Over 16 Million Tracks On-Demand now Available in Australia

Sydney, Australia – 22 May 2012 – Western Digital®, is ensuring that music fans in Australia have an opportunity to experience Spotify® through their WD TV media players today, coinciding with the launch of the music service already hugely popular in thirteen countries around the world. With Spotify, WD TV media player users will be able to stream over 16 million tracks on-demand, changing the way they discover, manage and share music with their friends, family and social networking circles.

WD TV Live™ and WD TV Live Hub™ media players are among the first in Australia to deliver Spotify’s acclaimed music service, bringing the web-based service into the home. Spotify Premium subscribers can now enjoy unlimited on-demand access to Spotify’s catalog at superior sound quality (up to 320kbps) on their home entertainment system.

The WD TV media player family already has an impressive range of premium online content offerings including YouTube, DailyMotion, Vimeo, PlayJam, Picasa Web Albums, TuneIn Radio and MLB.TV. With the addition of Spotify, the power of the versatile device grows stronger, allowing it to truly become a central hub for all home entertainment needs.

WD incorporates Spotify’s popular features including the ability to create and manage playlists, share songs with friends, as well as see and subscribe to friends’ playlists via their Spotify profiles. Users can also share tracks by sending songs directly to the inbox of other Spotify users. Spotify for WD TV Live and WD TV Live Hub delivers an exciting new way to enjoy and share music on the best sound system in your home.

“Spotify has proven to be a very popular service in many areas of the world, and our WD TV media player customers in Australia now have access to this innovative service through their home entertainment systems,” said Craig Davis, APAC Sales & Marketing Director, WD Branded Products. “Providing our Australian customers with a comprehensive entertainment experience that includes seamless streaming of personal media and the best of the Internet makes WD TV media players the most versatile device on the market.”
Pascal de Mul, Global Head of Hardware Partnerships, Spotify, commented: “We’re really excited to make further steps into the living room with streaming media players from WD which, from today, offer the full Spotify streaming catalog in a truly innovative TV-focused user experience.”

WD TV media players allow users to enjoy personal media such as music, video and photos on their home entertainment systems. Supporting a wide range of file formats, content can be streamed from any connected USB drive, digital camcorder or camera, network drive (such as the My Book® Live™ personal cloud storage) and any networked PC or Mac computer in the home.

Price and Availability
The WD TV Live streaming media player and WD TV Live Hub media center can be purchased at select retailers and online at www.wdstore.com.au. MSRP for the WD TV Live streaming media player is A$ 189.99. MSRP for the WD TV Live Hub 1 TB is A$ 469.99.

About WD
WD, a storage industry pioneer and long-time leader, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its storage technologies serve a wide range of host applications including client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own storage systems. Its home entertainment products enable rich engagement with stored digital content.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital®, WD® and HGST™ brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

About Spotify
Spotify is an award-winning digital music service that gives you on-demand access to millions of songs. Spotify makes it easier than ever to discover, manage and share music with your friends, while making sure that artists get a fair deal. Since its launch in Sweden in 2008, Spotify has become the largest and most successful music service of its kind, with over 10 million active users and over 3 million paying subscribers. Spotify is now available in fifteen countries around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, US, UK, Sweden, France, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.

Lenovo shrinks the desktop PC with the industry’s first one-litre Intel vPro desktop

Sydney, Australia – 21 May, 2012: The desktop PC is set for a remarkable redesign with Lenovo today unveiling plans to preview its new ThinkCentre ‘Tiny’ desktop series, including the M72e and M92p, at CeBIT. The ThinkCentre M92p is the industry’s first one-litre, Intel VPro enabled desktop, which utilises an innovative small form factor enabling it to fit in practically any space while maintaining first-class productivity.

“Our desktop solutions are continually evolving to meet the needs of today’s business users, offering uncompromising security, manageability, reliability and performance”, said David Heyworth, Director Product Solutions and Alliances, Lenovo ANZ. “Tiny has been designed so that businesses of all sizes and functionalities can leverage these important capabilities, delivered in a small and energy efficient form factor.”

Boasting measurements the width of a golf ball (34.5 mm), the ThinkCentre’s tiny form factor provides uncompromised computing power in a small package. The M92p is the first desktop of its size to employ Intel vPro technology, featuring 3^rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 Processor with vPro Technology. The ‘Tiny’ provides a significant power reduction over a traditional desktop, making it the optimal choice for energy efficiency.

