Numerex has been named in the M2M 100 for the fifth year in a row. Read the press release here.

This post is mainly for my friends, family, and associates to understand what the acquisition of Ublip by Numerex means, in non-technical terms. If you ask 90% of the people in my life what it is I do for a living, they’ll tell you I work with computers. While this is true, I’d like to paint a more colorful picture. On the retail side of our business we sell GPS tracking products that allow consumers and businesses to keep track of their most important assets. This could be a loved one, a vehicle, a machine, or even a campus bus. Ublip is all about simplicity. If you sit in any product or design discussion you’ll hear us say “simple is better”, “less is more”, “avoid the kitchen sink” and so on. While this seems commonplace, I’ve found simplicity to be the exception, not the rule, in our market. If you take a look at some of our competition you’ll find that they focus on a complex sell where “more is more”. While some organizations may think they need complex products, we’ve found that most do not. Most customers don’t have the time to learn yet another software program.

95% of our company are technologists so don’t think for a minute it was easy for a bunch of engineers to get together and say “Hey! Let’s build something simple!” But that’s what we did and I’d like to think the message comes through in our brand, our software, our customer support, and our culture. Collectively, we’ve spent several decades in the machine to machine (M2M) space and have been involved with building complex software. Complex software and endless product release cycles have caused us to lose many deals in the past. But alas, we’ve focused on what we feel are the essential components of web-based tracking applications and continue to incrementally improve the product based on customer feedback.

The other side of our business is all about enabling the rapid creation of M2M applications. Let’s take tracking a remote asset, such as a loved one’s car, as an example. The non-technical version of the story is that a device is installed in the car and information about the car’s location and some sort of state (ignition on/off, door open/closed, etc) need to be accessed by a spouse sitting in front of a computer or on their nifty, new call-dropping iPhone 3G. We provide the software infrastructure that makes this happen. More importantly, we do it for all sorts of different devices, whether they use cellular or satellite communications, or come from different hardware manufacturers.

Who do we enable? Right now we enable quite a few folks: ourselves, small businesses, developers, and universities. We call this part of our business The Foundation. It’s the infrastructure that enables the rapid creation of M2M applications. We’ve done it several times over and it only makes sense to share our expertise with the world.

So how does Numerex fit into this picture? Quite well, if you ask me. The reality of any M2M application is there’s a lonely device sitting in an obscure, remote location. Most of the time these devices will be installed and never touched again. All communication with this device is done wirelessly over a GSM network (identical to how your mobile phone communicates). Numerex is the wireless network that bridges the gap between our software and the remote device. Numerex also has solutions for markets other than the location based market Ublip is focused on. Now under one umbrella we’ll be able to go after new opportunities together and provide, as Stratton puts it, a “one stop shop for M2M applications.”

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for all your support.

We’re off to do great things.

ATLANTA, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Numerex Corp. (NASDAQ: NMRX), a leading provider of full-service, highly secure machine-to-machine (M2M) network services and solutions, today announced that it has acquired Ublip Inc., a fast growing privately-held machine-to-machine (M2M) software and services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

“Our mission to provide a full range of comprehensive M2M services to the industry is significantly advanced with the acquisition of Ublip. We gain from an infusion of technology that includes middleware designed to simplify application development and deployment, and ‘virtual’ hosting architecture,” stated Stratton Nicolaides, CEO and chairperson of Numerex. “In addition, we have a small group of dedicated M2M industry experts who are joining our Numerex family, led by Dr. Jeffrey O. Smith, a current member of our Board of Directors. I am very pleased to announce that Jeff will join our executive management team as Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Smith will resign from the Numerex Board of Directors, effective immediately, and will head the Company’s Science and Technology Committee.”

The Ublip infrastructure and software enable the rapid creation of Web-based M2M applications, and when coupled with existing Numerex network technology and infrastructure, provide a resilient and reliable hosting environment for M2M solutions. Numerex’s strategy of simplifying the deployment process is an important key to sustainable growth in the industry. Typically, application developers must identify hardware (radio modules, servers), understand and select wireless networks, build communications software, and the front-end web application. Ublip ‘Foundation’ technology and software simplifies and ‘jumpstarts’ the application development process, and has the capacity to support several different devices, wireless networks, and protocols.

