The triad behind the Cell processor has released a software developer kit for the chip to help foster its popularity.
The kit, which contains more than 1,000 pages of documentation, includes extensions for optimizing the chip for Linux applications and other features.
Jointly developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, the Cell processor is designed to handle complex, graphics-intensive applications better than standard processors. The chip is built around a PowerPC core, but contains eight helper processors that can handle audio, video and other tasks.
Sony will insert the chip into the PlayStation 3, while Toshiba will put it into televisions.
Over time, the companies hope to get derivatives of the chip into everything from cell phones to supercomputers. Earlier this year, the first company outside the IBM-Sony-Toshiba group, Mercury Computer Systems, agreed to put the chip inside its workstations.
Still, despite some of the touted advantages of Cell, the triad will likely have to perform quite a bit of grunt work, including putting out things like the developer kit, to push the chip toward market acceptance. Skeptics note that cell phone makers and others can already chose from a wide variety of high-performance microprocessors that are far more familiar than Cell.
I'm sorry, but processors used in cell phones are orders of magnitude less powerful than 'Cell'. Most of them are ARM-based with clocks around 200Mhz. Not even is the PDA a market for 'Cell', today with StrongARM up to 800Mhz. This 'Cell' processor is designed for calculation-intensive products or high-end PC's. It is a revolution, and it may bring a big advantage to Linux. It may even be the key to Linux adoption on the desktop through gaming.
I'm sorry but 1,000 pages of text without an actual dev kit? Maybe it includes how to make an IDE for Cell or something, but that seems a little exsessive, doesn't it? To anyone?
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
Whether Apple will release a new iPad next month doesn't seem to be the question as much as what day it will happen. A new rumor has it down to the day.
Tommy Jordan, the man who shot his daughter's laptop for YouTube, gets a visit from police and child protection services. Oh, and Good Morning America.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
As UC Berkeley students, the co-founders of "Back to the Roots" discovered they could grow mushrooms using recycled coffee grounds. Now their mushroom kit sells at grocery stores across the country.
magnitude less powerful than 'Cell'. Most of them are
ARM-based with clocks around 200Mhz. Not even is the PDA
a market for 'Cell', today with StrongARM up to 800Mhz. This
'Cell' processor is designed for calculation-intensive products
or high-end PC's. It is a revolution, and it may bring a big
advantage to Linux. It may even be the key to Linux adoption
on the desktop through gaming.
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/topics/cell" target="_newWindow">http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/topics/cell</a>
Enjoy! Things are about to get very interesting!
- Adrien Lamothe