Watch the trailer here !
WD® Introduces New WD TV™ Mini Media Player with RealVideo™ Support to Play Your Digital Media on the Big Screen
Sydney, Australia – Aug. 24, 2009 – WD® the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced a new version of its popular WD TV media player. The new WD TV Mini Media Player now enables playback of RealNetworks®, Inc.’s RealVideo™ content and provides a more affordable way for consumers to play their stored digital content in up to 1080i HD resolution directly on their HD television.
The WD TV Mini Media Player connects to a user’s TV or home theater and plays digital movies, music and photos stored on USB drives such as the best-selling WD My Passport portable drive. As with other WD TV models, the WD TV Mini Media Player supports playback of digital media on most USB mass storage devices such as digital camcorders and digital cameras. The new compact design is small and portable enough that users can easily take it with them when they travel and play their digital media anywhere on any TV in up to 1080i HD resolution.
According to research firm Parks Associates, the average consumer household currently has approximately 298 GB of digital media, which will reach approximately 898 GB of digital media by 2012.
These large personal digital libraries are all but trapped on users’ computers. In order to play their content on their TV, consumers have struggled with clumsy solutions such as copying onto multiple CDs and DVDs or connecting their PCs to their TVs via wires or complicated home networking solutions. The new WD TV Mini Media Player perfectly suits the needs of those with a large media collection that are looking for an easy and affordable solution to watch their digital media on their TV.
“The popularity of the RealVideo format and its compatibility with the WD TV Mini Media Player makes it an excellent solution for consumers who wish to enjoy their RealVideo content on their TVs,” said Scott Nelson, director of business development for RealNetworks.
“For those who desire an easy, affordable and portable solution to enjoy their digital media on their TV and who have content in RealVideo format, the new WD TV Mini Media Player fits the bill,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s Branded Products Group. “The new WD TV Mini Media Player unlocks the content from their PCs and storage devices and makes it simple for people to enjoy their media on their home theater system, without the need to spend time configuring a complicated device or transcoding files to make them compatible.”
Features of the WD TV Mini Media Player include:
– Play video, music and photos on your TV in up to 1080i HD resolution;
– Supports widest variety of file formats including RealMedia Variable Bitrate (RMVB);
– Rich HD 1080i advanced navigation and user interface;
– DVD-like navigation with chapter support, trick modes and subtitles;
– Expandable: buy more storage, delete fewer movies;
– Photo slideshow with unique transitions and music on your HD TV;
– Thumbnail support including photo thumbnails and music album art;
– Ability to preview your video during navigation (480 and 720 mode only);
– Video, music and photo auto-play for users digital signage solution;
– Subtitle support including multi-language subtitle support for video playback;
– Picture Transfer Protocol to view or backup content from your digital image device;
– Compatible with USB Camcorders and USB mass storage devices;
– Component and composite video output;
– Digital optical audio output via SPDIF; and,
– Ultra-compact design making it perfectly portable for travel.
Product and Pricing Summary
Manufacturer: Western Digital
Product Name: WD TV Mini Media Player
RRP: AU$149.99 , NZ$179.99
Website: http://www.westerndigital.com
Product link and Photos: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=681
Australian Distributors: Synnex Australia
New Zealand Distributors: Synnex NZ, Ingram Micro NZ
Availability: Now
Download High Resolution Images
http://www.gapmarketing.com.au/press_images/WD/WDTVMiniMediaPlayer.zip
About WD
WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. WD applies its storage expertise to consumer products for external, portable and shared storage applications.
WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.
Western Digital, WD and WD logo are registered trademarks; WD TV and My Passport are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. One gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. One terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.
CALL OF DUTY®: WORLD AT WAR MAP PACK 3 SURPASSES ONE MILLION DOWNLOADS IN FIRST WEEKEND
Sydney, Australia – August 24, 2009 – Call of Duty®: World at War Map Pack 3 from Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and developer Treyarch topped more than one million paid downloads during its first weekend of availability (August 6-9) on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network. With this latest release, all three map packs for Call of Duty®: World at War now total a combined 6.5 million downloads worldwide.
