Viable Wins Best of Innovations Honors at 2009 CES for VPAD+

Contact:

Glenn Lockhart

Viable Inc.

Tel: 240.292.0222 x227

Fax: 301.230.2442

[email protected]

www.viable.net

Viable Wins Best of Innovations Honors at 2009 CES for VPAD+

ROCKVILLE, MD – January 15, 2009 – Viable returned from the 2009
International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) as the winner of an
award honoring the VPAD+ for excellence in product design and
engineering.

The VPAD+ is a WiFi and touchscreen videophone designed for deaf and
hard of hearing people who use video relay services (VRS) and improves
upon the VPAD, which launched at the 2008 CES. Design enhancements to
the VPAD+ include built-in WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, dual USB
ports, Web browser support, and advanced touchscreen response.

Viable, a deaf-owned, deaf-operated provider of VRS, developed the
VPAD+ based on customer feedback on the VPAD. Said VP of Technology
Jason T. Yeh, who is deaf, “We are thrilled that the VPAD+ has been
recognized on its design and technical merits. We had more than a
hundred deaf and hard of hearing persons test the VPAD and provide us
with feedback on its design and usability, which resulted in the
VPAD+. We have always known members of the deaf and hard of hearing
community were the right people to help us develop a videophone.”

The VPAD+ received “Best of Innovations” honors for the Telephones
category during CES in Las Vegas from January 8-11, 2009, beating out
entrants from high-tech companies such as Panasonic. “These Best of
2009 Innovations award honorees represent the most inventive design
and engineering-focused consumer technology products available on the
market today,” said Gary Shapiro, President of the Consumer
Electronics Association, which produces the annual CES. Best of
Innovations winners are determined by a panel of engineers,
independent designers and journalists and the awards are endorsed by
the Industrial Designers Society of America.

The VPAD+ is a lightweight, standalone VOIP videophone featuring a
10.2″ monitor with touchscreen response, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
capabilities, and dual USB and audio/video in/out ports. Primary uses
include peer-to-peer videoconferencing with sign language users and
with sign language interpreters specially trained to handle VRS calls.
Other possibilities with the VPAD+ include using it as a digital photo
frame and as a monitor for gaming systems. The VPAD+ is currently
available for retail at www.viable.net and is interoperable with
10-digit telephone numbers.

Since winning the Best of Innovations award, the VPAD+ has been
featured in AOL’s switched.com, Dave Graveline’s “Into Tomorrow”
Internet show, PCWorld.com, butterscotch.com, websites of tech
bloggers and reviewers, as well as websites operated in Australia,
Canada, France, India, Qatar, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and the U.K.

Deaf and hard of hearing people interested in buying a VPAD+ must
first register a Viable Number at www.viable.net/product/myviable and
enter personal information for verification of U.S. residency and 911
emergency response. Customer Support representatives fluent in sign
language are on standby to help process Viable Number registrations
from Monday-Friday from 9 AM – midnight EST and Saturday-Sunday from 9
AM – 5 PM EST:

* VPAD: Click on “Help” then “Live”

* Viable Vision: Click on “Help”

* Videophone: help.ViableVRS.tv

* AOL IM: ViableHELP

* Email: [email protected]

Please visit the VPAD+ product page at www.viable.net/product/vpad
and VPAD+ FAQs at www.viable.net/support/faq/vpad to learn more about
the VPAD+.

# # #

About Viable, Inc.

Viable develops videophones and provides next-generation video relay
services for deaf and hard of hearing persons, opening them to a world
of communication possibilities. Founded in 2006, Viable is a private,
deaf-owned company, and many employees are deaf and hard of hearing
and are personally vested in the innovation and development of the
company’s products and services. Visit www.viable.net for further
information.

About Telecommunications Relay Services

Mandated by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
telecommunications relay services (TRS) enables individuals with
hearing or speech disabilities to achieve functional equivalence by
accessing telephone systems to place or receive calls through an
intermediary known as a relay operator or relay interpreter. Emergent
IP technology has given rise to video-based solutions, which are known
as video relay services (VRS). VRS options include using a webcam or a
videophone to connect to a video relay interpreter, and allow deaf and
hard of hearing callers for whom sign language is native to fully
achieve the ideal of functional equivalence.

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