Audible.com Debuts New Digital Audio Player for Smart Holiday Listening

Business Wire, Dec 5, 2001

Business & High-Tech Editors

WAYNE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 5, 2001

The Audible.com Otis(TM) is Newest Player Optimized for Listening to

Audiobooks and Other Spoken Word Titles, Also Plays Digital Music;

Available for $49.95 with AudibleListener(TM) Membership Plan

Audible, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBL), announced the availability of a new product today, the Audible.com Otis, that has been custom designed to play Audible.com content and music.

The Audible.com Otis is a stylish portable digital audio player that weighs less than 3 ounces and has the capability of storing and playing more than 20 hours of Audible's downloadable audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, radio shows and original programs. Audible.com Otis also plays MP3 and Window Media Audio files. Audible is the leading provider of downloadable spoken audio that informs and entertains anywhere and at any time.

"Five years ago, Audible invented and produced the first portable digital player, a networked digital device that was deemed revolutionary enough to earn a place in the Smithsonian," said Donald Katz, chairman and CEO of Audible. "The new AudibleReady device, Otis--the word is Greek for `one who speaks'--reflects our customers' desire for a device specifically designed to play our audio files and music in a seamless manner. The Otis also reflects demand for a device that can be easily branded and renamed according to the needs of any company or third party entity. Otis exemplifies Audible's continued commitment to providing a consistent supply of fresh products and new ways to access and listen to Audible programs. This is one of many innovations Audible plans to unveil in the coming months."

The Audible.com Otis has 64 megabytes of internal Flash memory and is capable of storing up to 20 hours of Audible programs or up to 2 hours of digital music files. In addition, the player has an external Flash memory card slot that allows for 128 MB of total memory.

Audible.com Otis is 75x5x15 millimeters in size and ships with AudibleManager, the free software that manages the download of files from audible.com as well as music from other sites, and the transfer of these files to the Otis. The box also includes a cassette adapter for listening in the car, USB cable, user's manual with quick-start guide, 2 AAA batteries, carrying case and ear buds.

About Audible.com

Audible.com features daily audio editions of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Los Angeles Times -- all available on a subscription basis in time for the morning drive to work each day--as well as The Economist, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Scientific American, and C-SPAN. The site also offers a powerful collection of audiobook best sellers and classics by authors such as Stephen King, John Grisham, Frank McCourt, Jon Krakauer, Scott Adams, Mary Higgins Clark, James Redfield, James Patterson, William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, and Jane Austen. There are also speeches, lectures, and on-demand radio programs including "Marketplace", "All Things Considered", "Car Talk", "Fresh Air," and "This American Life".

About Audible, Inc.:

Audible(R) (www.audible.com(R)) is the Internet's largest, most diverse provider of premium spoken audio services for content download or playback on personal computers or AudibleReady(TM) PC-based mobile devices. Audible has more than 32,000 hours of audio programs and 165 content partners that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, magazine and newspaper publishers and business information providers. Audible.com is Amazon.com's (www.amazon.com) exclusive provider of spoken word products for downloading or streaming via the Web. Additionally, the Company is strategically aligned with Random House, Inc., to pioneer the first-ever imprint to produce spoken word content specifically suited for digital distribution, Random House Audible. Among the Company's key business partners are Casio Inc., Compaq Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Microsoft Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, RealNetworks, Inc., SONICblue Incorporated's Rio Audio Group, Texas Instruments and VoiceAge Corp.

Audible and www.audible.com are registered trademarks of Audible, Inc.; AudibleReady and Otis are trademarks of Audible, Inc. and all are part of the family of Audible, Inc. trademarks.

Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

This press release contains information about Audible, Inc. that is not historical fact and may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements about the company. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, Audible's limited operating history, history of losses, uncertain market for its services, and its inability to license or produce compelling audio content and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.