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Cell down to 45nm, PS3 production costs to slim too
IBM's Cell processor continues to shed those nanometers, soon down to a bony 45nm, reports Ars Technica. Of course, the smaller you become, the less energy you consume, and after trimming off 34% of its die area, the new Cell is practically starving itself. Can you believe this thing lives off a mere 80 watts? And to think, some of us have PS3s bulging with 90nm chips that scarf up 200 watts!Not only are we talking less power consumption, the 45nm chip will be cheaper to produce than the current 65nm version, and when coupled with the incredible shrinking Blu-ray laser, Sony is poised to make PlayStation 3 manufacturing actually profitable – imagine that! Question is: when do all these savings get passed on to the consumer?
IBM has 45nm Cell in its sights, Sony's PS3 gets first dibs
IBM might be lagging slightly behind the likes of Intel and Microsoft in the 45nm department, but rest assured that a 45nm version of Cell is in the works and most certainly headed for the PS3. Microsoft told us that 45nm for Xbox was in the works last year, and Intel is obviously churning out Penryn chips as we speak, but IBM has finally solidified its own 45nm plans for Cell, and will change over production "soon." The chip will use about 40 percent less power and will be 34 percent smaller than the 65nm version. That means less heat and more reliability, which of course means cost savings for Sony which will (theoretically) be passed on to consumers before too terribly long.
New 45nm Cell processor boasts greater efficiency
What's all this talk about a 65nm Cell processor? That's so 2007! At the ISSCC -- that's the International Solid State Circuits Conference -- Sony is going to unveil its newest creation, the 45nm Cell chip (not pictured above ... it's practically invisible). This form of the processor will consume 40% less energy than the 65nm chip. Sony is working on getting the chip out there, but we've no idea if there are plans to incorporate it into the next wave of PS3 machines. Still, it's very cool to see a chip so very, very small able to do so many, many things.[via SimplyGaming]
Toshiba, further curious about the Cell, puts it in a laptop
The Cell processor, a key component in the PS3, has been making headlines all over the place this week. This latest bit of news for your mastication and consumption comes from Toshiba again. Remember how they put the Cell in an HDTV just for kicks? Now they've slapped the sexy processor in a laptop. It makes up the backbone of their new Spurs Engine -- a laptop that has motion-sensing, video-indexing, face-morphing, upscaling madness.Imagine footage from a mobile phone or camera getting processed heavily from their crappy resolution into 1080p -- this laptop can do it and from the demonstrations, it doesn't look that bad at all. It's not going to look like it's 1080p, but it won't be blocky and horrid to look at. YouTube lowered our standards, after all. We'd talk more about it, but there's a video of the demonstration available -- check it out and get ready to wish for another electronic device to utilize the Cell Processor.
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.
Hands flailing wildly with Toshiba's SpursEngine laptop
Toshiba's Cell processor-based SpursEngine B.E. was on full display at CES, with a variety of tech demos to show off its power. From HD video transcoding, facial recognition, or the always popular gesture-control Toshiba's baby went through a series of workouts, trying to be the third teammate, with your CPU & GPU, to speed heavy-duty processing. Featuring only four cores -- half the number found in the PS3 -- it handled all tasks thrown its way, check out the gallery to find out how the power of the Cell could help your PC in the future.%Gallery-13422%
Cell chip helps cure cancer (again)
Sony really hates cancer. So should you.PS3's Cell chip is being used to monitor a tumor's growth through CT (computed tomography) scans. According to Popular Mechanics, the Cell chip may be able to speed up CT scan results tenfold. That would offer earlier opportunities for diagnosis, treatment and preventative measures. Due to the mass scale production of the Cell chip for PS3s, researchers are hoping this will provide an affordable way of offering medical facilities the powerful computing necessary for advanced CT scans.This isn't the only time the PS3 has been used in the scientific community. PS3 Fanboy readers are familiar with Folding@home, which is used to analyze the way proteins fold. Looks like the Cell chip inside the PS3 really is quite incredible.[Via NeoGAF]
Toshiba's next generation featuring Cell & WirelessHD
Toshiba's presence at CES isn't limited to just LCDs due in the first half of the year, we've also got a look at a few products with no definite release date. First up are Cell B.E.-equipped Qosmio (Cell-less current model pictured) and standalone HDTV prototypes designed for video upconversion, with the usual gamut of realtime video transcoding demonstrations. Also on tap is the next generation of Regza Link based on WirelessHD and a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell for mobiles.
Cell phones take a cue from Wii, use nunchuk controller
We'll be damned if we'll ever play a game on our cell phone (actually, that's a lie: we played Snake once). Our gigantic, meaty paws aren't designed to play on such a small device. Besides, we already have a portable device for games. It's called a DS.But, the market is booming enough to demand peripherals be manufactured. The latest of which takes a cue from the Wii in the pictured nunchuk controller. Brought to you by manufacturer Zeetoo, the device is bluetooth-enabled and dubbed the Zeemote. The underside of the controller even has analog stick and buttons. And, they're even working on a motion-sensitive version, as we speak.
Stringer sees PS3's momentum gain similar to the PS2
Coupled with a cheaper model and an extensive marketing push, the PS3 is positioned to have a very successful holiday season. And despite the PS3's bumpy start, which we recently chronicled, Sony's CEO Sir Howard Stringer believes the PlayStation 3 will be every bit as successful as the PS2 for the rest of the year and onward. "The momentum shift and the energy behind PS3 in time for Christmas is extremely fortuitous," he said. "It was planned by the PlayStation group, but I think this momentum now -- particularly the number of games coming out, including our own as well as third-party -- is the same as it was with PlayStation 2."However, Stringer admits it's taken awhile for developers to gain the full understanding of PlayStation 3 development, but it was no different than when the PS2 was still in its infancy. "It takes time to build a new format [and the PS3 is] not behind the curve compared to PlayStation 2 in terms of momentum," he added. "The amount of bandwidth and the processing power of Cell give game manufacturers a lot more work to do to use this system to its full benefit -- and it's taken awhile to do it. The same was true of PlayStation 2." With PS3 titles increasingly pushing the graphical and gameplay boundaries once thought impossible, we absolutely believe him.
40GB PS3s have 65nm Cell chips, 90nm GPUs
After conflicting reports regarding the chipset being used for the new 40GB PlayStation 3 model, Sony's Kaz Hirai has explained to Japanese publication Impress that the new model will indeed use 65nm Cell processor chips, which will greatly reduce the power consumption of the console, while currently sticking with the 90nm RSX graphics chip.Sony had denied initial reports of 65nm chips being used in 40GB version. Also mentioned in the interview is an indication that Sony is open, per se, to the possibility of bringing back the 20GB or 60GB models. "Depending on how the market reacts, it's possible for Sony to produce them again," he said. That would probably take people with pitchforks storming the Sony Castle demanding Metal Gear Solid 3 be fully compatible; we don't see it happening.[Via Engadget]
Sony continues to shed chip responsibilities
Although they inked a 5-year deal back in January 2006, Sony is bailing on at least part of its commitment to the development of chips with 32-nanometer (or less) circuitry. The research required to developed the manufacturing technology now rests squarely on the shoulders of Toshiba and IBM. A move which certainly makes sense now that Tosh has manufacturing responsibility for Sony's Cell processor. Sony will continue to assist with "the design work" and making post-lunch runs to Starbucks.
Sony says the 40GB PS3 is still using 90nm chips
We'd been hearing that Sony's new 40GB PS3 featured a revised design with a 65nm Cell processor and improved cooling, but sadly it looks like those reports were in error -- a Sony spokesperson has told Heise Online that the 40GB model continues to use 90mn processors, but does feature an updated design with a lower power consumption of just 120 to 140 watts, compared to 180 to 200 watts for the older models. Sony says its still planning on moving to 65nm processors in the near future, but for now, it looks like the PS3 is 90nm across the board.[Thanks, Khattab]
Folding@home and PS3 reach Guinness Records
Folding@home continues to get the attention of the mainstream media. PS3's large network of Cell-enabled PS3 systems has significantly boosted the abilities of Stanford University's research program. So much so, in fact, that the program recently was recognized by the Guinness Records. Over 670,000 unique PS3 users have registered to the Folding@home network, and combined they have achieved the petaflop mark on September 23, 2007. This has placed the program as the most powerful distributed computing network ever. "To have Folding@home recognized by Guinness World Records as the most powerful distributed computing network ever is a reflection of the extraordinary worldwide participation by gamers and consumers around the world and for that we are very grateful," said Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@home project lead. "Without them we would not be able to make the advancements we have made in our studies of several different diseases. But it is clear that none of this would be even remotely possible without the power of PS3, it has increased our research capabilities by leaps and bounds." "To have PS3 play such a large role in allowing Folding@home to be honored by Guinness World Records is truly incredible," said Masayuki Chatani, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Technology Platform, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "This record is clear evidence of the power of PS3 and the contributions that it is making to the Folding@home network, and more importantly, scientific research."
Sony sells PlayStation 3's Cell to Toshiba
As expected, Sony has sold off their Cell chip operations to Toshiba for an estimated ¥100 billion ($858 million), giving the one-time partner in the Cell project manufacturing responsibility for the PlayStation 3's much lauded brain.So, Sony's ailing electronics division gets a much needed cash infusion and Toshiba presumably gets back to work on that first non-PS3 Cell device and that's it? Nope. Sony, and their PlayStation video game unit will continue to invest in the Cell chip (you didn't think they were just going to drop it off at Uncle Toshiba's house and leave, did you?). Of course, we've been told deals like these take a little time; expect this one to be completed by March. [Via Engadget]Read – Sony to Sell Chip Operations to Toshiba [AP]Read – Toshiba press release
Sony agrees to sell PS3 chip lines to Toshiba
Sony has officially announced a deal where they will sell Cell production facilities to Toshiba. The Cell chip, which was developed in part by IBM and Toshiba, is regarded as the main reason why PS3 is so powerful. Production facilities for the chip will be sold to Toshiba in a deal that's worth an estimated 130 billion yen ($1.1 billion US).Due to the sluggish sales of the console, Sony will need to reduce losses from the games division to something more acceptable. Osamu Hirose, analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, notes that this is a good step in the right direction for the beleaguered electronics company. "In this context, the spin-off of the chip business, which requires continued and heavy investment, is positive for Sony," he said.Sony will also sell RSX (the graphics chip of the PS3) manufacture to Toshiba. Sony stock rose 0.6 percent after the announcement.
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]
Supercomputer systems replaced by PS3
Cell's immense power is largely undisputed by the scientific community. Folding@Home is just one example of how Cell and the PS3 can compute massive amounts of data for the sake of scientific research. An astrophysicist recently linked eight PS3 systems together and was able to compute the same amount of data as 200 supercomputers. After Gaurav Khanna created code optimized for the PS3, Sony took attention and donated a few systems to his research."Basically, it's almost like a replacement," he told Wired. "I don't have to use that supercomputer anymore, which is a good thing." While one PS3 costs $500, a single supercomputer can cost $5000. The cost of eight PS3s is incredibly negligible compared to the massive cost of traditional supercomputers.With his PS3s at hand, Khanna will be researching gravitational waves.[Via Digg]
"Artificial life" created as scientist makes synthetic chromosome
Craig Venter, a DNA researcher that had a part in deciphering the human genome, has stuck together 580,000 base pairs of genetic code to create an entirely new and alien chromosome. Based around the Mycoplasma genitalium bacterium (pictured in all its primordial glory), the new chromosome is then implanted into a living cell and renamed as Mycoplasma laboratorium -- don't you just love science jokes? The new "life form" is reliant on the host cell for replication and metabolism so it's not exactly entirely synthetic, but as the DNA is different, it is effectively an artificial form of life. Sounds like the human race's really doomed now: ultimately, all we're doing is setting the robots up with a tag team.
Sony considers selling manufacturing facilities to Toshiba
The second time in less than a month, Sony is supposedly considering selling its chip manufacturing plants to rival electronics company Toshiba. According to a report by Reuters, "Sony was in negotiations with Toshiba to sell its manufacturing facilities in Nagasaki, also in western Japan, for advanced microchips including the Cell microprocessor." The Cell processor is a vital part of the PS3 architecture and is one of the costliest and most powerful aspects of the system.Although both companies have declined to comment, the Business Daily Nikkei has estimated the sale value of the production facilities at 100 billion yen ($856 million).[Via Next Generation]
