E-Book Systems Chosen to Create Online Digital Version of the Minneapolis Mart Printed Documents

    SANTA CLARA, CA, April 29, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- E-Book Systems, creator of the patented Digital Flip(R) e-publishing technology, announces that Minneapolis Mart has adopted its 3-D page-flipping FlipViewer(R) Xpress viewer format to complement its printed Semi-Annual Directories, Trade Show Newspapers and Brochures.

The Minneapolis Mart is a wholesale permanent showroom facility featuring over 5,000 lines of home, gift and accessory merchandise in 200 showrooms. Located centrally in the Upper Midwest, The Minneapolis Mart serves the United States as a major source for home, gifts, accessories and many other product families for more than 50 years.

"We purchased the FlipViewer(R) Xpress Creator software in order to present our printed directory and other printed information in a convenient format that is familiar to those users who are used to a physical publication," said Jeff H. Walton, General Manager of the Minneapolis Mart. "The FlipViewer(R) Xpress Creator software is easy to use, versatile and works well for us. We are particularly impressed that the software successfully handles our large PDF source file, about 2GB, without error whereas several other tested products could not complete the renderings without breaking the job up into smaller parts."

With E-Book Systems' FlipViewer(R) Xpress solution, visitors can now go to www.mplsmart.com and browse through the FlipBook versions of the Buyer's Guide. In a matter of moments, readers can view the Buyer's Guide just as they would appear in print -- with real "flipping" pages and more.

Besides the Buyer's Guide, the Minneapolis Mart also uses the FlipViewer(R) Xpress in other printed publications, even extending it to the Mart lobby as Jeff further disclosed, "Our semi-annual directories and our trade show newspapers are now posted on our website. We also have our FlipBook directory on a 36" touch screen wayfinder in our lobby for buyers and visitors to access. Our users are just starting to discover that it is available and the FlipBook is part of our effort to adapt to technologies that will keep us engaged with our marketplace. The younger users are quicker to take advantage of the convenience. We found all of the FlipBook functionality to be friendly and useful, in particular the search function which is a great tool for our web based users."

E-Book Systems' FlipViewer(R) Xpress Creator software enables publishers and corporations to create and publish realistic page-flipping digital publications ("FlipBooks") easily with just a few mouse clicks. The created FlipBook can then be hosted on any web server for online viewing or distributed through any media (e.g. CD, thumb drive, etc.) for offline viewing. The software accepts any PDF, image and Flash documents as inputs. In addition, multimedia elements like audio and video files can be incorporated into the FlipBook to enhance readers' experience. E-Book Systems' optional Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution also helps to safeguard content providers' intellectual properties.

The Minneapolis Mart joins a growing roster of E-Book Systems' customers listed in http://www.flipviewer.com/flipbooks/. For more information, contact E-Book Systems by phone at (408) 625-8000, via email at [email protected] or visit www.flipviewer.com.

For more information about the Minneapolis Mart, visit www.mplsmart.com.

About E-Book Systems
E-Book Systems (www.ebooksys.com) was founded in 1998 with a mission to bring the natural look and feel of the paper-based book into the domain of computers and the Internet. E-Book Systems specializes in providing software tools and services for the e-Publishing market. E-Book System's products make use of its proprietary patented Digital Flip(R) user interface technology to deliver multimedia content and information such as PDF, video, audio, digital image, text, etc. via an impressive 3D Page-Flipping interface, which appears as a virtual FlipBook. This content could be streamed or delivered both online and offline through E-Book's OpenFlip(TM) format.

E-Book Systems, a private on-going corporation, has offices in California (Santa Clara), China (Beijing), Japan (Tokyo), Berlin (Germany) and Singapore. Investors include Creative Technology Ltd. and SOFTBANK Creative, a subsidiary of SOFTBANK Corp. E-Book Systems' products are distributed worldwide, including the U.S., Europe, China, Japan and Asia Pacific Region.

About the Minneapolis Mart
The Minneapolis Mart, a division of UMAGA, was founded in 1954 to serve the wholesale gift industry and resale market. The Minneapolis Mart is a wholesale permanent showroom facility, featuring more than 5,000 lines of home, gift and accessory merchandise in 200 showrooms. In addition to permanent showrooms, during the five-day shows in January, March and August, a temporary show is held concurrently where you will find an additional 1,500 lines of merchandise. Located centrally in the Upper Midwest, the Minneapolis Mart serves the U.S. as a major source for home, gift, accessories and many other product families. For more information, visit www.mplsmart.com.

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