Suitable for a range of workspace environments, the M92p ‘Tiny’ PCs also support up to four monitors in Mosaic Mode or three independent monitors without a graphic card. Lenovo is expanding its accessories portfolio to include options specifically created for the ‘Tiny’ form factor.

Optional features of the M92p ‘Tiny’ form factor desktop include a solid state or traditional hard drive, integrated graphics, USB 3.0 and WiFi. With Lenovo’s Enhanced Experience 3 for Windows 7 (EE3), the ‘Tiny’ form factor provides a 30 percent faster boot up time than non-optimised PCs.  Users can rest assured that their data is secure with TPM Security Chip and RAID 0,1. Equipped with optional PC Cloud Manager for vPro, IT departments can manage PC fleets remotely on web-based system, without the need for a management console.

Pricing and Availability¹
The ThinkCentre ‘Tiny’ desktops are available from 5^th June 2012 through Lenovo business partners and www.lenovo.com.au. Pricing for the ThinkCentre M72e starts at AU$590. The ThinkCentre M92p, equipped with Intel VPro, is priced from AU$1,499. 

See Tiny at CeBIT!

‘Tiny’ will be on display for the first time at CeBIT in Sydney from May 22 – 24. If you’d like to get up close and personal with ‘Tiny’, visit Lenovo at Stand 40 in Hall 2.

For the latest Lenovo news, subscribe to Lenovo RSS feeds or follow Lenovo on Twitter and Facebook. 

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US21 billion personal technology company serving customers in more than 160 countries, and the world’s second-largest PC vendor. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution.  Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centres in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina.  For more information see www.lenovo.com.au

True Performance Skating and Hockey I.Q. Create Innovative New Gameplay Experience –  GM Connected and NHL Moments Live Provide All-New Experiences that Connect Hockey Fans to Their Friends and the Real-World of the NHL

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. – May 21, 2012 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) announced the key features for EA SPORTS NHL®13, promising the biggest change to the franchise since the introduction of the Skill Stick in NHL® 07. Headlined by all-new True Performance Skating, and supported by an innovative new A.I. system dubbed EA SPORTS Hockey I.Q., NHL 13 will deliver a revamped gameplay experience that accurately captures the speed, creativity and strategy of NHL hockey. In addition, NHL 13 will also deliver new experiences that connect hockey fans to their friends and the real world of hockey with the all-new GM Connected and NHL Moments Live modes. NHL 13 will be available on September 13, 2012 in Australia and September 14, 2012 in New Zealand.

“The NHL team has been a leader when it comes to innovation in the sports videogame category on this console generation by redefining player control with the introduction of the Skill Stick, creating connected experiences such as the EA SPORTS Hockey League and introducing real world physics to the team sports category” says Dean Richards, General Manager, NHL, EA SPORTS. “With our feature set in NHL 13, hockey fans and sports gamers have a lot to be excited about as we are again going to deliver major innovations that will change the way you play the game”

NHL 13 delivers an innovative new gameplay experience, accurately capturing the speed, creativity and strategy of today’s NHL through:

• True Performance Skating – A game-changing innovation for the franchise that adds physics-driven skating and over 1000 new animations. True Performance Skating authentically replicates the explosiveness, momentum and top end speed displayed by today’s NHL players. True Performance Skating combined with the Skill Stick, finally gives gamers access to the entire toolset of an NHL player, delivering unprecedented control and unlocking a level of creativity never before possible in a hockey videogame.

• EA SPORTS Hockey I.Q. – An innovative new A.I. system that governs the behaviors of players, goalies and team systems. In previous NHL games, players were only aware of skaters in their immediate proximity and goalies could only react to the player in control of the puck. With EA SPORTS Hockey I.Q., all players are now fully aware of every other player on the ice, resulting in quicker, smarter and more true-to-life decision-making. EA SPORTS Hockey IQ also delivers the deepest and most customizable set of real-world hockey systems and strategies ever for the franchise.

