Verizon and Sierra to offer Cloud-based Platfrorm for M2M Applications

“The combination of Verizon Wireless’s network and platform and Sierra Wireless’ AirVantage solution will provide a solid business value and functionality, especially to international customers,” said Janet Schijns, vice president, Business Solution Services, Verizon Wireless.  “With this comprehensive M2M application platform, customers anywhere in the world will be able to use the same Web services interface to control their connected devices and applications.”

“Sierra Wireless has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Verizon Wireless for many years,” said Emmanuel Walckenaer, senior vice president, Solutions and Services for Sierra Wireless.  “Drawing on this legacy of close collaboration, we can deliver a unique and powerful platform for M2M customers.” 

Powering a New Generation of M2M Communications
Machine-to-machine services represent a rapidly growing market for both network operators and customers building connected vertical applications.  By remotely monitoring and communicating with assets such as power meters, automobiles and connected consumer electronics devices, equipment manufacturers and M2M solution providers can enable new applications and efficiencies.

The offering announced today provides a complete platform to enable M2M solutions by integrating the Sierra Wireless AirVantage Platform with the Verizon Wireless M2M Management Center.  Through this powerful combined platform, customers in the automotive, energy, consumer electronics and other sectors will be able to build more innovative connected solutions and quickly bring to market new devices and applications that take advantage of M2M communications.

AirVantage Subscription Management will connect to Verizon Wireless’ unified Web services interface, enabling customers to directly activate, deactivate, suspend, resume, track the data usage and monitor the connection status of devices operating on the Verizon Wireless network.   In addition, the AirVantage Platform offers OEMs unique device management capabilities, communicating directly with devices in the field through the AirVantage Ready Agent, as well as advanced asset management features and application development tools.

Verizon Wireless Machine to Machine Management Center
The Machine to Machine Management Center enables enterprise customers to connect Verizon certified devices to back-office and field service applications or infrastructure over the secure and reliable Verizon Wireless network.  Customers can access an integrated dashboard to manage network connections, self-service device management and other key elements of machine-to-machine connectivity.  Customers can access the solution directly through Verizon’s MyBusiness or the Verizon Enterprise Center or through customers’ business-specific applications, developed using nPhase’s unified Web services SDK (software developer kit).

Sierra Wireless AirVantage Platform
The Sierra Wireless AirVantage Platform is a secure cloud platform that enables M2M solution providers, system integrators and network operators to rapidly develop, deploy and operate M2M applications and services.  The AirVantage Platform includes comprehensive applications to manage mobile subscriptions, communications devices and their attached assets (such as components in machines, telemetric devices in automobiles and monitoring devices in a home or office); a powerful set of M2M application development tools; and an open Web services application programming interface (API).  The AirVantage Platform lets wireless network operators extend operational support and application development and management features to their M2M service providers.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest and most advanced 4G network and largest and most reliable 3G network, and serves more than 94 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 82,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone. 

About Sierra Wireless
Sierra Wireless  offers industry-leading mobile computing and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications products and solutions that connect people, devices, and applications over cellular networks.

“AirVantage” is a trademark of Sierra Wireless. Other product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Verizon Wireless

nPhase ONE Opens New M2M Markets

“Businesses today are seeking to manage remote assets by deploying wireless M2M applications that run on powerful mobile networks, such as those offered by Verizon Wireless and Vodafone,” said Steve Pazol, president of nPhase. “The nPhase application development platform dramatically reduces costs and time to market for enterprises that need to develop robust, world class M2M products and services deployed on these networks.”

“We see tremendous possibilities for nPhase ONE to support developers interested in providing tools and applications for the M2M customer,” said Todd Murphy, director, Verizon Developer Community at Verizon Wireless. “We look forward to expanding our developer program to include enterprise and M2M opportunities with the nPhase platform playing a key role.”

For device OEMs, nPhase ONE enables specialized capabilities embedded into devices that extend new service offerings, differentiate, and drive growth. nPhase device-side application software can be factory installed on approved devices to enable advanced connectivity management, device and network diagnostics and application development. nPhase is working with CalAmp to develop additional advanced enterprise sensor management functionality, including a plug and play RS-232 serial MODBUS interface, into CalAmp broadband router products.

“We are pleased to be working with nPhase and see this as a winning relationship for all parties involved,” said Garo Sarkissian, CalAmp’s vice president of Corporate Development.  “We believe nPhase ONE, in conjunction with our versatile broadband router products, will set the stage for a whole new generation of wireless connectivity.”

For application developers, nPhase ONE provides Unified Web Services and device-side application programming interfaces (APIs) that automate the provisioning, monitoring and control of wireless M2M devices, enable rapid development of complete sensor monitoring solutions and provide access to the vast amount of diagnostics data available through a diagnostic interface on cellular modem chipsets for troubleshooting connectivity and performance issues. This new advanced M2M functionality simplifies the application development process, accelerates speed to market and creates new possibilities for growth.

