn’t actually that good, so CDs were largely silver-holographic affairs with a bit of small black writing on them just to cover the basics? Okay, and did you also take a sharpie to them, for quicker location in your CD book in the car? I used to do it for my mom. Now, I could re-spin those ‘ERIC CLAPTON, SLOWHAND!’ CDs on the wall (or on its stand), complete with my own early-90s scrawl, and think of her. To me, that’s priceless.
No more traditional buttons like these. iPhone 16 could use capacitive ones instead. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
The upcoming iPhone 16 series will have no traditional buttons at all, according to information leaking out of the company that will supply the capacitive buttons that will supposedly replace them.
If true, the change would make the iOS devices more durable and waterproof.
Capacitive buttons could make iPhone 16 last longer
Rumors that physical buttons will be removed from iPhone surfaced back in 2022. But it didn’t happen with the iPhone 15 series after Apple reportedly couldn’t work bugs out of the tech.
The problems have apparently been fixed because Economic Daily reports that ASE Investment Holdings will make capacitive button modules for the iPhone 16. These will allegedly go on both sides of the handset so there will be no physical buttons at all.
Capacitive buttons register the user’s touch but don’t move. A previous unconfirmed report indicated that Apple would add two Taptic Engines to the iPhone to make it vibrate to indicate that a button has been “pushed.”
Why capacitive buttons in iPhone 16?
Those questioning the need for such a change should consider that any moving part wears out. And even the best designed ones are also inherently more fragile than a solid piece of the same general shape.
Plus, the openings around the current buttons are a potential way for water to enter the handset’s interior if the device is accidentally submerged.
iPhones famously last for years and years, and moving buttons can become worn over extended use. Capacitive buttons in the iPhone 16 would help make the product’s useful life even longer.
Perhaps iPhone 16 Pro only
Monday’s report by Economic Daily says the new type of button is coming to the iPhone 16 without being more specific. But it’s possible the change will come only to the Pro and Pro Max versions of the handsets.
Apple makes a habit of introducing new technology in its two premiere models before extending it to the two more affordable versions. That was true for the Dynamic Island and the Action Button. And the end of traditional buttons might be the next example.
We’ll know for sure this autumn when the entire iPhone 156 series is expected to be unveiled to the world.
Some of my Whatsapp chats are about to get very busy once again, with heated discussions about lifting boulders and pulling ropes. Physical: 100, the Korean fitness show that turned into an international phenomenon once it was snapped up by Netflix, is back on our screens again, and I couldn’t be more excited.
The premise is simple, and good content for perhaps the best streaming service out there: 100 contestants are picked by the producers for skill or fame in the world of fitness, ranging from rugby players and martial artists, to bodybuilders, special forces reservists and emergency service workers. Everyone, regardless of body type, gender or weight, is put through the same set of physically demanding challenges, sometimes in teams and sometimes solo, until only one competitor is left standing.
Physical contests aren’t exactly new in the realm of reality TV, especially for anyone who watched American Gladiators or similar shows growing up. However, a few elements set Physical: 100 apart from the pack; the grimy and dystopian aesthetic for one, straight out of Squid Game. The general vibe is futuristic and industrial, but themed arenas pepper the game ranging from beaches to jungles. It’s a little like a fighting game that allows you to pick your battlefield, but you always return to the same serious menu screen.
The challenges are another highlight: the games are often cruel and creative, ranging from the deceptively simple (I audibly half-groaned, half-cackled when the first challenge of Season 2 was revealed: 100 manual treadmills, which each contestant had to maintain a certain speed on for as long as possible) to the complex. Having tried many of the best treadmills over the years, I knew exactly what they were in for: a whole world of pain, especially the heavier athletes.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Another memorable Season 1 challenge involved loading a wooden ship with heavy crates, then working together as a team to push it across the arena and up a wooden ramp. If you think it sounds hard, you should watch them try it, sweat pouring off the contestants as they haul a boat weighing 1.5 tons up an incline, without the aid of wheels, watching it move less and less with every heave.
But it’s the contestants that really make the show, and they’re almost all uniquely wholesome. As mentioned before, all the contestants are from a variety of different training backgrounds: strongmen rub shoulders with cyclists in sprinting tasks, while climbers match their strength against crossfitters. While one contestant might be great at moving heavy objects across an arena, another can run for much longer, while another can leap six feet in the air onto a stack of crashmats.
They openly and vocally admire each other’s abilities during the competition downtime, and all carry a great deal of respect for each other’s disciplines, asking lots of questions about the less common ones such as luging. There’s a lot of showboating, sure, and each athlete tries their best to win, but it’s not a display of domination. Doing your best to win is presented as a mark of respect to your opponent.
