Aplio Expands Distribution in Latin America; Award-Winning Internet Phone Appliance Now Available through CHS Latin America.

SAN BRUNO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 1999--Aplio/Phone, the award-winning Internet telephone appliance that lets consumers and small businesses use the Internet to make free long distance and international calls, is now available through CHS Latin America.

CHS Latin America, a leading distributor of computer equipment in Latin America, will offer the Aplio/Phone, localized for English, Portuguese and Spanish-speaking markets, to its vast customer base of computer and electronics resellers in Miami, Mexico, and South and Central America.

The Aplio/Phone is the first Internet Telephony appliance to be offered by CHS Latin America, an important step for the company as it expands into the fast-growing Internet appliance market, adding popular new consumer devices such as the Aplio/Phone to its product line.

Olivier Zitoun, CEO of Aplio, said, "The Latin American market is key to Aplio's plans for growth in 1999. Internet adoption in Latin America is booming, while telecommunication rates remain very high, which translates into a ready market for the Aplio/Phone. We are very excited about our partnership with CHS Latin America, which will allow us to broaden significantly our presence, and strengthen our leadership in the Internet Appliance market in Latin America."

Isaac Menasce, General Manager at CHS Latin America noted, "More and more Latin American consumers are becoming aware of the benefits Internet Telephony can bring in long distance savings. By making appliances such as the Aplio/Phone available to the Latin American market, CHS Latin America is well-positioned to meet this sharpening demand, and become a leading supplier of Internet Telephony products in the region."

Using the award-winning Aplio/Phone and a standard telephone at each end, businesses and individuals that frequently place long-distance calls to the same locations can reroute their calls over the Internet without a computer.

The latest version of the appliance, Aplio/Phone 2.0, delivers state-of-the-art IP telephony, including the much anticipated "Open Aplio" upgrade which delivers industry standard H.323-compliance, making it the first standalone Internet telephone. With Aplio/Phone 2.0, users can now make Internet calls between Aplio/Phones and PCs or other compliant devices, realizing as much as 100% savings on their long distance phone bills.

About Aplio/Phone

Aplio/Phone makes long distance dialing free. It is a standalone, smart Internet telephony appliance that reroutes calls over the Internet without a computer, delivering breakthroughs in technology, quality and savings. Aplio/Phone connects to any regular telephone just like an answering machine. Full-featured, with a built-in processor and modem, Flash RAM, hardware-based full-duplex voice compression, Aplio/Phone uses a patent-pending meeting process.

About CHS Latin America

CHS Latin America is your single source for quality name brand computer hardware and software products to all Latin American destinations. Product emphasis is on system level solutions. Information about CHS Latin America can be found on the company's website www.chsla.com.