“The support and enthusiasm from the Call of Duty: World at War online community is tremendous,” said Mark Lamia, studio head of Treyarch. “The team is appreciative that so many players from around the world have continued to enjoy the game an all of the downloadable content that we have produced.”
The three map packs are available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 800 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system for $15.95. Call of Duty: World at War is rated MA 15+ (Strong violence and coarse language, Gaming experience may change online) by the Classification Board. For more information visit www.codwaw.com.
WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2010 ENTERS THE VIRTUAL RING WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF KEY FEATURES AND FRANCHISE UPDATES
THQ today announced the first gameplay details surrounding WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, the 11th edition to the distinguished fighting videogame franchise. Poised to feature the most authentic, entertaining and compelling simulation of WWE programming to date across multiple videogame platforms, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 will introduce inspiring creative and online freedom, significant franchise improvements and a comprehensive roster of today’s most prominent WWE Superstars and Divas. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 is currently in development for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii and Nintendo DS, with a scheduled release date of 22 October 2009 (Australia & New Zealand).
About WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 – Creative and Online Freedom
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 will mark the debut of the WWE Story Designer. In this new mode, players will embrace a directorial role to create and customize their own storylines and cut scenes, including the ability to select talent and scene locations, write their own dialogue, adjust camera angles, select from over 100 scene animations, determine talent emotions and much more. Players will also be able to construct each night’s show card with matches, unique match stipulations, interference events and other story twists and turns.
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 will also feature a new Create-a-Superstar Mode, including a fresh look, all-new 3-D parts and improved graphical quality, allowing players to create Superstars and Divas who are comparable in quality with their in-game WWE counterparts. Adding to the creative mix, a new Paint Tool will enable detailed creation of tattoos, logos and other unique designs, while a franchise-first Superstar Threads feature will let players create alternate ring gear for Superstars and Divas by customizing the colours of shirts, pants, face paint, elbow pads, boots and more. The game’s Create-a-Finisher Mode will now let players create acrobatic and gravity-defying diving attacks from the top turnbuckle, as well as move their creations to new heights by adjusting the trajectory. In addition, the mode will deliver an extensive assortment of new moves from the front grapple position.
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 is set to empower players with not only extensive creative freedom but the ability to share their gameplay experiences as well. For the first time in franchise history, the WWE Community Creations interface will enable players to upload their creations online, including created Superstars and Divas, story designs, finishing moves, entrance movies and highlight reels, and share them with others around the world. Players may also download created content via keyword search engine from other users for use both online and offline. In addition, players will be able to tag their creations with search terms, as well as leave ratings, allowing for ease of use in searching the robust database for the most popular – or even the most obscure – created items.
Transformers: ROTF DLC Reveal E-mail Blast
With the launch of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Character and Map Pack Plus DLC pack right around the corner, we wanted to share with you the full details of Luxoflux’s exciting new content. Set for release on August 27, 2009 for 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and $15.95 in the PlayStation Store for PS3, the pack contains eight brand-new playable characters and three new character skins, most of which are usable in both the single-player campaign and multiplayer. There are also three new multiplayer maps, a new “Expert” difficultly level for the single-player campaign and additional support for Xbox 360 Achievements and PLAYSTATION 3 Trophies.