Dr. Jeffrey O. Smith, a Founder and the President of Ublip, added: “I am excited to join a remarkably skilled and experienced team of dedicated professionals, in particular a team of engineers and other technology experts who have worked with Numerex for many years. A Numerex/Ublip combination makes perfect sense since it marries Numerex’s ubiquitous network platforms and gateway technology with Ublip’s ability to help customers optimize the way they work through the use of a flexible and efficient application environment. It amplifies our joint market reach. I am confident that this new step will be successful for all parties involved since we already have common customers that are benefiting from our combined solutions.”

Dr. Smith will head the Company’s extensive information technology and development initiatives. He will also significantly participate in the development of Numerex long-term strategic planning. Ublip systems, operations, and its ‘virtual’ hosting architecture will be fully integrated into existing Numerex infrastructure in order to create a seamless M2M service platform capable of serving multiple vertical markets.

With Ublip, Numerex and third party developers will be able to build applications that are device-independent and can function across diverse operating systems. The integration of the Ublip foundation, i.e., a scalable hosting environment that brings an application to life, within the Numerex portfolio of services will bolster and support innovation in growing M2M markets. Both Ublip and Numerex customers are expected to reap the benefit from access to wider and deeper capabilities.

Ublip was merged into a Numerex wholly-owned subsidiary and will be fully integrated into the Company’s operations. The aggregate consideration for the transaction includes approximately 400,000 shares of restricted Numerex Class A Common Stock and approximately $300,000 in cash.

Mr. Nicolaides continued, “Facing these challenging economic conditions, this is no time to sit still. Our M2M products and services offer security, enhance productivity, and create efficiencies for customers in a variety of markets. Even though we don’t anticipate a material financial contribution from Ublip operations in the short-run, we do expect to hit the ground running with our newest M2M products and services. We believe this will immediately and significantly improve our M2M business development prospects and create new and distinct competitive advantages.”

While the Company has not yet finalized its third quarter results, revenues are expected to exceed $18.7 million that compares to revenues of $17.4 million in the second quarter of 2008 and $16.0 million in the third quarter of 2007; and represents relative growth rates of 7.5% and 16.9%, respectively. In addition, Numerex will report over 690,000 active network connections at the end of September 2008, compared to 617,000 as of June 30, 2008 and 386,000 at the end of September 2007, which represents relative growth rates of 11.8% and 78.8%, respectively. Also, the Company’s cash position strengthened during the quarter with an ending cash balance of $8.4 million compared to $6.2 million at the end of the second quarter. In addition, the Company reiterates its expectations of achieving full-year profitability.

About Numerex

Numerex Corp. (NASDAQ: NMRX) provides the broadest choice of secure machine-to-machine (M2M) network services and solutions. Numerex delivers a depth of expertise and excellence through its M2M service platforms — Networx, Techworx, and Flexworx — that leading companies choose to power their M2M solutions. Numerex is the first M2M Company in North America to carry ISO 27001 certification — ISO’s highest information security benchmark that ensures data confidentiality, integrity and availability. The Company offers its M2M products and services through a variety of brands including Uplink and Orbit One. Numerex is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For additional information, visit http://www.numerex.com. For additional information regarding Ublip, visit http://www.ublip.com

We’ve been hard at work trying to make integrating 3rd party devices easy for our customers (and customers to be). The Ublip Foundation now has support for the Orbit One SX1 satellite tracking device and the Xirgo XT2000 GSM tracking device. It’s a great time to be developing M2M applications and I’m always excited to see new devices hit the market. Rest assured, we’ll be working hard to make it easier for you to build end-to-end solutions.

I just wanted to share an initiative that we’re working on here at Ublip. We believe there’s a shortage of information and collaboration in the M2M space. There are a lot of hardware manufacturers and wireless carriers releasing independent discussion groups, but they’re mainly centered around promoting/supporting named company’s product. We’re proposing something different. There are so many different moving parts in creating an end-to-end working solution and we’re trying to capture these conversations at M2MForums.com. If you have expertise in hardware, software, wireless networks, or the business side of M2M, then we believe M2MForums is the place for you. Some good discussions are already taking place and please feel free to join our growing community.