WD Photos™ Free Photo Viewer App for iPad™ and iPhone® Accesses Images Stored on WD® Network Drives

Update to Photo Viewing Software Turns iPad into the Ultimate Photo Album

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Oct 07, 2010, 07:50 ET

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions, today announced WD Photos™(photo), the newest release of its photo viewer app, which is now optimized for iPad™ and iPhone®4. Available as a free download from iTunes®, the WD Photos app provides remote access to photos stored on a WD network hard drive including My Book® World Edition™, My Book Live™ and WD ShareSpace™. The images are displayed in native iPad and iPhone resolution, and users can access up to 285,000 of their favorite photos anywhere they can access the Internet by simply copying their pictures into the "Shared Pictures" folder on their WD network hard drive. The WD Photos photo viewer app offers a variety of new features that allow users to stay connected to more of their digital photos, including:

Pinch and zoom functionality so consumers can digitally zoom in on the displayed photo;
Horizontal split view for iPad;
Option to instantly post photos from the WD Photos app to users' Facebook® wall;
New slideshow transitions including pan and zoom, page curl, and cube;
Increased 5 GB capacity to support iPad's larger memory and higher resolution;
iPad full screen support at 1024x768; and,
iPhone HD/OS 3 & 4 support.

WD Photos photo viewer app, optimized for iPad and other leading Apple® mobile devices, fulfills the growing demand to view, store, and consolidate photos on the go. With over 2 million iPads sold as of May 31, 2010 (Apple), the iPad has been embraced enthusiastically by consumers to access and share their digital content.

Although digital photo viewing is not new, research firm Parks Associates says the practice is still on the rise. According to a recent Parks survey, 68 percent of broadband households viewed digital photos at least monthly in 2009, compared to 59 percent in 2006 (Parks Associates: Consumer Storage Opportunities 2010). Combining the centralized storage and remote access benefits of WD's network drives with the iPad is a natural fit with this rapidly growing consumer behavior.

"Viewing pictures on an iPad is a great experience. WD Photos leverages the iPad's beautiful multi-touch screen to enable truly intuitive navigation of thousands of photos," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. "With our application, consumers can share a lifetime of photos right from their sofa without worrying about which photos to sync or how they're organized. With access to up to 285,000 photos stored on a WD network drive, users can have instant access to all their photos wherever they are."

WD Photos Photo Compatibility

Available for download now at the Apple iTunes Store®, WD Photos photo viewer app is compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPhone 4, and iPod touch® and works with My Book World Edition, My Book World Edition II, WD ShareSpace, and My Book Live. Users must register with WD's free, secure MioNet® remote access service to use the WD Photos photo viewer app.

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 designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users' data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

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

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to expected growth in consumer demands for electronics devices. These forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations, and actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including business conditions generally and other risks and uncertainties listed in WD's recent SEC filings. WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events or for any other reason.

Western Digital, WD, My Book, MioNet, and the WD logo are registered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries; WD Photos, World Edition, My Book Live and WD Sharespace 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. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

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SOURCE Western Digital Technologies