Here\'s an artical streight from the horses mouth (IBM.com) that explains what probably started these rumors in the first place.
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Sony Computer Entertainment, Toshba Corp. and IBM are joining to research and develop an advanced chip architecture for a new wave of devices in the emerging broadband era.
The companies will invest more than $400 million in the next five years to design a "supercomputer-on-a-chip" at a development center within an IBM facility in Austin, Texas.
Code-named "Cell," the new microchips will employ the world\'s most advanced research technologies and chip-making techniques, including copper wires, silicon-on-insulator transistors and low-K dielectric insulation, with features smaller than 0.10 microns -- 1,000 times thinner than a human hair.
The result will be consumer devices that are more powerful than IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer, operate at low power and access the broadband Internet at ultra high speeds. Cell will be designed to deliver "teraflops" of processing power.
Each company will manufacture the product for a variety of consumer applications.
"We\'re defining the next era of computing, providing the technology that will bring computer intelligence and network access to a wide array of consumer electronics," said Dr. John Kelly, senior vice president and group executive for the IBM Technology Group. "As a result, IBM’s advanced chip technologies are in more demand than ever. We expect a considerable portion of our new, state-of-the-art 300 mm wafer manufacturing facility in Fishkill, N.Y. , to be dedicated to this product."
The expansion of ultra high-speed broadband networks, coupled with advancements in semiconductor technology, is making possible a whole new range of products and services that use the Internet as a source of entertainment, information and communication. These new chips from Sony, IBM and Toshiba will enable global communication through the broadband network.
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Then again, let\'s not forget how IBM\'s latest models of PC\'s bear a striking resemblance to the Playstation2. Really, I think some people just read a little too far into what little information was available. Sony designed the PS2 archectechre to last two or three generations of hardware, but maybe there\'s hope for the Playstation 4 or 5?
