Able Planet, Inc. Unveils Revolutionary Micro-Technology Offering Hearing Access Solutions for Corporations Worldwide to Provide Equal Access & Opportunity; Hyatt Hotel Corporation First to Retrofit Phones with New Technology.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 2003

Nationally acclaimed disability rights champion Jo Waldron said her company, Able Planet, Inc., will launch its state-of-the-art micro-technology to allow corporations worldwide the opportunity to provide equal access and opportunity to all. The technology will allow corporations the ability to provide customers, executives and employees with mild to severe-to-profound hearing loss the opportunity to access telecommunications and other communications devices.

"From hospitality to retail, computer and cellular phone companies, we are currently in talks with corporations worldwide who want this technology," said Waldron. "Able Planet's leading-edge technology will allow all companies to enhance their labor pool, provide equal access to customers and employees and provide better customer service."

The patent-pending technology, invented this past year by Waldron with technical guidance and testing by hearing industry veteran Dr. Joan Burleigh, will provide the 34 million-plus Americans and 500 million individuals worldwide with mild to severe-to-profound hearing loss, the opportunity to effectively communicate with others via telephone as well as hear speech more clearly using earphones and other communications devices.

Waldron and Burleigh, along with Hyatt Hotel executives who have begun installing this technology in Hyatt Hotel rooms in North America, will announce this revolutionary technology at a press conference in Denver at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 11, 2003, at the State Capitol.

"Millions of people do not have access to voice telecommunication or communications devices making it difficult and oftentimes impossible to use a telephone on the job or in a hotel room to call 911 in an emergency, to use a cellular phone, or use a headset to hear a computer. Imagine what this technology will do for a company's labor pool and sales," said Jo Waldron, who was honored by President Ronald Reagan with "The President's Trophy" and was appointed Disabled American for the Nation, representing the Presidents of the United States and all Americans with disabilities since 1987.

People with disabilities and the nation's elderly control 60 percent of U.S. disposable income, representing over $789 billion dollars of annual income (U.S. Dept. of Census, 1991). The hearing aid market alone exceeded $2.5 billion dollars in the year 2000 (International Hearing Aid Society, 2001) and the assistive device market exceeds $600 billion dollars per year according to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Manufacturer's Index.

"This population and their family members represent a sizeable revenue stream which every corporation should want to participate in," said Waldron.

Hyatt Hotel executives recognized just that. In committing support to Able Planet's invention and following compliance directives that are federally mandated, Hyatt Hotel Corporation's vice president of engineering, Tom Riegelman, will announce today, "consistent with our goals of providing leading-edge technology for its guests and improving the accessibility of its hotels, Hyatt Hotel Corporation will specify the inclusion of Able Planet's technology in all new guestroom telephone sets purchased for Hyatt Hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Hyatt has installed the technology in almost three hundred telephones at their Colorado hotel properties: Hyatt Regency Denver, Hyatt Regency Tech Center and Park Hyatt Beaver Creek. Hyatt is phasing in the Able Planet technology into their telephones, which will include the replacements of existing guestroom telephones in the normal course of business."

Teledex LLC, the leading worldwide provider of telephones for the hospitality industry, is working with Hyatt and other worldwide hotels to install the Able Planet technology.

"Hyatt is committed to providing equal access to people with disabilities," said Riegelman, who is also the ADA Task Force for the American Hotel & Lodging Association. "And Able Planet's technology will help us meet that commitment."

Companies must meet federally mandated compliance directives under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Telecommunications for the Disabled Act of 1982, the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

"Companies can use Able Planet's micro-technology to meet federal compliance standards while removing barriers to productivity at all levels around the planet," said Waldron, who spent 11 years as a powerful civilian force in the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. "Our technology is tiny, adaptable and inexpensive thus providing the ability to close the gap between the hearing and hearing disabled."

On February 1, 2001, President George W. Bush announced his Freedom Initiative on Disability, earmarking over $1 billion to expand research in assistive and universally designed technology to further integrate Americans with disabilities into the workforce and to remove barriers that limit full participation in community life. On February 12, 2003, President Bush stated, "My New Freedom Initiative strives to provide people with disabilities increased opportunities to lead more independent lives by expanding education and job opportunities, and by ensuring that the latest technologies, which often make education and employment possible, are readily available."

The Able Planet technology was created as part of Able Planet's mission to develop multiple technologies to benefit people with different disabilities, providing equal access and opportunity in employment, education, travel and entertainment. Able Planet is currently working with market sectors such as wire line and wireless telecommunications, public accommodation telecommunications, computer/network services, public/environmental communications, hearing aid/assisting devices, Federal, State and local municipalities and retail/equal opportunity employers.

About the Technology

Able Planet's technology measures just 1mm, small enough to fit easily inside a standard telephone handset. The device is also suitable for integration into hands-free headsets, such as those used with cellular phones, cordless phones, multi-media computers and laptops, MP3 players, CD players, stereos, and more. Once installed, the Able Planet technology is transparent; those who do not use a hearing aid are not aware of its presence. People with or without hearing loss can use the same phone or hands-free system. Those who do use a hearing aid can take advantage of the technology by simply flipping the switch on their hearing aid to the "T" setting and adjusting the volume on their hearing aid.

To date, traditional technologies have attempted to improve speech understanding by using hearing aid compatible (HAC) headsets, magnetic open-air induction coils, ear silhouettes, volume controls, or neck loops. The result is often the same: volume may be increased, but clarity is not greatly improved. Able Planet's device instead creates audio within a hearing aid and an electronic device such as a phone or headset. Studies have shown that Able Planet's micro-technology improves the overall frequency response levels of telephones, resulting in improved sound clarity. Thus, speech is amplified, clarity is increased and the audio signal is enhanced.

The technology is available for commercial sale to OEM's for $3.10 MSRP (rates may vary based on quantity) and is available for retail sale to corporations, non-profits, government, audiologists, or consumers in a standard telephone for an introductory price of $65.95 and hands-free headset for $34.95. Products may be purchased at www.ableplanet.com.