Press Release

September 7, 2006

SONY DELIVERS FIFTH GENERATION AIT FORMAT

TORONTO, ONTARIO – Sony of Canada Ltd., Canada's leading supplier of electronic and computer products for consumers and business, today announced it has expanded its Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) format to a fifth generation, doubling the capacity of the previous generation to 400 GB (gigabytes) while delivering backwards compatibility.

Offering a compact 3.5-inch drive form factor and a small 8mm media cassette, AIT-5 is the smallest tape technology to offer massive native capacity of 400 GB and sustained native transfer rate of up to 24 MB/second (megabytes per second). With 2.6:1 data compression, the AIT-5 format will also enable stored capacity of up to 1.04 TB (terabytes) per cartridge and 225GB/hr (gigabytes per hour) performance.

The new format is backward read/write compatible with AIT-3, AIT-3Ex and AIT-4 media protecting businesses which have invested in these previous generations. AIT-5 also features ultra-low power, Magnetic Resistive Head, Dynamic Tracking, and WORM recording capabilities.
"AIT-5 demonstrates our commitment to an aggressive product roadmap to double storage capacity from one AIT generation to the next," said Tim Algate, Product Manager, Storage Solutions, Business & Institutional Division, Broadcast Communication Solutions Group, Sony of Canada Ltd. "Our goal is to provide an extensive range of AIT products that are scalable through multiple generations and interface options, providing maximum choice and flexibility."

The AIT-5 format will be implemented as internal and external Sony-branded storage solutions including drives, autoloaders and libraries. Drive models include the AITi1040/S (SCSI, internal) and AITe1040/S (SCSI, external). AIT-5 autoloaders include the popular desktop autoloader configuration (model LIB-D81/A5) and the 19" 1U rack-mountable version (model LIB-81/A5). The 2U library includes LIB-162/A5.
Volume shipments of all Sony-branded AIT-5 products in Canada are scheduled for October 1, 2006.

About The Broadcast Communication Solutions Group
 
The Broadcast Communication Solutions (BCS) Group is a division of Sony of Canada Ltd., headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. BCS Group markets and supports Sony's full range of broadcast, professional video and audio equipment, including high definition video, interactive and security applications for the broadcast, production, business, industry, government, medical and education sectors through a network of authorized systems integrators.

About Sony of Canada Ltd.

Established in 1955, Sony of Canada Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, a world leader in the manufacture and marketing of electronic and computer products for consumer, business, electronics publishing and multimedia applications on a global scale. With headquarters in Toronto, sales offices in Vancouver and Montreal and distribution centres in Coquitlam, British Columbia, and Whitby, Ontario, approximately 1,000 employees support about 78 Sony stores and a network of more than 500 authorized dealers across Canada.

For further information, please visit us at www.sony.ca, www.thesonystore.ca, www.sonybiz.ca or www.sonystyle.ca, Sony's product information and e-commerce Web site, or contact:

John B. Challinor II   APR   
General Manager, Advertising  
& Corporate Communications   
Sony of Canada Ltd.    
(416) 495-3740    
john_challinor@sony.ca   

Michelle Cowan Lefler
Account Executive,
Technology Practice
Silverhammer Public Relations
(416) 324-2024
michelle_cowan_lefler@ca.cohnwolfe.com

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