The Skylanders Cloud Patrol app has received new updates this week. Now you can play with even more characters, including Warnado, Wham-Shell, Camo and all of the Legendary Skylanders. The game also now has native iPad3 support, including retina display!

Skylanders Cloud Patrol is available for only $.99 at the iTunes App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. For more information about Skylanders Cloud Patrol please visit www.skylanders.com. Skylanders Cloud Patrol is developed by Vicarious Visions, an Activision studio located in Menands, NY.

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, the new investigation game for Xbox® 360, PlayStation® 3 and PC developed by Frogwares, unveils its release date! The new investigation of Sherlock Holmes will debut in September, on consoles and PC. To celebrate this announcement, discover five brand new screenshots, taken directly from the crime scenes that await you in September!

Even though London’s police are actively searching for him, Sherlock must complete the investigation he began. Watson witnesses, powerless, the suspicious behavior of the famous detective… and while he agrees to help his partner for the time being, this certainly won’t last if Holmes refuses to explain his incriminating actions. The five new screenshots reveal more of the incredibly detailed locations where Sherlock and Watson begin their investigation this September.

You are Sherlock Holmes, and this is your investigation. Unfold an incredible conspiracy on PS3, Xbox 360® and PC in September 2012!

SYDNEY – May 4, 2012 –Ubisoft has released a new trailer detailing the connections between the short film, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Alpha, and the upcoming video game, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Alpha is the 25-minute prequel film to the video game Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier and follows the Ghosts as they are dropped deep behind enemy lines in order to eliminate one of the world’s most sought-after war criminals.

Ghost Recon Alpha will premiere exclusively on Uplay.com on May 13^th. It will also be available to own on DVD as part of the Ghost Recon Future Soldier Collector’s edition, along with additional behind the scenes content.

Ghost Recon Alpha is deeply connected with the video game, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier.

• Characters: The main four characters in the movie are the same four playable characters in the video game.
• Storyline: The movie takes place immediately before a key turning point in the video game’s storyline, a vicious attack against a major European city.
• Location: the location where the movie takes place will be one of the multiplayer maps available in the adversarial mode of the video game.
• Exclusive unlock: a secret code is also hidden in the movie, enabling access via Ghost Recon Network to an exclusive weapon unlock playable in Ghost Recon Future Soldier.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Alpha boasts a line-up of top Hollywood talent.  The film was directed by Academy Award winners Hervé de Crécy and François Alaux, who won an Oscar in 2010 for Logorama, and produced by Rhea Scott for Little Minx, a Ridley Scott & Associates company. Tim Sexton, 2010 Academy Award nominee for Children of Men, and Gregory Pruss wrote the gripping script. The film was shot by District 9 cinematographer Trent Opaloch; edited by Pietro Scalia, two time Academy Award winner for Black Hawk Down and JFK; with sound effects and sound effects editing by Per Hallberg, two time Academy Award winner for The Bourne Ultimatum and Braveheart as well as Michael Mann’s Heat; production design by Jan Roelfs (Gattaca, Alexander; and costume design by Sammy Sheldon (V for Vendetta, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Black Hawk Down).  Military Weapons Specialist Harry Humphries, consultant on such notable action films such as Transformers, Thor, Iron Man and Armageddon, ensured that the futuristic weaponry in the film was entirely realistic.

Fan-Favourites from Hideo Kojima’s Legendary Franchise Hit the PlayStation^®Vita System in June

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today unveiled the launch month for METAL GEAR SOLID HD Collection, coming to the Playstation®Vita system this June. From the critically acclaimed director, Hideo Kojima, METAL GEAR SOLID HD Collection includes two beloved classics, METAL GEAR SOLID 2: Sons of Liberty and METAL GEAR SOLID 3: Snake Eater. Featuring stunning, upgraded graphics from the original releases on the PlayStation®2, both titles include Transfarring, where players can transfer save data from their PlayStation®3 METAL GEAR SOLID HD Collection to their PlayStation®Vita system and start the action from where they left off.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for the PlayStation®Vita allows fans to experience the series like never before with optimised controls that take full advantage of the Vita’s unique touch-screen and rear touchpad. Using just their fingers, gamers can zoom in on captivating cut-scenes, peek around corners, interrogate enemies, cycle through weapons/items, as well as perform quick attacks with their knife.

METAL GEAR SOLID HD Collection will be available for the Playstation®Vita system this June.

For more information and assets, please visit:http://www.konami.com/downloads/

SYDNEY, 3^rd May 2012:  Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.) has today revealed a brand new console colour for PlayStation_®3 (PS3™) in Australia; Scarlet Red.

The new, limited edition console brings a colourful, fresh look to the 320GB PS3™, and will retail in select stores in Australia with a recommended retail price of just AU$459.95.

The Scarlet Red 320GB PS3 console will be bundled with two Dualshock_®3controllers in a colour that will match the console.

With a huge line up exclusive AAA titles, Blu-ray™ player functionality, a world of online services via PlayStation_®Network and now an all new eye catching colour, there has never been a better time to discover the power of PS3.