About nPhase
nPhase, a 50/50 joint venture between Qualcomm and Verizon, provides advanced Machine to Machine (M2M) cloud platform services to the world’s leading wireless operators such as Verizon and Vodafone, and enterprise customers with the most demanding needs for data reliability, coverage, security and innovation in M2M. Industries served include consumer electronics, transportation/ construction, utilities, healthcare, retail, industrial, financial services and government. nPhase leverages the global leadership in advanced connectivity technologies provided by Qualcomm, the industry leading network and channel provided by Verizon Wireless, and ten years experience as an M2M pioneer, to lead in the advancement of M2M. nPhase headquarters are located in San Diego, CA.

Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Source: nPhase

ORBCOMM REPORTS RESULTS FOR FULL YEAR AND FOURTH QUARTER 2010

For the quarter ended December 31, 2010, Total Revenues were $7.5 million, an increase of 6.7% over the fourth quarter of 2009 driven by slight increases in Service Revenues and growth in Product Sales.

Costs and Expenses for the full year 2010 of $38.1 million were up 26.8% over the prior year period. This increase was driven by the satellite Impairment Loss of $6.5 million in the third quarter of 2010.

Operating loss for the full year 2010 was $1.4 million compared to a $2.5 million loss for the full year 2009.

Adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2010 was $11.1 million. Excluding the recognition of deferred revenue from the Coast Guard and the benefit of the Insurance Recovery in 2009, full year 2010 Adjusted EBITDA is $5.2 million, a 113.7% increase over the full year 2009 Adjusted EBITDA.

At December 31, 2010, there were 575,000 billable subscriber communicators, an 11.6% increase over year-end 2009. Net subscriber additions for the full year were almost 60,000, an increase of more than 8% from the prior year, comprised of more than 45,000 satellite additions. Net subscriber additions in the fourth quarter were more than 19,000, representing the fourth consecutive quarter of sequential growth in net additions.

“As reported on February 24, 2011, ORBCOMM entered into a definitive agreement to acquire StarTrak Systems, LLC’s business, which supports ORBCOMM’s growth strategy in a number of ways,” said Marc Eisenberg, ORBCOMM’s Chief Executive Officer. “The acquisition provides an opportunity to drive new subscribers to ORBCOMM’s global communications network while accelerating the growth of StarTrak’s suite of products by adding scale and providing subscriber management tools. Additionally, ORBCOMM is well-positioned to enhance StarTrak’s ability to deliver benefits in efficiency, predictability and quality of cold chain (refrigerated) management operations, as well as leverage StarTrak’s capabilities with other resellers to continue to drive down development cycle time and help shape the end user experience. ”

“ORBCOMM achieved 113.7% growth in Adjusted EBITDA in 2010, excluding the impact of the non-recurring items, like the deferred Coast Guard revenue and the Insurance Recovery from 2009,” said Robert Costantini, ORBCOMM’s Chief Financial Officer. “This growth was supported by nominally flat year-over-year Cost of Service, Selling, General, & Administrative and Product Development Costs, excluding Depreciation and Amortization. The Company also completed the acquisition of the non-controlling ownership interests in ORBCOMM Japan, which allows us to develop that office as a platform for further growth in the Asian markets.”

About ORBCOMM Inc.
ORBCOMM is a leading global satellite data communications company, focused on Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. Its customers include Caterpillar Inc., Doosan Infracore America, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Asset Intelligence a division of I.D. Systems, Inc., Komatsu Ltd., Manitowoc Crane Companies, Inc., and Volvo Construction Equipment among other industry leaders. By means of a global network of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites and accompanying ground infrastructure, ORBCOMM’s low-cost and reliable two-way data communication services track, monitor and control mobile and fixed assets in four core markets: commercial transportation; heavy equipment; industrial fixed assets; and marine/homeland security. ORBCOMM based products are installed on trucks, containers, marine vessels, locomotives, backhoes, pipelines, oil wells, utility meters, storage tanks and other assets. ORBCOMM is headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey and has its network control center in Dulles, Virginia.

Source: Orbcomm

Numerex Expands Its Line of Products and Services to Serve the Global Logistics Market

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke in his remarks at the Supply Chain Infrastructure Competitiveness Conference in May 2009 in Washington, D.C. defined the challenges of the new supply chain environment, which Numerex services help meet: "We need to find new methods to move products more efficiently if we are to keep pace with the rest of the world. That means viewing the relationship between trade and transportation more broadly, in interconnected and interrelated ways that are much more complex. Old solutions are not enough. Supply chains today are being changed dramatically by forces that go beyond traditional transportation remedies. At every level of a supply chain, one sees more advanced information technology applications, more sophisticated equipment, more integrated business processes."

As the world economy is getting tightly integrated, logistics and supply chain management's role in businesses' value creation cannot be overstated. Asset tracking, as a stand-alone service, is no longer sufficient. Data gathering and analysis are expected to provide critical pieces of information necessary to efficient management. Information technology is now an inherent component of any logistics and supply chain infrastructure. With its advanced services, Numerex provides the tools to optimize the flow of products and activities, which constitute the modern-day supply chain.

"A 'flat world' requires an intricate web of connections and real-time interactions to allow optimal decision-making," said Stratton J. Nicolaides, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Numerex. "Our suite of products and services specifically tailored to the logistics market facilitates this global management through smart remote monitoring and control of assets regardless of their geographic location. Hosted in a secure environment, they aim at becoming a critical component of our clients' informational infrastructure."

About Numerex
Numerex Corp is a leading provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) business services, technology, and products used in the development and support of M2M solutions for the enterprise and government markets worldwide. The Company offers Numerex DNA(R) that includes hardware and smart Devices, cellular and satellite Network services, and software Applications that are delivered through Numerex FAST(TM) (Foundation Application Software Technology).  Numerex is ISO 27001 information security-certified.

SOURCE Numerex Corp

Clarity Completes Second Phase of Management Platform for Western Power

The additional functionality deployed in this second phase provides Western Power’s Operations Centre with the capability to monitor trends in the network that signal future potential areas of failure. This enables Western Power to have a highly available telecommunications network, whilst reducing their operational costs by taking a more holistic, automated and business process driven approach to network assurance.

The functionality delivered by Clarity in this second phase of the project includes:

• Performance Management: Improved network assurance with monitoring, analysis and reporting on performance trends of physical and logical network elements and services
• Visualisation: Ability to see many different views of the network from geographical map views, to equipment and circuit views, as well as a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU View) that has specific importance to the Utility industry
• Performance Data Collection: Collection of performance data for analysis and reporting, through integrating to a variety of legacy and next generation network devices via Clarity’s Element Connect layer
• Enterprise Management: Monitoring the connections between the TNMS and the network, ensuring that a loss of connection is immediately identified so that no critical network alarms are missed

Clarity and Western Power are currently planning a third phase which will ensure Western Power can continue to reduce operational costs and maximise asset life in the face of a continually growing communications network, that is poised to support more intelligent two way real-time communications associated with their planned Smart Grid initiatives.

Al Edgar, Manager of the Secondary Systems Engineering Branch Transmission Division at Western Power, said: “I am delighted with the benefits provided by the Clarity platform from both an operational and planning perspective. Without the capabilities of the unified standards-based platform Clarity has delivered, we simply would not have been able to cope with the explosive growth in network elements and complexity we have seen over the last few years.”

Bob Darwin, Vice President Global Utilities at Clarity agreed, adding “Utility companies are increasingly reliant on telecommunications as a key enabler for smarter grids. They need to ensure that these rapidly growing, complex, multi-vendor communications networks are reliable and robust. The only way to efficiently manage this growth, whilst simultaneously lowering capital and operational costs, is through a unified operational management platform that constantly monitors and reports on all network activity. Utilities that can monitor their network in real-time, isolating issues quickly, can ensure the best customer service and can focus their investment in network infrastructure exactly where it is needed.”

Source: Clarity

SIM Technology Profit Up by 81%

The significant increase in revenue was mainly due to continuing success in delivering ODM services to top tier handset customers and penetration into the 3G product segment, while the “high value added” strategy drove profit growth.

For the year under review, the basic earnings per share increased by 76.5% to HK15 cents (2009: HK8.5 cents). The Group continued to maintain a strong financial position with net cash balances amounting to HK$511.0 million (2009: HK$590.3 million) as at 31 December 2010.

Mr. Cho-Tung Wong, Executive Director of SIM Technology, said, “In 2010, our business grew rapidly, the result of having repositioned our business strategy in 2H 2008 to focus on high value-added and high growth market segments. We have endured difficult times. Now we have not only plateaued but bounced back to enjoy significant growth thanks to the trust and support from our international top-tier customers. We have thus successfully differentiated ourselves and taken the necessary actions to realise our goals.”

About SIM Technology Group Limited (“SIM Technology”)
Listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, SIM Technology Group Limited is a leading developer of handset, wireless communication module and related application solutions in China. The Group and its subsidiaries offer multi-platform wireless communication terminal solutions, ranging from 2.5G, 3G to 3.5G. In the past few years, the Group has led the mobile phone and wireless communication module design industry in terms of revenue and profit.

Source: SIM Technology