NHL 13 will deliver new experiences that connect hockey fans to their friends and to NHL hockey with:

• GM Connected – The ultimate fantasy league with friends. GM Connected takes the franchise’s most popular offline mode, Be a GM, and allows you to play with and against your friends in your own 30-team NHL. Whether you are a hardcore sports gamer or a hockey fan that moonlights as an armchair general manager, the mode offers unrivaled accessibility and depth by allowing players to manage, play or coach on the road to building your team’s legacy. GM’s can also take their experience with them with a mobile companion app, ensuring that they never miss a single moment.*

• NHL Moments Live – Rewrite or relive history as you replay some of the most thrilling moments from today’s NHL. NHL 13 evolves the concept introduced by other sports games, introducing each scenario with real-world NHL footage to bring players closer to the intensity of the moment. Moments from the 2011-12 NHL season will ship on disc and new moments from the 2012-13 NHL season will be added when available throughout the season.

Fans of the franchise can expect several other improvements and innovations in NHL 13, such as: • Team-First Presentation, which customizes your NHL 13 experience based on your favorite NHL team

• The addition of Customizable EA SPORTS Hockey IQ allowing players to create and record their own player and team strategies to a level never before seen in the franchise.

• Improvements to core offline and online modes, including Hockey Ultimate Team, Be a Pro, EA SPORTS Hockey League, a refined on-ice presentation, and more.

*App not available in France, Gibraltar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Morocco, Serbia and Montenegro, and Syria

NHL 13 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver and has not yet been rated by the Australian Classification Board. Become a fan of EA SPORTS NHL on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/easportsnhl and follow us on Twitter via http://www.twitter.com/easportsnhl.

For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game communities, please visit www.easports.com to connect, share and compete. EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, fan programs and cross-platform digital experiences. EA SPORTS creates connected experiences that ignite the emotion of sports through industry-leading sports videogames, including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®  golf, SSXTM, and Fight Night boxing. For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com.

MOVIE EXTRA WEBFEST 2.0 winning webseries, EVENT ZERO is set to launch
on YouTube on Tuesday 22 May at 9.00 am (AEST)

The winning webseries in the 2011 MOVIE EXTRA WEBFEST 2.0 competition,
Event Zero, will premiere on Movie Extra's YouTube Channel
www.youtube.com/mnctv on Tuesday 22 May 2012 at 9am (AEST). Audiences
will get their first taste of the highly anticipated webseries with the
launch of episode one, ahead of the release of the following six
episodes on Monday 11 June.

Created by Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey (producers of The Tunnel),
Event Zero stars a host of Australian actors including Zoe Carides
(Crownies, Out of the Blue), Valentino Del Toro (Gabriel, Underbelly:
Infiltration), Harry Pavlidis (Gabriel, East West 101, All Saints) and
Steve Davis (The Tunnel). As well as collaborations with several
directors including Carlo Ledesma (The Tunnel), Andrew Traucki (The
Reef) and Shane Abbess (Gabriel).

Event Zero tells seven interconnected stories of people caught up in an
event much bigger than they are. A report comes in of a train derailment
near Circular Quay. Smoke billows from the wreckage and victims pour
onto the streets. As the emergency workers arrive at the chaotic scene,
they realise the biggest threat is only just emerging. People without a
scratch are collapsing on the ground and dying - and it is spreading.
Unless someone can work out what is going on the death toll will
continue to rise. This moment is Event Zero.

As winners of the MOVIE EXTRA WEBFEST 2.0 competition, creators Enzo
Tedeschi and Julian Harvey were awarded a $100,000 production budget
funded by Movie Network Channels and Screen Australia, to produce the
seven part webseries. 

To catch the premiere episode of Event Zero, visit www.youtube.com/mnctv
on Tuesday 22 May at 9am (AEST). To follow the webseries and for regular
WEBFEST updates and announcements visit Facebook
www.facebook.com/movieextrawebfest.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – May 21, 2012 – Ubisoft^® announced that Mad Riders^TM, an adrenaline-fueled off-road arcade racing game, is coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®Network and PC Digital on May 30^th 2012.

Mad Riders, developed by Techland, will see players performing amazing aerial stunts and racing on over 45 stunning tracks from all over the world, at breathtaking speeds.  To gain the edge on the competition, players will need to use their boost skill wisely and take advantage of shortcuts hidden in the tracks.

For players who want to take the experience online, Mad Riders has extensive competitive features and leaderboards, allowing players to test their skills against the rest of the world. Thanks to an intuitive drop-in system, players can compete in three exciting multiplayer modes playable up to 12 players.

Mad Riders will be available for 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360 and $15.95 on PSN and PC Digital.

For more information on Mad Riders please visit here.