3 May 2012: Perth-based Internet service provider, iiNet, has announced the finalists in its search for the country’s top geek, a competition designed to celebrate everyone’s inner geek.

The TopGeek 2.0 finalists, Skaidris Gunsmith, Cem Selamet, Rhys Elsmore, Rhiannon Davies, Steve Wright and Cody Davies (People’s Choice), will fight for the TopGeek title and an all-expenses paid trip to a US geek convention of their choice at the final contest on 10 May 2012.

Hosted by award-winning comedian and self-proclaimed geek, Lawrence Leung, the final geek-off will be streamed live around the country on iiNet’s Freezone from 7pm WST.

iiNet’s Communications Manager, Anthony Fisk, said the competition has been hard fought with a high calibre of entries received from passionate geeks all around the country.

“At iiNet we celebrate all things geek and believe that everyone has an inner geek inside just waiting to be unleashed. TopGeek 2.0 is really about recognising geeks as passionate, intelligent and talented individuals – not spectacles and braces,” Mr Fisk said.

“We’re at the pointy end of the competition now and looking forward to the final battle where our top six will be tested on a range of geeky topics including fandom, Internet, technology, art and gaming.”

To celebrate the TopGeek 2.0 final, iiNet has launched the TopGeek 2.0 app so everyone can create and share their geek avatar. The app is free and available now from the Apple app store or Google Play

For more information on TopGeek 2.0, visit www.topgeek.iinet.net.au.

BlackBerry World™, the largest annual gathering for the BlackBerry® ecosystem organised by Research In Motion (RIM), where the community behind innovative BlackBerry solutions comes together to learn, share and network is now in full swing in Orlando, Florida. Approximately 5,000 attendees from over 115 countries have gathered at the event to know about the latest innovations for BlackBerry and hear RIM’s vision for the future of mobile computing.

Alongside with BlackBerry World, BlackBerry 10 Jam has also made its first debut in Orlando this year, attracting over 1,000 developers to learn more about the BlackBerry 10 platform and how they can make applications that stand out.

BlackBerry 10 Sneek Peek

Thorsten Heins, CEO of RIM, unveiled and showed a demo of the new BlackBerry 10 UI, keyboard and a cool camera capture experience. He further emphasised that BlackBerry 10 thinks for itself, adapts to the world around it, and will keep evolving to help BlackBerry people be successful. BlackBerry 10 is not just a smartphone OS but a new revolutionary mobile computing engine. With the power of BlackBerry and what RIM is doing today, RIM is also best positioned for embedded mobile communications in automobiles, the enterprise, the home, when travelling, in medical, smart grids, home electricity systems and security systems. To view a sneak peek of BlackBerry 10, please click here.

Development Tools for BlackBerry 10 Platform and BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Released

RIM also unveiled its initial developer toolkit for native and HTML5 software development. Released in beta, the developer toolkit for the BlackBerry 10 platform will allow developers to build and test their apps in preparation for the BlackBerry 10 launch expected in the latter part of 2012. The toolkit includes the BlackBerry® 10 Native SDK with Cascades, which allows developers to create graphically rich, high performance native apps in C/C++ or the Qt Modeling Language (QML). The toolkit also includes support for HTML5 app developers with the BlackBerry 10 WebWorks™ SDK, allowing them to create native-like apps using common web programming technologies (HTML5, CSS and JavaScript).

Applications created with any of the BlackBerry 10 tools will run on BlackBerry 10 smartphones as well as BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets when the new platform becomes available for the PlayBook.  All of the SDKs will be updated to give developers access to more of the BlackBerry 10 unique capabilities over the coming months.

In addition, all attendees at BlackBerry 10 Jam will receive a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device for testing their BlackBerry 10 applications as they build them as RIM is committed to providing developers the best tools and the best opportunities to build apps for the BlackBerry platform.

Developer Support and Endorsement for BlackBerry 10 Platform

As the tools are released, the developer community, content providers and application framework providers are already coming out in support of BlackBerry 10, confirming their excitement for the upcoming launch of the BlackBerry 10 platform.  These partners include Endomoto, Gameloft, Kony, Mippin, Occipital, Pixelmags, Ponyt and more.

For media releases, partner releases and photos available for download please go to the BlackBerry World Online Press Room. You can also visit Inside BlackBerry – The Official BlackBerry Blog and view the playback of the BlackBerry World keynote.

Dree software ranks in highest category for detection 

SYDNEY & AUCKLAND – May 3, 2012 – Bitdefender Mobile Security, the Android security app by the cutting-edge internet security provider, won a ‘Five Star Award’ from PC Security Labs (PCSL) for its excellent malware detection rate with no false positives.

In rigorous examination by the independent antivirus testing organisation, Bitdefender Mobile Security scored a detection rate of 95.96per cent, ranking it in the five-star award category, PCSL’s highest.

