Sony has announced the release of a series of SD cards, comprising three ranges: Expert, Experience and Essential. The last two both have Class 4 transfer rates of up to 15MB/s, whilst the Expert series has a rate of 22MB/s (Class 10). They are available in capacities from 2GB to 8GB in the Essential range, 2GB to 32GB in the Experience and from 8GB to 32GB in the Expert range. Sony’s File Rescue HD software shipped with the Experience and Expert ranges, can retrieve or repair damaged or deleted AVCHD movies recorded with any brand of camera/camcorder as well as JPEG, MPEG-1 and MP4 files.

Sony expects that the cards will be available January 2011. Prices have not been announced yet.

Sony has expanded its family of premium-quality memory cards to meet the growing needs of today’s digital imaging users.

There’s now a choice of three SDHC card ranges by Sony. The perfect partner for your Cyber-shot™, Handycam®, α NEX or DSLR camera, they’re also a great match for SD/SDHC-compatible cameras, camcorders and devices from all manufacturers. The affordable Essential Series and value-added Experience Series are joined by the flagship Expert Series for photo users who demand class-leading capacity and transfer speeds.

The new family of SD memory cards by Sony reflects ever-increasing resolution and performance of today’s digital cameras and Full HD camcorders. Innovations like high-speed burst shooting, 3D and Sweep Panorama by Sony are all driving demand for higher media capacities and faster transfer rates. Reflecting this trend, Sony now offers a choice of SD cards to suit every need – from casual photography to the most data-intensive imaging applications.

All new SD cards by Sony are attractively presented with environmentally-friendly new eco packaging. There’s also a handy memo space on each card for handwritten titles and other notes.

High performance Expert Series: up to 22MB/s (Class 10) SDHC card, available in 8GB, 16GB & 32GB capacities:

The brand new EXPERT Series of high-speed SD cards is ideal for memory-hungry applications, from Full HD video to continuous burst shooting and 3D imaging. Supporting super-fast data transfer speeds up to 22MB/s, the SF-32NX/16NX/8NX is a no-compromise solution for storing and sharing high-resolution video and still images captured with your DSLR camera, compact system camera or Full HD camcorder.

Value-added Experience Series: up to 15MB/s (Class 4) SDHC card, available in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB & 32GB capacities:

Available in capacities from 2GB up to 32GB, the versatile EXPERIENCE Series of SD cards copes effortlessly with a wide range of imaging applications. Supporting data transfer speeds up to 15MB/s, it’s a perfect choice for shooting stills and Full HD video with your DSLR camera or camcorder.

Entry-level Essential Series: (Class 4) SDHC card, available in 2GB, 4GB & 8GB capacities:

Offering excellent value, the general purpose ESSENTIAL Series of SD memory cards is an essential add-on for boosting the storage capacity of your entry-level digital camera or camcorder. It’s also a convenient choice for storing and transferring digital music and gaming data. Reflecting the needs of today’s digital imaging customers, Sony now offers a complete photo solution that teams high-quality storage media with powerful, easy-to-use software and utilities. Offered free to Experience and Expert Series card owners, two valuable applications enhance storage, sharing and enjoyment of your digital images and video clips.

File Rescue HD* software – now with world-first AVCHD video file support:

From accidentally-deleted folders to disconnected transfer cables, camera users everywhere know the frustration of lost, damaged or erased image files. Now help is at hand if you think you’ve said goodbye to precious photos and video clips from your digital camera or camcorder – whether it’s from Sony or another manufacturer. Available as a free download for customers of EXPERT and EXPERIENCE series SD cards, new File Rescue Version HD can recover as many as 90%** of mistakenly deleted image files. In a world first by Sony, this easy-to-use file recovery software can now retrieve AVCHD movies recorded with any brand of camera/camcorder alongside JPEG, MPEG-1 and MP4 files.

x-Pict Story™ software for Memory Card:

Also available as a free software download for Experience and Expert Series card owners, new x-Pict Story™ software by Sony brings your collection of digital images to life. This easy-to-use package combines your favourite photos and music with beautiful visual effects and transitions to create professional-looking presentations, with no special skills needed. Integration with Picture Motion Browser software by Sony makes it quick and easy to upload slideshows to sharing sites like YouTube™ or Facebook™ with a few clicks. In addition to the current Experience Series, the new range of Expert and Experience Series SDHC removable memory cards by Sony are available from January 2011.

**source: Sony EMCS customer support report of current version