cell processor
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The possibilities of a HDTV powered by Cell
What would a TV be like if it used the Cell Processor as the base for its technology? Toshiba asked themselves this question and built a prototype television utilizing the Cell and we have to say -- it's almost sensory overload. First off, real-time upscaling of regular ol' TV to high-definition is done flawlessly. No need to pay a premium for HD channels, we guess. The TV will do you one better -- in addition to upscaling the picture, you can actually zoom in on the picture being shown in real-time and the picture will auto-focus and re-upscale itself. Impressive? You bet. Useful? If you're analyzing a sports game, perhaps.How about this: instead of channel surfing one channel at a time, the Cell allows your television to display multiple channels simultaneously. It's like picture-in-picture, but 48 of them. Or 24, depending how you interpret our math. Clicking on one of these thumbnails brings up the video in the bottom half of the screen while the top half continues to stream the other channels; push whatever the button is again and it moves to full-screen. These small thumbnails are in standard definition -- if they were in HD, the TV would only be able to stream six of them at once. Other features haven't been decided on yet, but with that at the very outset you can bet this will be the ultimate TV set to own in the coming years. Color us impressed.
Sony sells PS3's Cell to Toshiba
So much for their earlier denial, eh? An anonymous Sony official has "confirmed" to Japan's Nikkei that they will sell their advanced computer chip operations to Toshiba in an effort to re-focus on core business. The official announcement is expected later today. The sale gives Toshiba the manufacturing responsibility for the much hyped Cell processor used in Sony's PS3. Sony, of course, will continue to invest in the Cell chip. Nikkei says the deal is worth some ¥100 billion (about $858 million) and should be completed by March.Update: it's official.[Thanks, Alex]
Toshiba to use Cell-based chip in PCs
When Sony, Toshiba and IBM began development on the Cell processor, they had bigger plans for it than just running PS3s, and it looks like Toshiba has been hard at work to put it to more use. Daily Tech reports that Toshiba plans to take the Cell processor out of the PS3 and extend it for use as a graphics chip in its notebook PCs. Toshiba has coined the new technology SpursEngine and should unveil its first laptop using the graphics chip at the CEATEC JAPAN 2007 conference in early October. However, the truly interesting piece is DailyTech's speculation that Toshiba may have even more plans for the SpursEngine beyond just PCs. It could look to eventually implement the technology in other consumer electronics, including its line of HD DVD players. Now how dastardly, would that be?[via FiringSquad]
Sony sued (again) for patent violation, injunction sought on PS3 sales
Oh boy, another patent lawsuit filed in that litigious folly called the Texas court system. This time, the suit pits Parallel Processing Corporation of Newport Beach, California against that legal whipping boy, Sony. PPC alleges that Sony's Cell processor -- the horsepower inside the PS3 -- violates a patent for "synchronized parallel processing with shared memory." Filed on July 26th, the five-page complaint by PPC states that Sony's actions are causing "irreparable harm and monetary damage" to the company and are therefore seeking the usual: compensation for damages (with interest) as well as the impounding and destruction of all Sony products infringing on the patent. Good times. [Via gi]
Researchers working on Cell processor supercomputer
For years, Sony and IBM have talked up the power of the Cell processor that's at the core of of every PS3. Now, some University of Illinois researchers are working on finally unlocking that power for the next generation of highly parallel supercomputers. The Illinois News-Gazette has a report on the efforts of user interface experts Marc Snir, Laxmikant Kale and David Kunzman, who say that a computer with a cluster of Cell chips could offer 50 times the performance of a similar sized PC. Squeezing out that performance is no small task, though -- Kale admits "it's going to be a challenge to program it." Despite the team's inside access to Cell technology and tools, the N-G article ends with a joking complaint that the team members "haven't received a PlayStation 3 yet, either." Hey, if you want one that badly, just go to your local store, guys.
