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PlayCenter 2 Software Available to Millions of Existing Sound Blaster Live! And NOMAD Users Through Live!Ware and New CreativeWare Upgrade Program

``Consumers can now enjoy double the amount of CD-quality digital music using Windows Media across Creative's innovative Sound Blaster Live!, PlayCenter 2, and the NOMAD line of digital audio players,'' said Dave Fester, General Manager of the Digital Media Division of Microsoft. ``Creative's pioneering audio technology and programmable portable devices combined with Windows Media offer one of the best digital entertainment experiences today.''

Creative PlayCenter 2 allows existing customers to enjoy commercial digital audio and music downloads currently available in the Windows Media Format and DRM technology. For personal usage, users will also be able to rip, via PlayCenter 2, an entire CD to the Windows Media Format, offering CD-quality digital music in half the size of MP3 files, and transfer its contents simultaneously to the popular line of NOMAD II and NOMAD II MG portable digital audio players with a single touch of a button. This facilitates a seamless end-to-end digital music experience for the users.

``In line with Creative's policy of supporting popular audio and DRM formats, we have delivered our promise of enabling Windows Media support across our digital music entertainment products,'' said George Thorn, Director of Audio Marketing, Creative Labs. ``Our customers can ride on the current digital music movement and gain access to the growing list of commercially available audio and music downloads encoded in Windows Media from major recording labels as well as Creative's own audio content source such as Savantium.'' (Please see accompanying press release ``Creative Introduces Personalized Audio Content Site for NOMAD Users'').

PlayCenter 2 is part of Creative's complete digital music entertainment solutions that include the award-winning Sound Blaster Live!, the NOMAD line of portable digital audio players (including the latest NOMAD JukeBox), BlasterKey MP3, and the LAVA! 3D interactive MusicVideo software. It will be available soon for download free of charge through the popular Live!Ware upgrade program for Sound Blaster Live! customers and CreativeWare program for NOMAD II and NOMAD II MG users. Details of the availability will be made respectively at www.soundblaster.com and www.NOMADworld.com.

Key Features & Functionality of Creative PlayCenter 2:

Complete Digital Music Entertainment Solution: Creative PlayCenter 2 (ver 2.1) allows playback in various formats such as Audio CD, WAV, MP3, Windows Media Format (WMA), MIDI, VCD. It allows users to rip and organize their entire music CD collection into either MP3 or WMA format, and supports MP3 or WMA transfer into Creative's highly-acclaimed NOMAD II, NOMAD II MG and NOMAD Jukebox. Creative PlayCenter 2 also comes with an eye-catching set of changeable skins, and for owners of Sound Blaster Live!, integrated EAX(TM) audio technology support which greatly enhances their digital music experience.

About Live!Ware

The Live!Ware upgrade program is designed to offer new features, enhancements and software to existing Sound Blaster Live! owners. This is possible because of the re-programmable nature of the powerful EMU10K1 audio processing chip used in the Sound Blaster Live! family of cards. The Live!Ware program protects the consumer's investment in Sound Blaster Live! cards by offering new features and applications that introduce the latest technology while extending the life of the card.

About CreativeWare

Following the success of the Live!Ware upgrade program for Sound Blaster Live! owners, Creative extends this popular upgrade program to NOMAD owners via CreativeWare. CreativeWare is a continuous upgrade program that brings new features, enhancements and functionality to Creative products.

About Creative

Creative is the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for the personal computer and the Internet. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound card and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed NOMAD Jukebox. The company's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment -- anytime, anywhere.

This announcement relates to products launched in the United States of America. The product names, content, prices and availability are subject to change and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements.

NOTE: The Creative logo, Sound Blaster and Blaster are registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the U.S. and other countries. NOMAD is a registered trademark of Aonix and is used by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or it affiliates under license. All other brand names and products mentioned herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized as such.

SOURCE: Creative Technology Ltd.