Aplio Announces Aplio/PRO, Internet Telephony Appliance for Business; World's First Low-Cost, Stand-Alone, NO PC Required, IP Phone.

SAN BRUNO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 1999--

Aplio, Inc. the leading provider of turnkey embedded solutions for Internet appliances today announced its first IP Phone appliance for the SOHO and small business market. Aplio/PRO is a low-cost, easy-to-use stand-alone device that routes telephone calls through the Internet, allowing users to make totally free calls anywhere in the world without a computer. Aplio/PRO connects to the Internet using any existing Ethernet connection (such as LANs, cable modems, and xDSL), and plugs into a regular telephone, delivering state-of-the-art Internet telephony with superior sound quality at a price that any small business can afford. Aplio/PRO will ship in early Q4 1999 at an SRP of $299 per unit.

Key benefits of Aplio/PRO include 100% free phone calls, instant setup and call connection, true telephone sound quality and seamless interoperability with other IP telephony technologies.

100% Free Calls

"Aplio/PRO is the perfect IP telephony solution for any business that makes frequent local, long-distance or international calls to branch or remote offices, customers or suppliers, and can pay for itself within weeks," said Jerome Calvo, President of Aplio, Inc. According to AMI's 1999 report, shared Internet access of small businesses is growing at 80% annually, with over 1,200,000 businesses expected to be connected to the Internet by 2000, up from 400,000 in 1998. "Until now, adoption of Internet Telephony has been limited due to the high costs of service and equipment. Not only is Aplio/PRO the first truly low-cost Internet Telephony solution for Business, but it works with a company's existing infrastructure, using existing cabling and telephones. With Aplio/PRO, businesses can immediately incorporate Voice over IP technology into their day-to-day operations."

Instant Setup

Aplio/PRO connects between any regular telephone and a standard Ethernet connection. No PC is required. With its instant set-up feature, the product configures itself automatically, requiring no ISP configuration. Configuration can also be managed remotely or locally via a browser on a PC. Aplio/PRO also connects to a regular telephone line, and the Incoming Call Notification feature notifies the user of incoming calls over the PSTN, allowing the user to switch from an Internet call to a regular phone call.

Instant Call Connection

Because the Ethernet connection to Internet (LAN, cable modems and xDSL modems) is always "on", making an Internet phone call is instantaneous, as there is no need for the device to first "dial up" to the Internet. To make a free local, long distance or international phone call, the user simply picks up the telephone pushes the APLIO button, and dials the Aplio ID of the receiving party (a 10-digit number like a traditional phone number), who has an Aplio device. The receiving party's phone rings as fast as a traditional PSTN call. The receiving party picks up and talks as usual, except that the call is 100% free! The Instant Connection saves businesses time and money, compared to dial up Internet phones, as there is no need to make an initial long-distance call over regular phone lines before switching to the Internet.

True Telephone Sound Quality

Aplio/PRO features Aplio's unique PacketPlus(TM) technology, enabling the best digital sound quality for calls over the public Internet network. PacketPlus addresses the most important aspects of Internet Telephony: latency and Internet traffic. By continuously monitoring Internet conditions, PacketPlus(Tm) automatically adjusts packet size and redundancy. As a result, users experience Internet telephone calls that are nearly indistinguishable from calls over the public telephone network.

Works Anywhere

Aplio/PRO works with any standard Ethernet connection worldwide, accessing to the Internet, and does not require a gateway or subscription to an additional service. It does not even require a regular phone line, since the Internet calls are placed entirely over the Ethernet connection. Aplio/PRO can be configured with voice prompts in 15 languages, and comes with a universal power supply (110v/220v) for convenient use while traveling.

Dual Networks

With the Phone connected to your Aplio/PRO, you can make both Internet Calls and PSTN (traditional) calls without additional equipment or cabling. To make a PSTN call, dial normally. To make an Internet call, press the APLIO button before dialing.

Surf & Talk

You can surf the web and receive your e-mails while you talk for free on the Internet, using the same Ethernet connection to Internet. This lets you maximize your worldwide communications over the Internet, for free!

Seamless Interoperability

Compatible with other Aplio products such as the award-winning Aplio/Phone, Aplio/PRO is compliant with industry standard G723 and G711 Codecs, and the H.323 Internet Telephony protocol, ensuring progressive interoperability with other Internet Telephony hardware and software products, such as Microsoft NetMeeting. In addition, as Aplio's technology evolves, firmware upgrades will be available to users via the Internet.

Proven Technology

Aplio/PRO has been built upon two robust technology platforms. The operating system is Linux, making Aplio/PRO the world's first embedded-Linux Internet Telephony device, and ensuring openness and scalability for 3rd party and OEM customization, as well as easy technology evolution. The embedded client application is based on Aplio's patented Internet Telephony technology, previously implemented in the Aplio/Phone, the company's award-winning dial-up product introduced last year. The Aplio/Phone is already in use by more than 100,000 customers in over 50 countries, and generates over 5 million minutes in VoIP communications per month.

Aplio will ship Aplio/PRO in early Q4 1999. The product will be priced at $299 SRP per unit, and will be sold through Aplio's channel of over 1000 retailers, resellers and OEM partners worldwide.

About Aplio, Inc.

Aplio is the leading provider of turnkey embedded solutions for the Internet appliance market. Aplio's patented technologies including Chips, Hardware reference designs and Software, enable manufacturers of Internet appliances (such as Internet phones, set-top boxes, web phones, web pads) to easily and at minimal cost, integrate Voice over IP (VoIP) and other communication capabilities into their devices. As an initial implementation, the Aplio/Phone device was introduced in March 1998. Since its launch the Aplio/Phone has won numerous industry awards and is now distributed in over 50 countries via over one thousand resellers, distributors and OEM partners. Located in San Bruno, Calif., Aplio, Inc. has a worldwide presence with offices in the United States, Europe and Israel. The privately held company is backed by major venture capitalists. For more information about Aplio please visit our web site at http://www.aplio.com.