New Characters:
- Generation One Optimus Prime
- Generation One Megatron
- Generation One Starscream
- Generation One Sunstorm
- Soundwave
- Sideswipe
- Jazz
- Jetfire (multiplayer only)
New Skins
- Generation One colors Ratchet
- Generation One colors Sideswipe
- Stealth Colors Bumblebee
New Maps:
- Courtyard – set in the U.S. east coast, pitting players directly in a central action area flanked by open skies and tall skyscrapers
- Hillside – takes players to the urban backdrop of Cairo, where players will fight in the war-torn streets and alleyways of a ruined cityscape
- Sandstorm – transports players to yet another section of Cairo, populated with low buildings and wide-open regions perfect for instantaneous, frenetic action
What’s On at Melbourne Museum – August to November 2009
Message Sticks Film Festival
Message Sticks Film Festival returns to Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum with its biggest and best program to date. This year’s line-up includes the latest short films and documentaries from emerging and established Indigenous film-makers, The New Black, plus a special Warwick Thornton retrospective and his Camera d’Or winning film, Samson & Delilah, and Fire Talker, a new documentary by Ivan Sen about the life and times of Charles Perkins, Aboriginal activist and bureaucrat.
Date: 30 August to 1 September
All films are FREE. Check the website for program details.
Wild: Amazing animals in a changing world
Be surrounded by the wonderful diversity of mammals, birds and reptiles from around the world in Melbourne Museum’s new permanent exhibition. Wild explores which animals are thriving and which are merely surviving and takes you on an adventure through different Victorian environments, such as the alps, grassland and wetlands. Discover why biodiversity is under threat and learn about how we can create a more hopeful future.
Date: From 13 November 2009
A Day in Pompeii: Melbourne Winter Masterpieces Exhibition
The drama and tragedy of ancient Pompeii will be showcased in the Melbourne Winter Masterpiece exhibition A Day
in Pompeii, on display at Melbourne Museum from 26 June to 25 October 2009. Exclusive to Melbourne, A Day in Pompeii is developed by Museum Victoria in partnership with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei (SAP), and will feature over 250 objects from daily life in Pompeii and surrounds, as well as a number of body casts.
Melbourne Winter Masterpieces is a Victorian Government initiative and is exclusive to Melbourne, Australia. A Day in Pompeii is presented in association with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei (SANP).
Date: Until 25 October 2009
Cost: $20 adult, $14 concession, $12 child, $54 family (includes Museum entry)
Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award Exhibition
This is an annual award-based exhibition showcasing the 10 best Australian contemporary functional designs in lighting, furniture, accessories and homewares. Victorian finalists featured in the exhibition include Bridget Bodenham, Stuart McFarlane and John Hoogendoorn.
The Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award Exhibition is an Object Gallery touring exhibition with the support of Major Sponsor Bombay Sapphire.
Date: Until 25 October 2009
Design Now
Do you ever wonder what the next big thing in design will be? What are the best emerging ideas and trends? See the designs of Australia’s young design graduates who have competed with fellow students to exhibit their work in Design Now The group of finalists represent the best and freshest upcoming designers in Australia.
Design Now is an Object Gallery touring exhibition.
Date: Until 25 October 2009
Ngarjun and Nakun: Our eyes, our footprints
This exhibition explores the powerful collective story of the Mullet family, a Victorian Aboriginal family. Featuring paintings, textiles and objects from four generations of family members, the exhibition demonstrates the knowledge of culture and family connections that have been instilled through the generations by grandparents Albert and Rachel Mullett.
Date: Until 10 October 2009
Melbourne Museum, Nicholson Street, Carlton. Open daily 10.00am – 5.00pm. Admission: Adult $8, children and concession FREE. For further details phone 13 11 02 or visit museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum
Apple to Ship Mac OS X Snow Leopard on 28 August
SYDNEY, Australia – 25 August 2009 – Apple today announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard will go on sale Friday, 28 August at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers, and that Apple’s online store is now accepting pre-orders. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard users for recommended retail price (RRP) A$39 inc GST.
“Snow Leopard builds on our most successful operating system ever and we’re happy to get it to users earlier than expected,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “For just A$39, Leopard users get a smooth upgrade to the world’s most advanced operating system and the only system with built in Exchange support.”
