Samssng has announced the launch of its latest high-speed SD High Capacity (SDHC) memory cards, which have data transfer rates of up to 80MB per second. Samsung's Pro Series cards are designed for devices that record high-definition video or feature a high-resolution still image burst mode - both features that require a high-performance memory card in order to keep up with the flood of data. Accordingly, the full-size Pro Series SDHC cards can handle 40MB/s write speeds and read data back at up to 80MB/s/. Compared to the company's standard SD card range, it's a significant performance boost over their 24MB/s read and write capabilities. The Pro Series shines in comparison although fails to reach the heady heights of the company's Extreme Speed series which have 48MB/s read and write performance - lower than the Pro series on the former, but significantly faster on the latter. As well as the high-speed full-size SD cards, Samsung has confirmed that it will be launching micro-SD versions designed for smartphones and tablets. Featuring the same technology, the lower size means that performance is sacrificed: the micro-SD versions manage just 20MB/s write but an impressive 70MB/s read - a feature that could boost their popularity among Android users who install large apps to the SD card to save on internal storage space. Samsung's Pro Series SDHC cards are to be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, with the micro-SD version also available in a smaller 8GB model. Full UK pricing for the parts has yet to be confirmed, with US recommended retail pricing ranging from $40 to $240 (around £25 to £149 excluding taxes.)