Addition of Reciprocal(TM) Digital Clearing Service Will Increase Availability
of Digital Content in Multiple Formats from Multiple Sources
NEW YORK, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- PC Expo -- Franklin Electronic
Publishers, Inc. (Amex: FEP), the leading worldwide provider of handheld
eBooks, and Reciprocal, Inc., the provider of business infrastructure for the
distribution of digital assets, today announced a strategic relationship that
is targeted to expand the availability of electronic books and other digital
content for Franklin's eBookMan(R) multimedia content reader. Reciprocal will
integrate Franklin's DRM technologies with the Reciprocal(TM) Digital Clearing
Service and other Reciprocal digital distribution tools, ultimately enabling
eBookMan users to download electronic content in a variety of formats, from a
variety of sources.
"The new relationship between Reciprocal and Franklin will further open
the options for people who want to read electronically. This is an important
milestone in the emerging eBook marketplace," said Gregory Voynow, senior vice
president, general manager, iPublish.com at Time Warner Books.
Jeff Gomez, eBook and Print on Demand Manager, St. Martin's Press said,
"The publishing community is looking for assurance that copyrighted material
is protected and that consumers have an appealing and affordable reading
device. A Franklin/Reciprocal solution makes a compelling case."
Reciprocal enables the distribution of digital assets by integrating
critical functions, including e-commerce and electronic inventory management,
with leading digital rights management (DRM) technologies. The company's
transaction-processing services deliver e-commerce for electronic books and
other forms of digital content, while ensuring an enjoyable consumer
experience and secure copyright protection. Reciprocal's solutions are widely
deployed in the publishing industry by companies such as Time Warner, Harper
Collins, Random House and St. Martin's Press. Today's agreement further
integrates Franklin's eBookMan into the fast-emerging open marketplace for
copyright protected digital content.
"Franklin's eBookMan is quickly becoming an important destination for
today's growing inventory of electronic books," said John Schwarz, president
and CEO of Reciprocal. "By working together, we are extending the reach,
power, and benefits of electronic books for publishers, authors and readers
worldwide."
"Reciprocal's services are widely supported by the world's top publishers
and perform a critical function for today's emerging digital marketplace,"
said Barry Lipsky, president and CEO of Franklin. "By integrating our DRM and
transaction processing technologies, we will further enable consumers to
obtain valuable books, periodicals and other digital content from anywhere, at
anytime."
About Reciprocal
Reciprocal delivers the business infrastructure for the distribution of
digital assets by integrating critical functions, including e-commerce and
electronic inventory management, with leading digital rights management (DRM)
technologies. The company provides comprehensive, easy-to-implement services
that enable clients to realize new revenues and efficiencies while controlling
digital assets and enabling a simple user experience. In partnership with
other industry leaders, these flexible and scalable services address the
requirements of the music, publishing, software, and film industries, as well
as others such as financial services and healthcare. The company also offers
strategic consulting and integration services that help content providers,
distributors, and websites choose and implement the solution that best fits
their business needs. More than 100 companies in the Americas, Europe, and
Asia have selected Reciprocal as their digital distribution services provider.
About eBookMan
eBookMan(R) is a multimedia content player offering mass-market audiences
a robust feature set and an optimal display screen at an affordable price.
All three eBookMan(R) 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(R) Outlook(R), to record and play voice memos and to
write notes easily with natural handwriting recognition. Franklin's open but
secure architecture also enables publishers and developers to offer more
titles in a protected environment.
The entry model, EBM-900, with a suggested retail price of $129.95,
includes a microphone, speaker, headphone jack, multimedia memory card for
memory expansion, a USB port and 8 MB of built-in memory. The EBM-901, with a
suggested retail price of $179.95, adds a backlit, polarized display and
additional free books. The flagship model, the EBM-911, suggested to retail
for $229.95, offers 16MB of memory and even more free content.
eBookMan won the eBook Technology Award from the International eBook Award
Foundation at the Frankford Book Fair in October 2000.
About Franklin
Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. (Amex: FEP), the worldwide market
leader in handheld electronic books, is the designer and distributor of the
award winning multimedia eBookMan(R) platform. The Company is the exclusive
producer and distributor of the ROLODEX(R) 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(R) is a registered trademark of Berol Corporation, a subsidiary of
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.
Reciprocal and the Reciprocal symbol are trademarks of Reciprocal, Inc. in
the United States and other countries. For more information on Reciprocal,
visit its Web site, http://www.reciprocal.com .
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.
SOURCE Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.reciprocal.com
http://www.franklin.com
CONTACT:
Gregory J. Winsky, Executive Vice President
of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc., 609-386-2500; or Tony
Telloni, Corporate Communications of Reciprocal, 917-386-3824
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