Gregory J. Winsky
Executive Vice President
Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc.
(609) 386-2500
FRANKLIN ELECTRONIC PUBLISHERS IN EBOOK ALLIANCE IN PHILIPPINES
Firms Target The Philippines As a Hub For Information Technology
WASHINGTON, DC - November 20, 2001 - At a business press conference today
hosted by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines, Franklin
Electronic Publishers, Inc. (AMEX:FEP), the leading worldwide provider of
handheld electronic books, announced the granting of manufacturing and
exclusive distribution rights for its award winning eBookMan technology to
First Convergent Communications Worldwide, Inc. of the Philippines.
Franklin has licensed eBookMan technology for manufacture and distribution
in the Philippines of handheld eBooks. First Convergent announced that it
has selected PYCON Inc., a leading US-based contract manufacturer with
global production facilities including those in the Philippines, to handle
the manufacturing aspects of the venture. First Convergent has contracted
Alemar's Booklight Inc., a chain of bookstores in the Philippines, as its
distribution partner.
"First Convergent has been distributing eBookMan platforms in
the Philippines since the spring of this year", said Barry Lipsky,
Franklin's president and chief executive officer. "They've successfully
targeted the consumer markets as well as the vertical government sector.
Alemar's Booklight has been selling eBookMan units and there are already
more than 200 Philippine titles available for download in the subject areas
of law, religion, and business. There is keen interest abroad in the
educational and other vertical aspects of eBooks and working together with
First Convergent, we are hopeful to capitalize on this," he added.
"Our company's involvement in the revolutionary eBook technology
especially in the manufacturing of Franklin's eBookMan means more
Philippine jobs and more opportunities for our software developers, content
providers and eBook conversion programmers," said Benjamin G. Maynigo,
chairman and chief executive officer of First Convergent. "We hope to be
the major supplier of eBookMan requirements and provider of eBook
conversion services for the billions of pages of books and other
publications that still need digital formatting," he added. "As the second
largest English-speaking country in the world, we expect the Philippines to
be a major source of content as well as new software such as games and
value-added features for the eBookMan and other Franklin-licensed handheld
devices," he further said.
About eBookMan
eBookman is a multimedia content player offering mass-market audiences a
robust feature set and an optimal display screen at an affordable price.
It is a Personal Digital Assistant, Voice Recorder, MP3 Player, Audio Book
Player, and eBook Reader all rolled into one. All three eBookMan models
have a large 240 x 200 pixel LCD that displays 87 percent more information
than a typical handheld. Each model gives consumers a vehicle to download
thousands of electronic books, audio books, and musical works, to
synchronize between users' personal information manager programs and
Microsoft Outlook, to record and play voice memos and to write notes easily
with natural and writing recognition. Franklin's open but secure
architecture also enables publishers and developers to offer more titles in
a protected environment.
About Franklin
Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. (AMEX:FEP), the worldwide market
leader in handheld electronic books, is the exclusive producer and
distributor of the ROLODEX® Electronics brand of personal information
management products. Franklin has sold more than 25,000,000 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. Franklin products, available in sixteen
languages, are sold in 45,000 retail outlets worldwide, through catalogs
and on line at 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.
ROLODEX® is a registered trademark of Berol Corporation, a subsidiary of
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.
About FCC
FCC is an international business strategy, information technology and
communications firm offering clients management consulting services in
strategic business development and implementation, enterprise engineering,
systems engineering, network engineering, network strategy and
communications engineering, new business evaluation, and strategic
marketing studies. FCC currently provides engineering, network management,
and operations solutions to local and international clients, and
communications marketing specializing in concept design, writing, on-line
editing and lay-out of publications (articles, reports, manuals and books)
and the creation of web sites. FCC also offers conversion services from
print publications to digital text files, html files and e-Book formats.
FCC's strength lies in its ability to mobilize, train and manage a large
number of people, bring them together in a project and make them work
towards a common goal. The Company is committed to successfully complete
the project on time and with high quality standards effectively supporting
the needs of its customers all the way from start to finish?as it believes
in the dictum: the customer is KING. The FCC Team can leverage its
existing infrastructure and services to take responsibility for customers'
projects.
About Pycon
Pycon is a leading US-based contract manufacturer providing a full spectrum
of vertically-integrated services to the fastest growing segments of the
Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market. Pycon offers a total
manufacturing turnkey solution. Pycon also designs and manufactures
Burn-In boards, Burn-in Drivers and Test Interface boards. Pycon's
worldwide network with operations in Malaysia, the Philippines, Costa Rica,
Pakistan, Arizona, California, Texas, and Vermont, offers top-quality
products and services, flexibility, and fast turnaround to customers around
the globe.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed throughout this release, including, but not limited to, those
that are stated as Franklin's belief or expectation or preceded by the word
"should" are forward looking statements that involve risks to and
uncertainties in Franklin's business, including, among other things, the
timely availability and acceptance of new electronic books and organizers,
changes in technology, the impact of competitive electronic products, the
management of inventories, Franklin's dependence on third party component
suppliers and manufacturers, including those that provide Franklin-specific
parts, and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to
time in Franklin's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. |
