Sony Launches Line of Faster Memory Stick Media

Sony Electronics is enhancing its line of Memory Stick media with new versions that enable higher read speeds with more stable and reliable performance. The newest PRO-HG Duo HX series is Sony’s highest-performance memory media, offering data transfer speeds of up to 50 MB/s.

“With their increased processing and response times, this media is the perfect tool for photographers and videographers who can’t afford to miss a single shot,” says Viviano Cantu, director, product marketing, consumer media, at Sony Electronics.  “With its quicker data transfer speeds and greater storage capabilities, users have the freedom to create and capture all their memories faster, easier and at an even lower cost.”

The new Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX features Sony’s new HX Engine controller, an intelligent flash memory controller which maximizes the capability of flash memory and enhances data-transfer efficiency by increasing the internal clock that handles data processing. In addition to the faster data transfer speed, the HX Engine also features an anti-error functionality optimized for Sony hardware features such as high-speed burst shooting or HD movie shooting.

The media also possesses intelligent data control for increased stability when reading and writing data of significant sizes. This is done by balancing the allocation of writing data to the flash memory to avoid writing data to same area repeatedly. This is further enhanced by the use of an Enhanced Error-Correcting Code that detects and corrects errors.

In addition, users will be able to avoid lengthy wait times when transferring content from the card to a computer (approx. 11 min. to transfer 32GB worth of video).

With its improved transfer speed, the Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX is ideal for high resolution action photography in continuous burst shooting modes, with the ability to capture up to 190 shots in a minute (When shooting with an NEX-5in JPEG and Shutter-priority mode). It handles the speed and capacity requirements for Handycam camcorders, as well as the demands of AVCHD video and 3D capture capabilities for Sony’s new Alpha and Cyber-shot models.

The Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX also enables users to rapidly transfer storage-intensive high-resolution photos and videos from the memory card to a computer. At transfer speeds of up to 1.6 times faster than the current models, users can now view freshly taken photos and videos quicker and more efficiently. Additionally, the large storage capability of the Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX makes it ideal for the back-up of data, photos and videos.

Data recovery is also hassle-free as the Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX features the AVCHD Memory Card File Rescue software. Available as a free download, the software enables the retrieval of photos, music and movies that were deleted by mistake.

By downloading the free x-Pict Story software, users can create unique slideshows of their favorite pictures, synced to effects and music, which can then be easily shared.

Featuring storage capacities in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB, the new Memory Stick HX will be available in the U.S. this month.