To create Snow Leopard, Apple engineers refined 90 percent of the more than 1,000 projects that make up Mac OS X. Users will notice refinements including a more responsive Finder; Mail that loads messages up to twice as fast;* Time Machine with an up to 80 percent faster initial backup;* a Dock with Exposé integration; QuickTime X with a redesigned player that allows users to easily view, record, trim and share video; and a 64-bit version of Safari 4 that is up to 50 percent** faster and resistant to crashes caused by plug-ins. Snow Leopard is half the size of the previous version and frees up to 7GB of drive space once installed.
For the first time, system applications including Finder, Mail, iCal, iChat and Safari are 64-bit and Snow Leopard’s support for 64-bit processors makes use of large amounts of RAM, increases performance and improves security while remaining compatible with 32-bit applications. Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) provides a revolutionary new way for software developers to write applications that take advantage of multicore processors. OpenCL, a C-based open standard, allows developers to tap the incredible power of the graphics processing unit for tasks that go beyond graphics.
Snow Leopard is the only desktop operating system with built in support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, and it allows you to use Mac OS X Mail, Address Book and iCal to send and receive email, create and respond to meeting invitations, and search and manage contacts with global address lists. Exchange information works seamlessly within Snow Leopard so users can also take advantage of OS X only features such as fast Spotlight searches and Quick Look previews.
Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, the next major release of the world’s easiest to use server operating system, will also go on sale Friday, 28 August. Snow Leopard Server includes innovative new features such as Podcast Producer 2 and Mobile Access Server and is priced more affordably than ever at A$699 inc GST with unlimited client licenses. More information and full system requirements for Snow Leopard Server can be found at www.apple.com/au/server/macosx/.
Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard on 28 August at Apple’s retail stores and through Apple Authorised Resellers, and online pre-orders can be made through Apple’s online store (www.apple.com/au)starting today. The Snow Leopard single user license will be available for a recommended retail price of A$39 inc GST and the Snow Leopard Family Pack, a single household, five-user license, will be available for a recommended retail price of A$69 inc GST. For Tiger users with an Intel-based Mac, the Mac Box Set includes Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ’09 and iWork ’09 and will be available for a recommended retail price of A$229 inc GST and a Family Pack is available for a recommended retail price of A$299 inc GST.
The Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-to-Date upgrade package is available to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller between 8 June, 2009 and the end of the program on 26 December, 2009, for a product plus shipping and handling fee of A$14.95 inc GST. Users must request their Up-to-Date upgrade within 90 days of purchase or by 26 December, 2009, whichever comes first. For more information please visit www.apple.com/au/macosx/uptodate. Snow Leopard requires a minimum of 1GB of RAM and is designed to run on any Mac computer with an Intel processor. Full system requirements can be found atwww.apple.com/au/macosx/specs.html.
*Testing conducted by Apple in August 2009 comparing prerelease Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard with shipping Mac OS X v10.5.8 Leopard on a shipping 2.0 GHz MacBook system and a shipping 2.66 GHz iMac system, both configured with 2GB of RAM. Performance will vary based on system configuration, network, file sizes, data sets and other factors.
**Testing conducted by Apple in August 2009 comparing 64-bit Safari 4 to 32-bit Safari 4 on prerelease Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard on a shipping 2.0 GHz MacBook system and a shipping 2.66 GHz iMac system, both configured with 2GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmarks based on the SunSpider Performance test. Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection, and other factors.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.
COLIN McRAE™: DiRT™ 2 MULTIPLAYER DEMO LAUNCHES TODAY!
– Tuesday 25th August – Experience the most exciting racer of the year as Codemasters® announced that the Colin McRae™: DiRT™2 playable demo will be available today from Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox® 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and the PlayStation® Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.
The Colin McRae: DiRT 2 demo features two exhilarating events, both available to play in single-player offline and in 8-vehicle online multiplayer. In the Trailblazer event, players take on the ultimate test of rally car against the challenging Moroccan terrain on a point-to-point track filled with flat-out straights and hair-raising hairpins in the Mitsubishi Eclipse GT. Gamers can also race in a Landrush event at the spectacular Ensenada Port circuit set in Baja California, where players go wheel-to-wheel in an 8-vehicle riotous race over lethal bumps and killer jumps in the heavy duty West Coast Choppers Stuka Trophy Truck.