“Bitdefender Mobile Security is proving to be the solution for the rapidly spreading plague of Android malware,” said Bitdefender Senior Product Manager Alexandru Balan. “It’s ultra-light on the battery and is proven to fend off malware. We’re setting the bar high for Android security right from the start.”

PC Security Labs submitted 15 Android security solutions to testing with 816 Android malware samples since April 18 and, to check for false positives, with 200 popular non-infected programs. 360 Mobile Safe, Kaspersky Mobile Security 9 and Dr. Web anti-virus also ranked in the five-star category.  Avast! Mobile Security and Lookout Premium ranked three stars.

“Malware is growing rapidly in the Android market and the development of great security products such as Bitdefender Mobile Security is crucial to the future of the platform and the peace of mind of its users,” said Bitdefender Chief Security Researcher Catalin Cosoi. “Our first quarter research showed some alarming trends.”

Android.Trojan.FakeDoc.A, which poses as “Battery Doctor”, was the ranking threat in mobile malware in the first quarter, according to Bitdefender research. The fake app claims it helps optimise your battery output, every four hours it forwards your incoming emails, geolocation data, and carrier ID to hacker-controlled servers.

Defend yourself from this threat with Bitdefender Mobile Security. And for a real app for your battery, check out Bitdefender Power Tune-Up, with a true battery optimisation feature which unclogs background apps and internet traffic thus considerably reducing your battery drainage.

For more information on Bitdefender Mobile Security, see: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitdefender.security.

You can read more about Bitdefender Power Tune-Up here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitdefender.tuneup

Coming tomorrow, Thursday, May 3rd at noon Eastern, the second in our special two-part video series unveiling Max Payne 3 Multiplayer in action – with a deeper look at Bullet Time® online, persistent Multiplayer Crews, powerful Burst abilities and more

Sydney, Australia – 3 May 2012 – Western Digital®, today announced it is now shipping the new WD VelociRaptor® 1 TB hard drive, the latest addition to its award-winning drive family, the largest capacity 10,000 RPM hard drive on the market today. Designed for high-performance PCs, Mac® computers and professional workstations that require a balance of high performance and capacity, the WD VelociRaptor drive is a favorite among enthusiasts and creative professionals. The WD VelociRaptor will also come in capacities of 500 GB and 250 GB.

Leveraging enterprise-class mechanics to provide 24×7 durability under high-performance workloads, the new WD VelociRaptor 1 TB hard drive is geared for creative professionals who demand the ultimate SATA drive. Creative pros use write-intensive applications that manage large, dynamic files; for example, video editing and digital content creation and management, which ultimately put a strain on storage devices that utilize write-challenged NAND memory for performance enhancement. WD VelociRaptor’s outstanding read and write performance across the entire disk capacity make it a perfect match for the creative professional and enthusiast who want to optimize their tools, enhance productivity, and increase storage space at the same time.

“WD is committed to providing customers with the best performing and most reliable SATA hard drives and our WD VelociRaptor family of drives underscores that promise,” said Darwin Kauffman, vice president and general manager of WD’s enterprise storage. “With ever-increasing demand for greater capacity, the new 1 TB WD VelociRaptor drive delivers the ultimate combination of speed and storage for the power user.”

The WD VelociRaptor 2.5-inch hard drive comes in the IcePack™ enclosure, a 3.5-inch mounting frame with built-in heat sink – a factory customization that fits the drive into a standard 3.5-inch system bay and keeps the powerful drive extra cool when installed in a high-performance desktop or workstation system.
Features of the WD VelociRaptor hard drives include:
Super speed – SATA 6 Gb/s interface and 64 MB cache optimize the 10,000 RPM WD VelociRaptor.
Higher capacity – WD VelociRaptor SATA hard drives employ Advanced Format Technology to achieve capacities up to 1 TB.
Rock-solid reliability – Designed and manufactured to workstation standards to deliver stellar reliability in high workload environments.
Ultra-cool operation – Consumes less idle power and uses similar active power as the previous generation WD VelociRaptor while offering greater capacity and performance.
Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF™) – Optimizes operation and performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone, multi-drive chassis.
NoTouch™ ramp load technology – The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection when in transit.
Environmentally conscious – In addition to being RoHS-compliant, this generation of WD VelociRaptor is also a halogen-free design.

Price and Availability
Manufacturer: Western Digital
Product Name: WD VelociRaptor
RRP for WD VelociRaptor 1 TB – A$ 329, NZ$ 419
Australia Distributor: Achieva Technology Australia Pty Ltd., Synnex (Australia) Pty Ltd.
New Zealand Distributors: Ingram Micro NZ, Synnex New Zealand Ltd., VST (NZ) Ltd.
Warranty: 5-year limited warranty
Website: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=20
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wdaust

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.

Western Digital, WD, WD VelociRaptor, and the WD logo are registered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries; IcePack, NoTouch and RAFF are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks herein are property of their respective owner. As used for interface, gigabit per second (Gb/s) = one billion bits per second. As used for cache, one megabyte (MB) = 1,048,576 bytes.As used for storage capacity, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.