reckons Cell, potent and versatile, can do a lot more than just play games. It sees a role for it in mobile phones, handheld video players, high-definition televisions, car design and more. Scientists at Stanford University are building a Cell-based supercomputer. Toshiba plans to use the superchip in TV sets, which one day could let fans watch a football game from multiple camera angles they control. Raytheon is set to use Cell in missile systems, artillery shells and radar. Other companies envision new high-definition medical imaging. Cell is the next step in the evolution of the microprocessor. Its a peek into the future, says Craig Lund, chief technology officer at Mercury Computer Systems, which makes medical and military systems and is taking orders for Cell servers.
Even the hard-sell salesmen at IBM are quick to say Cell poses no threat to Intel, the worlds leading chipmaker. Intels processors do a great job on the basic business applications for desktops, laptops and servers. In this mature and mundane market Cell, specially geared to spin out intricate images at very high speeds, offers no real advantage. But the Intel architecture, 25 years old and constrained by having to be compatible with predecessor chips, is ill suited to next-gen imaging. Thus the world must move up to Cell, IBM argues. We are going into a new era, Kahle declares. The world is changing.