Floor it over to www.facebook.com/dirt2game to see a new video featuring a hot run on the Morocco Trailblazer track in the demo, set by Colin McRae: DiRT 2 level designer Glenn McDonald. Gamers can watch the blistering pace of the Mitsubishi Eclipse GT and then attempt to beat his time of 2:51:93 in the demo for a chance to win exclusive Colin: McRae: DiRT 2 prizes.
Colin McRae: DiRT 2 is set to take racing games to a new level with thrilling new race types, striking locations, big event atmosphere and a peerless line-up of super-charged speed machines, each selected to deliver spectacular, fast paced racing.
Beyond the events featured in the demo, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will take players on an exhilarating World Tour featuring over 100 stunning events, including aggressive, multi-vehicle races and intense solo challenges, set in the most diverse and demanding real-world environments.
Complete with full head-to-head competitive online play, get ready for the ultimate off-road competition when Colin McRae: DiRT 2 launches September 24th for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. A Games For Windows® LIVE edition will follow with support for DirectX® 11. For the latest news and videos, floor it over to www.dirt2game.com or become a fan at www.facebook.com/dirt2game.
ViewSonic ventures into netbook territory and unveils the VNB101
Sydney, Australia, August 25, 2009 – ViewSonic, global technology provider and renowned worldwide leader of visual display products, has well and truly started the PC ball rolling. Today, ViewSonic has announced the next additions to its recently released personal computing range – the VNB101 netbook.
The VNB101 netbook presents portability and power in a sleek, yet sturdy package. A technology feat that may make ‘professional’ notebooks sweat, ViewSonic has produced the premium VNB101. As a newer player in the PC market, ViewSonic is drawing on its vast experience in the technology industry to create complete computing solutions.
Flaunting a super slim 25mm form and light 1.1kg load, the VNB101 is the elite netbook that cuts a formidable figure. Embellished with IML (In-mould Labeling) surface technology, the VNB101 is extremely durable, resisting scratches and scuffs with a high-shine finish ensuring its colour will always remain vibrant and not fade over time. Under the cover is a vivid 10” wide colour TFT Active Matrix LED-backlit display that dispels less heat making it energy efficient yet lingers brilliantly bright and its frameless screen fits a mass of visual splendour in a neat package.
Beyond its smooth surface the VNB101 incorporates intuitive multi-touch technology allowing users to browse web pages, zoom and rotate images, or jump pages as easily as moving two fingers – no need for point-and-click or text input. The inner recesses of the VNB101 possesses a powerful Intel Atom N280 processor, plus 1GB memory, 160GB and Microsoft Windows XP Home and with its fast 8-second boot up time users can access the internet and go browsing or buying at the click of a button.
The VNB101 also comes equipped with wireless WiFi 802.11 b/g, 10/100 Ethernet and built-in Bluetooth, as well as an ultra-light lithium-polymer battery that boasts a full 2.5 hours battery life without the weight. What’s more, the VNB101 offers trouble-free typing with its 92% standard size keyboard and comes bundled with additional software. The jewel for the jetset, perfect for the professional with panache, the VNB101 provides brains and brawn in a well-designed, sophisticated package.
The ViewSonic VNB101 will be available at Clive Peeters in Australia (Rick Hart in Western Australia) from September 2009. RRP: VNB101, AU$699 inc GST. Specifications attached.
About ViewSonic
ViewSonic® Corporation is a leading global provider of visual display products. ViewSonic develops, markets and supports a broad range of innovative products, including Netbooks, All-in-One PCs, LCD monitors, LCD TVs, projectors, digital photo frames and digital signage displays including LCD monitors, LCD TVs, projectors, digital signage displays, digital photo frames and other display solutions. For more information, visit www.viewsonic.com.au