Native Adaptation Delivers Stunning HD Graphics, Classic, Butterflies, Diamond Mine and Zen Modes, Plus Game Center Support

Sydney, Australia —May 21, 2012—PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual games, today announced the worldwide launch of Bejeweled^® HD for iPad^®. This premium, native adaptation of PopCap’s blockbuster franchise delivers eye-popping HD graphics via retina display support, four popular game modes (Classic, Butterflies, Diamond Mine and Zen), Game Center support, and optimised features for iPad.  The game is available for $4.49 via the Apple App Store and iTunes.

“The iPad has become a de facto standard for tablet gaming and is an ideal platform for the Bejeweled franchise,” noted Giordano Bruno Contestabile, Bejeweled franchise business director at PopCap Games. “This native adaptation is one of our best yet, and will enthrall players with fantastic HD graphics and optimised gameplay.  As Bejeweled further evolves, we’ll continue to bring exciting new iterations, updates and content to millions of new and existing players.” 

Game Features At-a-Glance

– Stunning HD graphics; full retina display support for the new iPad

– Four great game modes: Play the ever-popular Butterflies and Diamond Mine, along with Classic and Zen for hours of challenge and fun

– Game Center Support: Compete against your friends and climb the leaderboards

– Create electrifying special gems like Flame gems, Star gems, Hypercubes, and Supernova gems

–  Earn badges and Game Center achievements to show off your best skills

About PopCap

PopCap Games is the leading global developer, publisher and operator of casual video games: fun, easy-to-learn, captivating games that appeal to all ages across PC, mobile, social and other platforms. Based in Seattle, Washington, PopCap was founded in 2000, was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2011, and has a worldwide staff of more than 500 people in Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, B.C., Dublin, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo. PopCap’s games have been downloaded over 1.5 billion times by consumers worldwide, and its flagship franchise, Bejeweled^®, has sold more than 50 million units.

Replica loot chest, Marcus Kincaid bobblehead, in-game bonuses and much more included in special editions  

Sydney, Australia, May 18, 2012 – 2K Games and Gearbox Software today announced two tiers of special limited editions for the highly anticipated Borderlands^® 2 – the Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collector’s Edition and Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition. Currently in development by Gearbox Software, Borderlands 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed four-player cooperative shooter-looter that combined intense first-person mayhem with role-playing gameplay. Both editions will reward fans with a number of collectible and in-game bonus items that will enhance the action-packed experience of Borderlands 2.

The Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collector’s Edition (RRP $119.95 AUD/ $149.95 NZD ) includes a copy of Borderlands 2; authentic Marcus Kincaid bobblehead; Inside the Vault: The Art & Design of Borderlands 2 hardbound book; collectable sticker set; map of Pandora; digital comic download code; and bonus downloadable in-game digital content. The Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition (RRP $159.95 AUD/ $199.95 NZD) includes all of those items, plus a collectable scaled replica of the red loot chests found throughout Pandora in Borderlands 2; steelbook case; Creatures of Pandora wide-format ID chart; lithograph postcard set; field notes from Sir Hammerlock; cloth map of Pandora; and a numbered certificate of authenticity. Both of the special editions will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows-based PC.

“Lightning’s Story: Requiem of the Goddess” &  “Snow’s Story: Perpetual Battlefield” Episodes Out Now

Sydney (May 18, 2012) – Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in Europe and across PAL territories, announces that the final set of downloadable content for FINAL FANTASY® XIII-2 is available today via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and tomorrow via PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®3 system. These include two new episodes; “Lightning’s Story: Requiem of the Goddess” and “Snow’s Story: Perpetual Battlefield” along with White and Black Mage Costumes and “Mog’s Outfits: A Wondrous Wardrobe,” which includes 16 different costume types for Noel and Serah’s Moogle companion.

About “Lightning’s Story: Requiem of the Goddess”:

This DLC reveals the full arduous battle of Lightning and Caius. Players will be able to take control as Lightning who has a special ability available only for this episode. This episode includes important information relating to the overall storyline of FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 and players are therefore encouraged to complete the game prior to playing through this new content! 

About “Snow’s Story: Perpetual Battlefield”:

Snow is engaged in battles at the Coliseum after being separated from his fiancée, Serah. The episode also features a battle against the “Arbiter of Time,” who has been watching events unfold at the Coliseum. Snow should pose a difficult challenge to players and will allow them to end the Coliseum battles on a high note, and ultimately unlock Snow as a party member.