Franklin Expands Distribution of eBookMan

April 30 -- Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. (NYSE: FEP), the leading worldwide provider of handheld eBooks, today announced that many of the nation's largest electronics retailers are now stocking its award-winning eBookMan line. CompUSA, Best Buy, J&R Electronics and Electronic Boutique join Staples and Amazon.com in offering the multi- purpose eBookMan and supporting the growing demand for e-book devices.
"We are pleased that more retailers are selling eBookMan. This product offers a feature-set and price point that will appeal to new users who demand value and versatility in the growing handheld market," said Bob Garthwaite, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for Franklin Electronic Publishers. "The enthusiastic channel support clearly demonstrates eBookMan's position as a leading e-book reader."

Franklin will also be launching a national advertising campaign that coincides with the expanded availability of eBookMan. The comprehensive campaign includes print and radio advertising, billboards and bus ads. eBookMan is available in three models -- EBM-900 (8MB), EBM-901 (8MB with backlit display) and EBM-911 (16MB with backlit display) -- and offers a suite of features never before combined in a handheld electronics device. 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. eBookMan features a large 240x200 pixel LCD that displays 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. 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 MultiMediaCards (MMC).

Unlike other handheld electronic devices, eBookMan's operating system can easily accommodate new features and upgrades, such as language support, through software downloads directly from the Internet. The new international editions offer a localized user experience, including the availability of select digital books in French and German languages.

eBookMan is now available in Australia, the Benelux countries, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

About Franklin
Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. (NYSE: FEP), the worldwide market leader in handheld electronic books, began shipping its new multimedia eBook platform, eBookMan, earlier this year. Franklin has sold more than 24,000,000 electronic books and currently publishes more than 200 titles, including dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries; encyclopedias; Bibles; entertainment titles; education and tutorial publications; and medical reference works. The Company is also the exclusive producer and distributor of ROLODEX(R) Electronics brand of personal information management products. Franklin products, available in 16 languages, are sold in 45,000 retail outlets worldwide, through catalogs and online at http://www.franklin.com. The Company has sales and distribution subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Benelux countries, Canada, Australia and Mexico, and production management offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

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SOURCE Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc.