Toshiba develops 'SpursEngine' using Cell technology

Just days after rumors that Sony is selling its Cell processor business to Toshiba started to emerge, the Tokyo-based company revealed a new high-end stream chip based on the very technology that powers the PlayStation 3 console. Toshiba’s new chip, dubbed SpursEngine, features processing cores based on the Cell CPU it developed with Sony and IBM and is intended to work alongside a host CPU to provide powerful video processing in future consumer products.

The prototype of SpursEngine operates at a clock frequency of 1.5GHz and consumes power at 10 to 20 watts and it utilizes XDR DRAM memory from Rambus to support high data transfer rates for large volumes of media data.

It is unclear at this time when the Spurs Engine will actually be available. However, SpursEngine will be showcased for the first time at the CEATEC Japan 2007 trade show in October, where Toshiba will demonstrate the chip's capabilities of 3D image processing and manipulation in notebook PCs.