Franklin Electronic Publishers Launches Award Winning eBookMan at Retail

Feb. 13 -- Franklin Electronic Publishers, today announced shipment of its award winning eBookMan multimedia device. With a suite of features never before found in a single device, eBookMan serves as an eBook reader, music player, and personal digital assistant that offers functionality beyond any other eBook offering. Consumers can now purchase eBookMan at Staples, Amazon.com, and other retailers nationwide.
The three eBookMan models -- EBM-900 (8MB), EBM-901 (8MB with backlit display) and EBM-911 (16MB with backlit display) -- feature large 240x200 pixel LCDs that display 87% more information than today's most popular handhelds. Users can adjust the font size or switch the display to landscape mode for easy reading. All three models include a Franklin eBook Reader, an audio book player, an MP3 compatible music player, address book, date book, to-do book, and memo book, all using natural handwriting recognition. Available for $129.95, $179.95 and $229.95 respectively, each eBookMan model is equipped with a USB port for connection to a PC (optional serial connection also available) and features optional memory expansion through industry standard Multimedia (MMC) cards.

"Franklin has long recognized that consumers want more functionality from their handhelds," said Barry Lipsky, president and CEO of Franklin Electronic Publishers. "Today marks an important day in Franklin's history. Our eBookMan team has been hard at work for fifteen months and it's exciting for all of us to see this effort come to fruition. We are proud to bring consumers the first eBook reader that combines a robust feature-set with portability, ease-of-use, and, most importantly, affordability," he added. eBookMan is designed to allow its features and functions to grow with you. Unlike other handheld devices, upgrading the unit's operating system to accommodate new features and improvements is done entirely through an Internet download. A built in voice recorder and an eBookMan version of the popular Microsoft Reader software are in the works. Microsoft Reader will provide for a wide range of content including digital books and periodicals from the world's most popular publishers.

Winner of the inaugural Technology Award from the International eBook Award Foundation, eBookMan synchronizes with Microsoft Outlook using Intellisync software from PUMATECH and plays thousands of audio books available from Audible.com. Users of other popular desktop PIMS, such as Lotus Organizer 5.0 and ACT! 2000, will be able to download optional Intellisync connectors from www.franklin.com.

eBookMan features Franklin's ground-breaking "open but secure" architecture that protects valuable application programs and digital content. Developers and publishers now have the world's first open platform to create new applications and content in an environment protective of both copyright and revenue.

Thousands of developers have signed up for Franklin's Software Developers Kit (SDK) to take advantage of the secure platform to produce and distribute games, productivity solutions, and other applications. Third party eBookMan applications are available today at www.franklin.com. Book and periodical publishers are also working with Franklin to leverage eBookMan technology to distribute their valuable copyright-protected digital content. "For the first time, any consumer, not just the executive with a busy calendar or a hundred name address book, can justify the purchase of a handheld device," said Lipsky. "From reading books to playing music, eBookMan has features that everyone can enjoy and anyone can afford."

SOURCE Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc.
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