This is compounded when successful Korean athletes enter the games, such as last season’s veteran mixed martial-artist Choo Sung-Hoon. He was applauded, bowed to, and shown lots of admiration by athletes who far surpassed him in many ways. When paired with another, younger martial artist in a ball-stealing task, the younger athlete bowed to Hoon and requested a short sparring match before they focused on the ball, as it was his dream to go toe-to-toe with the legend.
It was sweet, and I think anyone who has ever been a remotely competitive athlete in any discipline understood how the younger athlete felt in that moment.
This is Physical: 100’s main hook: not the Hunger Games-style worldbuilding, not the gruelling athletic challenges, but the atmosphere of respect and camaraderie between rivals. It’s a beautiful, healthy, poignant display of competitive spirit. Besides, there’s nothing like ordering a lot of takeout and criticizing a world-class athlete’s technique between swigs of beer and mouthfuls of pepperoni pizza.
NVIDIA’s senior research scientist, Jim Fan, has introduced a concept that is poised to enhance the way AI operates across different environments. During a recent Ted Talk, Fan presented the “foundation agent,” a specialized AI designed to master a wide array of skills, making it adept at functioning in both digital and physical realms. This development marks a significant step forward in AI technology, as it moves beyond the goal of replicating human cognition, which is the focus of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
Foundation agents are not just another type of AI; they are built to excel in diverse scenarios, from gaming and the emerging metaverse to advanced drone operations and the creation of humanoid robots. Nvidia’s own foundation agent, known as Voyager, has already showcased its prowess by playing the popular game Minecraft at a professional level. Voyager’s ability to learn independently and navigate intricate environments is a clear indication of its sophisticated learning mechanisms.
What sets Voyager apart is its method of “coding as action,” which allows it to convert interactions within a 3D space into textual commands. This process enables the AI to refine its skills within the gaming environment. Moreover, foundation agents are designed to be self-improving entities, constantly seeking out new challenges and acquiring new abilities without being confined to a fixed development trajectory.
NVIDIA Voyager AI Agent
Here are some other articles you may find of interest on the subject of NVIDIA
Training these advanced AI agents involves the use of comprehensive datasets, such as YouTube videos, which equip the agents with the knowledge to operate in various forms, from robots to simulations, and in different realities, whether virtual or physical.
The inspiration behind these AI systems stems from the simulation hypothesis, which posits that our own reality might be a simulation. This intriguing idea has shaped the way AI agents are developed, with an emphasis on their ability to move seamlessly between simulated environments and the real world, thus ensuring their versatility and effectiveness.
NVIDIA’s platforms, Omniverse and ISAC Sim, play a crucial role in the training and simulation of these AI agents. These platforms offer the scalability and flexibility needed for practical applications in the real world. A notable example of this technology in use is Urea, a robotic hand that has mastered complex tasks through a blend of language modeling and reinforcement learning within simulated settings.
The presentation offers a forward-looking view into the development and potential future of generally capable AI agents, drawing upon significant milestones in AI research and development, such as the notable victory of AlphaGo over human Go champion Lee Sedol in 2016. This victory is positioned as a watershed moment, signaling the mainstream arrival of AI agents but also highlighting their limitations in versatility and applicability across diverse tasks and environments. The speaker’s narrative then transitions towards a vision for AI agents that are as adaptable and multifaceted as those depicted in science fiction, capable of operating across a broad spectrum of activities, physical forms, and realities.
Jim Fan NVIDIA AI Ted Talk Summary
The presentation offers a forward-looking view into the development and potential future of generally capable AI agents, drawing upon significant milestones in AI research and development, such as the notable victory of AlphaGo over human Go champion Lee Sedol in 2016. This victory is positioned as a watershed moment, signaling the mainstream arrival of AI agents but also highlighting their limitations in versatility and applicability across diverse tasks and environments. Fan’s narrative then transitions towards a vision for AI agents that are as adaptable and multifaceted as those depicted in science fiction, capable of operating across a broad spectrum of activities, physical forms, and realities.
The journey towards achieving such broadly capable AI agents is structured around three primary axes of development:
Skill Acquisition: The speaker introduces the Voyager project, an AI that demonstrates the ability to learn and execute a wide array of skills within the Minecraft environment. By converting the game’s 3D world into a textual representation and using GPT-4 to generate JavaScript code, Voyager autonomously develops executable skills. Through a cycle of action, observation, reflection, and adaptation, it expands its abilities, showcasing a form of lifelong learning.
Embodiment Flexibility: The MetaMorph initiative is presented as a breakthrough in enabling a single AI model to control and adapt to thousands of robots with varying configurations. This is achieved through a specialized vocabulary that describes each robot’s body parts, allowing the AI to generate appropriate motor controls. MetaMorph represents a significant step towards achieving versatility in physical embodiment for AI agents.
