HandHeld Entertainment Expands European Presence with Launch of French Language Version of Putfile.c

HandHeld and Putfile “well-positioned to establish a strong foundation in Western Europe,” In-Stat Research Analyst Michael Inouye says

[ClickPress, Mon Jul 16 2007] HandHeld Entertainment (NASDAQ: ZVUE), a global digital entertainment company, today announced the launch of Putfile.com France, the French language version of the free digital media Web site, furthering HandHeld’s European expansion strategy.

“Putfile.com is already one of the most visited user-generated content Web sites in the world, and adding a French language version to the HandHeld mix makes a lot of sense,” said Michael Inouye, research analyst with In-Stat. “Western Europe is second only to North America in UGC participation, so I applaud HandHeld in its efforts to embrace the European marketplace. In addition, France and the United Kingdom are the two largest markets in this region, so Putfile (and by translation HandHeld) look well-positioned to establish a strong foundation in Western Europe.”

Putfile.com was named by In-Stat as the 15th most popular UGC Web site in the world (based upon video downloads/page views) in the April 2007 report titled “User-Generated Content – How About Just Content?” Inouye, the report’s author and a leading analyst covering the UGC marketplace, also described HandHeld as having “perhaps the most complete end-to-end experience on the market today from one company.” (See http://www.instat.com/Abstract.asp?ID=212&SKU=IN0703415CM for more information on this report.)

European non-English speaking markets are virtually untapped by user-generated media companies, and HandHeld has capitalized on this growth potential by acquiring four European Web sites since December 2006 (YourDailyMedia.com, Putfile.com, UnOriginal.co.uk and Holylemon.com).

“We are excited about the European online video market, which is second only to the United States in the user-generated market, and we’ve positioned ourselves in that market by acquiring four top European Web sites,” said Jeff Oscodar, president and CEO of HandHeld Entertainment. “We are now taking another step in our European strategy to extend our European reach by creating a French language version of Putfile. Putfile is already one of the most popular user-generated sites on the Web and is already very popular in France, which accounts for one-third of its traffic. These visitors can now enjoy the site in their native language. In addition, launching Putfile.com France opens the advertising market to us to French speakers throughout the continent and around the globe.”

Putfile.com now detects the language preference of Putfile.com users and provides them with either a French or English version of the site. Users who have a Web browser set to the French language preference will be automatically directed to the French version when they visit www.Putfile.com. Users will also have the ability to choose which language version of the Web site they prefer by clicking on one of two flag-shaped buttons found at the top of the homepage: one is designed to look like the flag of France (for the French language version) and the other is designed to look like the flag of Great Britain (for the English language version).

“I am excited about the launch of Putfile.com France and eager to reach more Europeans in their native languages,” said Gordon Page, founder of Putfile.com. “We are eager to see our Web properties grow as European users submit videos in French and other languages as new versions of the Putfile.com are launched. This a huge step in giving fans of funny and popular UGC content across the globe the opportunity to share what entertains them in their language of choice.”

About HandHeld Entertainment, Inc.
HandHeld Entertainment (NASDAQ: ZVUE) is a global digital entertainment company. Its network of Web sites (Putfile.com, Holylemon.com, UnOriginal.co.uk, YourDailyMedia.com, Dorks.com, FunMansion.com and ZVUE.com) now houses more than 525,000 user-generated and premium videos in total - videos available for purchase or free viewing. Its ZVUE™ personal media players are mass-market priced and currently available for purchase online and in more than 2,200 Wal-Mart stores throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.hheld.com.

Bookmark this release: Del.icio.us - Digg - Furl - Blinklist - Reddit