Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. are close to beginning trial production of semiconductor chips using a manufacturing process more advanced than any in commercial use today, they said Thursday.

The technology is capable of making chips with features as small as 65 nanometers and its development is vital for Sony to produce its planned Cell microprocessor. The chip, which it is developing with Toshiba and IBM Corp., is expected to form the heart of its future PlayStation 3 games console and other digital consumer electronics products, but current production technologies are not yet sufficiently advanced to manufacture it in large quantities.

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