Reality Mastery: IsaacSim, an Nvidia simulation tool, exemplifies the capability to rapidly accelerate the learning process for AI agents by simulating physical laws and environments at speeds vastly exceeding real-time. This capability allows for the efficient training of AI models in complex tasks and environments, suggesting a pathway for AI to generalize skills across virtual and potentially real-world settings.
The concept of a “Foundation Agent” is introduced as the ultimate goal, an AI that can generalize across all three development axes—skill variety, embodiment diversity, and reality adaptation. The Foundation Agent would operate based on prompts related to tasks and embodiments, applying a scalable approach similar to how ChatGPT handles diverse language tasks. The speaker envisions a future where such a Foundation Agent enables the autonomy of entities across both physical and virtual domains, embodying the versatility and adaptability seen in fictional AI characters.
In conclusion, the presentation outlines a roadmap for the evolution of AI from specialized agents like AlphaGo to universally capable entities. By harnessing advancements in skill acquisition, embodiment flexibility, and reality mastery, the speaker advocates for a future where AI can fulfill the diverse and dynamic roles envisioned in science fiction, marking a significant leap forward in our quest for artificial intelligence.
Fan’s Ted Talk underscored the transformative potential of foundation agents in bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds. As these agents continue to evolve, they are expected to enhance our interactions with technology and broaden our abilities across various industries. The introduction of foundation agents is a testament to Nvidia’s commitment to advancing AI technology and its applications, promising to enrich our experiences in ways we have yet to imagine.
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Security guards play a vital role in maintaining physical security and access control in various organizations and facilities. They are often the first line of defense against threats to people and property. Some of the key duties and responsibilities of security guards within the context of physical access security systems include the following.
Access Control
One of the primary duties of security guards is to control access to restricted areas and ensure that only authorized personnel are allowed entry. They verify the identity and access privileges of employees, visitors, and contractors by carefully checking credentials, access cards, authorization letters, or other documents against an approved access list. Guards operating security booths may use access control systems from Genetec and maintain visitor logs. By actively controlling and monitoring access, guards play a pivotal role in permitting entry based on authentication and authorization while denying entry to unauthorized individuals. This enhances security and prevents breaches.
Monitoring and Surveillance
Security guards continuously monitor facilities, perimeters, and critical areas through patrols and surveillance equipment, such as CCTV cameras and alarm systems. This enables them to detect security breaches, suspicious activities, and safety hazards. They pay close attention to restricted zones and entry points to ensure no unauthorized access takes place.
Incident Response
Guards are often required to be the first responders to security incidents, such as trespassing, theft, vandalism, and safety hazards. They undergo training to assess a situation, start emergency protocols, and let the appropriate authorities know of the incident. An adept security guard can help mitigate damages from security incidents through timely intervention.
Access Point Enforcement
Security personnel enforce protocols at access points, such as opening/closing specific entrances at scheduled times, directing vehicular traffic, securing delivery areas, restricting access to authorized personnel only, and more. They ensure proper control procedures are followed at all physical security perimeters and entry points.
Escorting/Monitoring Visitors
Guards may be assigned to accompany and monitor visitors in restricted areas to prevent unauthorized access. They ensure visitors have proper credentials, restrict access to only necessary areas, maintain logs, and escort visitors to appropriate meeting points. This helps control visitor access, as per policy.
Supporting Physical Security Systems
From manning security booths to monitoring video feeds and maintaining visitor logs, guards support various physical security systems in place. They follow protocols for operating technical security equipment and notify technicians of any malfunctions. With proper usage, physical security systems become more effective.
Securing Assets and Vital Areas
Security guards protect sensitive business information, critical infrastructure, expensive assets, and vital areas such as IT servers, R&D labs, and storage units. They are also posted at parking lots, loading docks, and other vulnerable areas to prevent theft and misuse.
Emergency Response
Guards are trained in emergency response protocols related to security, such as lockdowns, evacuations, active shooter situations, medical emergencies, and more. They may coordinate with law enforcement during response procedures.
Reporting and Recordkeeping
Accurate reporting and recordkeeping of security-related incidents, access control activities, and surveillance data are crucial. Security guards maintain logs, generate incident reports, document inspections, and submit timely status updates to stakeholders.
Proper training, oversight, and leverage of physical security systems enable security guards to perform the above duties effectively in alignment with organizational security objectives. With increasing technological disruption, the role of guards is evolving toward more strategic responsibilities. However, human oversight remains indispensable. The unique discernment and situational awareness human guards bring continue to be a vital component of the overall physical security apparatus.