Toshiba plans on beating Sony to the living room with Cell
Where is Sony landing those PS3s? Kitchens? The rivalry between Sony and Toshiba has been quite the visible one of late in the HD movies space, with Sony backing up Blu-ray and Toshiba firmly ensconced behind its HD DVD format, so it's easy to forget that the two companies recently partnered with IBM to build that much-ballyhooed Cell processor which Sony has powering its new PS3. Neither company has specified exact plans for the chip beyond Sony's obvious gaming push, but both are racing to squeeze Cell into home entertainment products, with the first likely to hit in 2008. When asked recently if Toshiba would have Cell-based consumer products to market first, Toshiba digital media CEO, Yoshihide Fujii, responded with an emphatic "yes," apparently forgetting the fact that Sony has been shipping just such a product for about a month now. According to Sony, "The first priority is the PlayStation and nothing beyond that has been decided yet," so it makes sense that Toshiba will get a jump on them in the non-gaming space, but either way we're excited to see what these two Tokyo-based tech giants will have in store for us in 2008 with that ultra-touted power under the hood.
PS3 price cut by 20%, now includes HDMI 1.3
Looks like all the bellyaching over the price of Sony's PlayStation 3 has done some good. Sony exec Ken Kutaragi just sent jaws to the floor over at Tokyo Game Show with an announced price cut of the 20GB PS3 base unit from ¥62,790 to ¥49,980 in Japan. Closer to home, we'd be looking at a move from about $538 to $428 (looking at current exchange rates) representing a drop of some 20% when the PS3 hits later this year, or uh, early next if the cut applies across the board. Not exactly cheap when looking at the Wii or Xbox 360, but that Cell processor, Blu-ray Disc player, and HDMI 1.3 output supporting Deep Color will certainly draw a premium. Yeah, you read that correctly, Ken announced HDMI support too, making the 20GB PS3 one fine Hi-Def movie machine on the cheap. Hoozah! Update: Price reduction confirmed for Japan only. Waiting on rest-of-world price cuts, if any.[Thanks, Kherlen and everyone who sent this in]
IBM building world's fastest supercomputer using Opteron and Cell processors
One reason there's so much fuss (and delay) over the upcoming PlayStation 3 platform is the fact that it sports those new Cell processors jointly developed with Sony and Toshiba. Now those Cell procs are about to find themselves pumping away at the heart of a new $35 million supercomputer for Los Alamos National Laboratory. But this won't be just supercomputer mind you, IBM is hoping to reclaim the title of the world's fastest once completed in 2007. Dubbed Roadrunner, ACME IBM plans to jump from 280-teraflops to a full petaflop performance by combining AMD Opteron blade servers and Cell-based accelerator systems. A performance threshold achieved earlier this year by NEC's MDGrape-3, the supercomputer behind new pharmaceutical drugs and the curious taste and powerful punch of Mad Dog's 20/20 Red Grape Malt beverage. Mmm, grape.
Shipment numbers for PS3 may be cut in half
This relates to an article over at Joystiq about blue laser diodes. While they say Sony was trying to scrape up all the blue laser doodads to hit their 4 million PS3 mark by year end, it's looking very, very grim. In fact, the Taiwanese and Chinese branches of building the PS3 are trying to tell Sony "hey man, we can only get 2 million units by year end... we're running out of these blue laser diodes and cell processors!" Yet Sony, well, Kaz Hirai, still insist they'll hit the 4 million mark. It's a rough world when the volume production is still in the air so close to launch.Will there be shortages? It is looking more likely but it's not such a big deal -- shortages are practically part of the buying experience for a new console. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is. So then, for those of us who preordered a PS3, did you preorder the 20 or 60 gig model? And if there are dangerous shortages, would you consider eBaying your shiny new device to make a small profit and wait a month or two for the second round of consoles? Those first off the line generally have an error or two anyway...
