LOS ANGELES, Sept. 26, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Q-Net Technologies, Inc., (OTCBB:QNTI) (Frankfurt:QNO) is pleased to announce it has completed production of the first 100 commercial Q-Reader units and that due to demand and interest, the scheduled test sales program of 50 units was increased to 60, and that all were sold immediately. The remaining 40 units are reserved for post-sales service and demonstration purposes. The Company is scheduled to begin its next production run of 1,000 units in October.
"The company is extremely pleased with the intense interest that has been demonstrated for its Q-Reader product line, and this reaction by the publishing market to the first publicly available units gives us great satisfaction as we move forward on our production schedule," said Mr. Weiguo Lang, Chairman and CEO of Q-Net Technologies, Inc.
In January of this year the company, in conjunction with its joint venture partner, Liaoning Publishing Group (LPG), one the largest and most respected publishers in Asia, introduced the prototype Q-Reader unit at the International Publishing Show in Beijing. During the three (3) day event the company received order interest for 24,700 units. With the launch of publicly available units and a production schedule now in place, the company fully intends to capitalize on this early interest and proceed to secure hard orders in the form of deposits and delivery dates. The company's marketing strategy calls for the units to be sold throughout its established marketing channels, including more than 1000 LPG retail bookstore outlets within China, which will be supported by traditional print and media advertising as well as trade shows. The units are currently only available in China.
"After 18 months in development we are very happy to see the Q-Reader come to the market place and fulfill a market that, we believe, will only become larger. The Q-Reader satisfies a very large need in both the professional services and education industries as we in China seek more effective and inexpensive ways to deliver not only technology, but also information and literature on a timely and immediate basis. From educators in the northern reaches of China, to doctors in the heart of Beijing, the Q-Reader, with it's Internet connectivity, will allow teachers and school children to download a semester of required course text at a fraction of the cost of traditional paper books, and a doctor, the latest medical journal from Europe or the United States," said Mr. Yu Xiaoquin, Vice President of LPG and President of Liaoning Qinnet E-Book Technologies Co., Ltd., the joint venture company.
The Q-Reader is a hand-held device, approximately the size of an average paper back novel, capable of receiving, storing and displaying a large number of electronic files, in English and Chinese, via telephone modem from the Internet. Directed to the educational, professional and research markets, the device features complete Internet, email and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) capabilities. Each of the downloaded "e-Book" files contains an "electronic book," such as a novel, a textbook, technical treatise, scientific journal, a periodical, dictionary or an entire newspaper. With 16 MB of memory, the Q-Reader can store the equivalent of 20-30 books each from 200-300 pages long, based upon the size of the published material. Each can be erased after use or maintained for long-term reference depending upon the owner's preference and the source of material.
The device features adjustable character sizes, enabling use by those with vision difficulties. A student can download an entire semester of textbooks into the Q-Reader. With diverse applications, a medical researcher can obtain the latest published research report on a particular subject. A lawyer can download legal texts and a physicist can obtain up to date articles from the most recent journals. The Q-Reader also contains a unique student "study outline" feature and will be delivered with a complete Chinese and Chinese-English dictionary, historical and geographic information, entertainment programs, as well as, a $300 U.S. credit to download publications from major publishers in China. The Q-Reader is expected to retail in the $400 U.S. range.
Q-Reader content or "e-Books" is available through the company's content website www.cnbook.com.cn. Currently there are approximately 2000 titles available with more being added each day, as well as from other sources available on the Internet. This content will be provided by some of the largest publishers in China and from other sources internationally. At present, the average cost of e-Book content will be approximately $1 U.S., a fraction of the cost of printed texts.
Q-Net Technologies, Inc. is a California based publicly traded holding company with a focus on the introduction of consumer technology and value added Internet services into the Chinese markets.
Public Company Disclosure
Certain matters discussed in this Press Release may constitute forward-looking statements within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from the results implied herein. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements made in this Press Release.