IBM cancels PS3 Cell Processor development

[SPH73]

IBM cancells Cell Processor development

It has been confirmed that IBM will be pulling out of Cell development, with their current PowerXCell 8i to be the company's last entrance in the technology.

The Cell Processor was originally the brain child of "The Father of PlayStation" Ken Kutaragi. It was later co-developed by Sony, IBM and Toshiba, an alliance known as "STI." The architectural design and first implementation were carried out at the STI Design Center in Austin, Texas over a four-year period beginning March 2001 on a budget reported by Sony as approaching US$400 million.

IBM's most recent development in the Cell Processor's design is the PoweXCell 8i, which is featured in the second most powerful supercomputer in the world: Roadrunner.

The IBM's Vice President of Deep Computing David Turek, told German website Heise Online that the planned 32 SPE Cell processor will not be made.

However, Turek did explain that features of the Cell would continue to be moulded into other processor designs. With the future looking like it's taking a GPU route, a hybrid technology is the direction IBM will developing.

IBM CANCELLS PS3 CELL PROCESSOR DEVELOPMENT


Next gen consoles in 3, 2,.....

 

[prowler]

i don't get it.. How will there be next gen consoles

 

[feds4u]

Just when you thought it was safe to buy a video game console.

First Nintendo, now Sony. It all makes sense.

Xbox Natal is the name of the next Xbox and not just the name of a camera add on.

 

[Cermage]

this means nothing to the gaming world really. ps3 cell is still being manufactured.

 

[feds4u]

this means nothing to the gaming world really. ps3 cell is still being manufactured.

It means everything. It means BC is pretty much out for the PS4.

It also means Sony has already chosen a new direction for their next console.

They made a huge investment in the Cell and they just bailed on it. It was suppossed to be the processor of the future.

 

[Cermage]

this means nothing to the gaming world really. ps3 cell is still being manufactured.

It means everything. It means BC is pretty much out for the PS4.

It also means Sony has already chosen a new direction for their next console.

They made a huge investment in the Cell and they just bailed on it. It was suppossed to be the processor of the future.

it just means IBM has pulled out of the development for the cell. BC is still very plausible (sticking a cell in the next-gen anyone?). just because IBM has pulled out doesnt mean sony isn't going to use a cell in their next-gen console. IBM don't own "cell", its owned by Sony and toshiba as well.

 

[SPH73]

this means nothing to the gaming world really. ps3 cell is still being manufactured.

It means everything. It means BC is pretty much out for the PS4.

It also means Sony has already chosen a new direction for their next console.

They made a huge investment in the Cell and they just bailed on it. It was suppossed to be the processor of the future.

Backwards compatibility doesn't matter any more.

 

[Canonbeat234]

this means nothing to the gaming world really. ps3 cell is still being manufactured.

It means everything. It means BC is pretty much out for the PS4.

It also means Sony has already chosen a new direction for their next console.

They made a huge investment in the Cell and they just bailed on it. It was suppossed to be the processor of the future.

Backwards compatibility doesn't matter any more.

Well in this case you're right, for the PS3 to be uber expensive that only the early launches had backwards compatibility. Now for the PS3 being at 299 is still a ripe off IMO.

 

[GeekyGuy]

this means nothing to the gaming world really. ps3 cell is still being manufactured.

It means everything. It means BC is pretty much out for the PS4.

It also means Sony has already chosen a new direction for their next console.

They made a huge investment in the Cell and they just bailed on it. It was suppossed to be the processor of the future.

Yeah, I'm not sure most folks will grasp the implications here. Putting this chip into the PS3 wasn't so much for the sake of offering PS3 owners a "better" system as much as it was for Sony to push a new architecture into the world of computing. It was hard enough to get publishers to fund development for PS3 to begin with; if there's no future for the hardware, there's no reason to train people on how to exploit it. This goes way beyond gaming.

Well, it's not the first time Sony got left holding the bag. Nintendo did it to them with the N64, but Sony ended up making lemonade out of lemons, and the rest is history. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out now.

 

[shakirmoledina]

i think its not necessary for them to stress on a newer console esp since the PS3 is far from dying
even the PS2 is still running strong... it mostly seems like they have to add better interactive controls rather than worry about speed and graphics cuz thts pretty top notch on the latest gens