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Burlington, NJ, December 13, 1999 - Franklin Electronic Publishers, (NYSE: FEP) announced today that it will develop and market content for use in Handspring's Visor™ line of handheld organizers.

Franklin will market the 2000 Edition of the Physicians' Desk Reference®, or PDR® as it is widely known, which is published by Medical Economics Company, in a variety of bundles with a Visor handheld and a Springboard™ 8 Megabyte upgradeable memory module. These Visor PDR bundles not only provide a one-stop solution for physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, but also provide for about 3 Megabytes of flash memory free in the Springboard module for additional storage.

"Our goal with the Springboard expansion platform is to enable our partners and developers to help us expand the handheld category to the broadest possible range of customers, from doctors and professionals to students and soccer moms," said Donna Dubinsky, founder and CEO of Handspring. "Franklin is an ideal partner for helping make our products more meaningful in the professional space, and this solution is a great example of how the Springboard platform can help grow the market as a whole."

Franklin is also planning to offer additional content on ROM-based Springboard modules for consumers such as: a Merriam-Webster® American English Dictionary, a Spanish-English Bilingual Dictionary, and the King James Bible.

Barry Lipsky, Franklin's President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are excited about working directly with Handspring to bring Franklin's content to an ever expanding audience that includes healthcare professionals as well as general readers. With this alliance, Franklin once again furthers a key part of its new strategic plan: developing content for use on all popular handheld devices. We expect the Visor to be a sure fire hit and are thrilled to be in this business relationship and have Handspring help market our titles." Lipsky added.

Advance orders for the PDR Visor bundles can be placed on the Franklin (www.franklin.com) and Medical Economics (www.pdr.net) Web sites starting in January 2000. Product availability from Handspring (www.handspring.com) is expected in February 2000. PDR Visor bundles are expected to range from $379.95 to $449.95 for the Visor Deluxe. Existing Visor users will be able to purchase a Springboard PDR module at $199.95. Professionals who sign up for a three year subscription will receive annual PDR updates for only $99.95 after the first year.

Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. (NYSE:FEP), is the worldwide market leader in handheld electronic books, including the popular BOOKMAN™ series. The Company is also the exclusive producer and distributor of ROLODEX™ Electronics brand of personal information management products. Franklin has sold more than 21,000,000 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 twelve languages, are sold in 45,000 retail outlets worldwide, and through catalogs. More information about Franklin can be found 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.

PDR and Physicians' Desk Reference are trademarks of Medical Economics Company. Visor, Handspring, and Springboard are trademarks of Handspring, Inc. ROLODEX® is a registered trademark of Berol Corporation, a subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid Inc.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed throughout this release, including, but not limited to, those that are stated as the Company's belief or expectation or preceded by the word "should" are forward looking statements that involve risks to and uncertainties in the Company's business, including, among other things, the timely availability and acceptance of new electronic reference products, organizers, and computer companion products, changes in technology, the impact of competitive electronic products, the management of inventories, the Company'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 the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.