Press Release

Mobile Phone Users Dial Information - from Britannica
Knowledge on the go now on Sprint phones

CHICAGO, IL -- November 2005

Mobile phone users can now expand their minds between calls, thanks to a new digital reference application from Encyclopaedia Britannica that delivers knowledge and information right to their screens.

With Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, Handheld Edition, a special application developed in cooperation with SkyZone Entertainment, Sprint PCS mobile phone customers can search for information just about anywhere - at work, in a restaurant, on a train, or anyplace else where questions arise.

“You can even use it to settle bar bets, ” said Patti Ginnis, senior vice president with Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. “It really lets you learn on the go and take knowledge with you in a way you never could before. ”

The application is based on Britannica's popular 2,000-page, one-volume encyclopedia. Its handheld counterpart packs basic information into 25,000 short entries that provide overviews, key dates, statistics and other essential facts on everything from art to zoology. The mobile application also includes 2,300 colorful maps and images and Britannica's popular “This Day in History” feature.

“It covers an impressive range of subjects,” said Ginnis. “If you want to know the nickname of Australia's kookaburra bird, Jackie Robinson's birth name, or the year Thanksgiving became a national holiday, it's all right there.”

The mobile application represents Britannica's latest attempt to reach people with high-quality information wherever and whenever they need it, an effort that began many years ago when the company expanded beyond printed reference books and published the first encyclopedia on the Internet. Another recent Britannica application has been popular with users of PDA and Pocket PC devices and is currently a finalist for a Best Software Award by Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine

Sprint PCS customers can subscribe to Britannica Concise for $3.49 a month directly through the Vision Home screen on their mobile phones or by going to Sprint's Web site (https://www.sprint.com/personal/wireless/manage.html) from their PCs. When subscribing through a wireless connection on a mobile phone, they can simply click the “Find It” link on the Vision Home screen. Next, they'll select “Find It Applications” and then “Reference.“

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. has been a leader in reference and education publishing since 1768. The company is known for the 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica and its pioneering work in electronic publishing. Its products include Britannica Online School Edition and other digital products; and printed products such as My First Britannica. Long recognized for its superior authority, Britannica's editorial operation is overseen by some of the world's most distinguished scholars, several of them Nobel laureates. Internet users who want the right answers to their questions are urged to add the word “britannica”; to their Google™ searches. Britannica makes its headquarters in Chicago.

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Contact:

Tom Panelas Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 001 312-347-7309 tpanelas@eb.com