Sony's 'Cell'-based TV Ready By 2006

News for nerds writes "Sony Corp plans to offer a broadband television by 2006 that would incorporate the powerful new 'Cell' processor it is developing with IBM Corp. and Toshiba Corp. The Cell processor is expected to power the upcoming PS3 console, a workstation, server, and other home appliances to form Cell-based P2P network. The sample production of the processor has already started. In PlayStation 3, TV props you!"

Comments

I mock the Cell Processor

[tjstork]

The western world shudders every time Sony rumbles with the threat of another microprocessor. The Sony Processor is some magical beast that will topple Intel. Vague references to Detroit in 1974 abound, or, the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, for the more obtuse.

But yet I wonder if Intel will really be toppled? Will there be a magic Sony box to shake Wintel's growing foothold into Sony's traditional spaces? I don't think so.

Re:I mock the Cell Processor

[Trejkaz]

Who cares what processor they use... the problem with Sony is that they then go and write an API which is impossible to use. A good API on a crap processor would still be acceptable, but knowing Sony...

Re:I mock the Cell Processor

[NanoGator]

"That's why there are no games for the 75 million PS2s out there..."

That had more to do with Sony's previous success than the friendliness of the API. Don't believe me? Then how come most of the 1st and 2nd generation games looked so horrid?

Re:I mock the Cell Processor

[dasmegabyte]

Ah, Slashdot. Where simplifying a post so as not to confuse John Q. Playstation owner is like drafting a Requesting for Insults. Yes, yes, AC Troll, I do know the goddamn difference between a tool and an API. This was the POINT too what I was saying. I have worked as a software engineer for six years. Perhaps this is why I can afford the luxury of a free slashdot account, and you cannot.

See, when an API gives you trouble, a good IDE will help you use it more efficiently. The more esoteric the API, the more help a good IDE can provide, by offering a visual reference, or by automating repetetive tasks, or by completely abstracting the API with a framework. Some APIs are nothing but a list of several hundred poorly named commands, and even a simple browser tool can help organize, describe, and group together calls. I used such a tool to build a bridge to various Windows API calls at my last job...it allowed my coworkers to do things in WSH, Visual Basic and ASP that otherwise would have either taken thousands of lines of bug ridden code or that would have eaten the processor.

Don't mock people for semantics, man. It's a ridiculously antisocial practice.

Re:Sony rant

[Synesthesiatic]

Sony could be a dominant technology and media company. They own record labels, movie studios, and make what could otherwise be decent computers and electronics equipment. They could tie all this stuff together in an incredibly elegant package. I'm thinking something along the lines of Apple times 10. But, they insist on using proprietary hardware and software.

Not sure if you've seen this before, but check out The Civil War Inside Sony. It's a fascinating look at how the interests of Sony the electronics company are in conflict with those of Sony the media giant.

In essence, the electronics division knows they're losing ground because of their emphasis on DRM and proprietary solutions, but their hands are tied.

Re:Sony rant

[Tezkah]

They could be Apple x 10, if they didn't use proprietary hardware?

I'm thinking something along the lines of Apple times 10. But, they insist on using proprietary hardware and software.

=]

Also, most Sony CD players support MP3 as well as Atrac3. Minidiscs dont, however.

Not really adding anything, just pointing out a few things, I agree with you, honest!