PS3 is weighed and judged by Joystiq
While the original article can be found at the Associated Content site, our pals at Joystiq have summed up the pros and cons of the PS3 in such an easy to peruse way. This list will highlight the most important, albeit opinionated, pros and cons. Feel free to check out the original or Joystiq's for this game of internet telephone.Pros: Backwards compatibility Standard hard-drives Web browsing Cell processor potential Cons (roll your eyes now): Cost No more rumble feature Game prices may be high The other cons seem to be there simply to make the list in comparable length to the pros. System size? Ken Kutaragi? Okay, but they seem fairly... lame. Who cares if a system is larger than a lunchbox (GameCube)? Ken Kutaragi isn't going to be popping out of our PS3's anytime soon, so he shouldn't be mentioned. He may be a concern to developers, but not us. He's a source of humor and silliness. What of Blu-ray? Well, the storage size doesn't quite seem necessary and it's expensive, but judging something before we can actually see results is unfair. So it's been left off of this condensed list. Same with the online service. Since none of us have been able to utilize it, we can't rightfully say anything about it. Make of it what you will.[via Joystiq]
PS3 to make or break Sony forevermore
More recycled analysis brought to you by Bloomberg. A key point to keep in mind: Sony predicts a 5-year recoup for losses due to the PS3's manufacturing costs and price point. That's going to hurt, especially since the average console life is around five years (a few exceptions noted). Masafumi Oshiden, from Merrill-Lynch, said "PlayStation 3 will be a huge money loser in the beginning." Spoken adequately enough. It's true -- we all know it's going to be very hard for Sony. Estimates show that about 200 billion yen was invested into the development of the cell processor alone.Another point to keep in mind is the notion that "Sony's PlayStation 3 introduction in November may be hampered by fewer and less-powerful games because the company hasn't given final technical details of the new console, according to video-game publishers." So, is delivering 10,000 dev kits not going to cut it? Will IBM be able to pull better yields for the cell processor in time for the PS3 launch? If not, Sony won't even have the chance to recoup in five years -- they may pull the plug sooner than that, unless we give them our support.
Sony's Yuhara: more red ahead
Following yesterday's doom and gloom from their Games division, Sony Senior VP Takao Yuhara had more bad news for investors today: the PlayStation maker expects significant losses for Q3. As manufacturing costs for the "too cheap" PS3 continue to put Sony in a financial hole, the electronics leader is becoming even more reliant on consumers' willingness to plunk down $600 for the next gen console. In order to recoup losses within an estimated five year period, the cell processor must also be successfully incorporated into other consumer devices.Yuhara commented, "We might see valuation losses of a size that we cannot laugh away in the quarter." Think this is stopping "Crazy Ken" Kutaragi from laughing?
IBM says Cell processor coming along fine
Remember a while back when we reported that cell processors weren't being produced very satisfactorily? Well, according to an article at the Inquirer, IBM executives are now claiming cell processor yields are on or above their targeted average yield. Good thing, too. No one wants to send their newly bought PS3 back to the manufacturer for repairs or end up with a defective system. Happens to every system (red circle of death (360), disc read error (PS2)) except GameCube, really. Has anyone had trouble with their 'Cube? ...Does anyone have a 'Cube? Why not? It's a great non-online party system. Nothing beats a round of Super Smash Bros. Melee.Getting back on track, IBM released statements that translated somewhere along the line as "yields for a large, complex part like the Cell are expected to be low at the start of production and improve steadily thereafter". So the bad yield rumor reported earlier was indeed true and accurate, but not unexpected by IBM. We may want to try to steer clear from the Asustek manufactured PS3's though, since they have connections with the cell processors with lower yields. Might be difficult, with 4 million units on their way to Sony. Still, Sony has said they only use the highest yield processors created, so perhaps the junky ones are in a landfill, next to the E.T. game for the Atari 2600.
Cell Processor abilities may be luck of the draw
In a recent interview at DailyTech, they sat down with IBM vice president of Semiconductor and Technology Services Tom Reeves. He discussed the abilities of the cell processor and, more importantly, the inability to successfully create many working 8-core units. The cell processor is so complex that "IBM even accepts chips that have only four out of the eight cores working." Egads! Hopefully those aren't going into our PS3's, right? No worries. However...Sony won't allow cell processors with less than seven working cores. But they aren't clear when it comes to using seven or eight. Will it be a throw of the dice when we buy a PS3 as to whether we have a working 8-core processor or one with only 7 working bits? Would making the lower SKU accept the 7-core be any better? If that seventh one shorts out and you had the PS3 with only seven working cores, you have to send it back to Sony or IBM or Toshiba to get it fixed. That's a pain and it depends on your warranty. No matter what, they need to get these things working because November is pretty close.
