Released by Sony:

New rechargeable line-up introduced by Sony

Sony have launched a new range of chargers and high capacity batteries to satisfy the growing market for high-drain portable hardware

29 September 2003 – Sony Europe announced their intention to become a major player in the rechargeable battery market today, with the introduction of a new range of compact chargers and high capacity 2100 mAh batteries.

As the market for digital cameras, PDA’s and high-drain personal audio products continues to grow at a staggering rate, a new breed of consumer is emerging that require longer lasting batteries. Sony’s latest rechargeable batteries last up to 5 times longer than standard Alkaline technology, and can be recharged more than 500 times.

On top of which, Sony’s have launched 3 compact, high performance chargers:
- The Pocket Charger, one of the smallest and lightest chargers available.
- The Super Quick Charger, which provides high speed charging (2 hours for 2 NiMh 2100 mAh AA batteries) and industry leading safety features (including a safety timer, voltage regulator, temperature monitoring function and automatic shutdown should non-compatible batteries be loaded).
- The Super Quick Refresher Charger, which offers a unique function that will maintain the maximum capacity of rechargeable batteries throughout their lifetime (without this function, battery capacity will decline over time as a result of the ‘memory effect’).

In accordance with Sony’s traditional brand strengths, Sony are also appealing to style conscious consumers with hardware that looks as good as it performs, and won’t look out of place next to the Digital Cameras and Walkman’s they will be powering.

The Pocket Charger, the Super Quick Charger and the Super Quick Charger with Refresh function will be available throughout Europe from August 2003.

The capacities mentioned in this document depend on usage conditions for the different chargers

About Sony:
Sony manufactures audio, video, communications and information technology products for the global consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, game and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to become a leading personal broadband entertainment company in the 21st century. In Europe, Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of EUR 13.88 billion (yen 1,666 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, based on an average market exchange rate for the same period of yen 120 to the EUR. Sony Europe, headquartered at the Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, is responsible for the company's European electronics business and registered consolidated sales of EUR 8.62 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003.

For more information on Sony Europe, please visit www.sony-europe.com