Cell processor expands beyond gaming to medical, military apps

by Marc Perton, posted Jun 29th 2005 at 5:30AM

Though IBM isn't feeling any love from longtime — and soon to be ex — customer Apple, the company isn't facing any shortage of buyers for its high-speed Cell processor. Though the initial customers for the Cell are consumer electronics companies — Sony has received the most buzz for plans to use it in the PS3 — the low-power, number-crunching chip is starting to get some attention from companies that need just those features, especially for embedded computing apps. The latest customer is Mercury Computer Systems, which plans to use the Cell in medical and military systems, including MRI scanners and radar and sonar systems. "I think this is just the first of a half-dozen announcements IBM will make over the next year to push Cell into markets like medicine or automotive," one analyst told Reuters.