Products: Sony

When the Cell processor turned up in Sony PlayStation 3 in 2006, many questioned the value of the initiative. It's a joint venture with IBM and Toshiba, beyond that gaming application. Who needed another type of media-savvy processor as graphics cards gained in potency? Even Intel got in the pixel-pushing game with its Larrabee initiative.

At SIGGRAPH 2008, Sony finally put its pro cards on the table with the debut of the Zego BCU-100. It's a 1RU device composed of a Cell processor and an RSX Reality Synthesizer GPU, a graphics chip codeveloped by Nvidia and Sony for the PlayStation 3. Expected to ship by the end of the year with a tab less than $10,000, the Zego is coming out of the newly formed Sony B2B of America division.

The unit will offer integrated support to the digital cinema industry, with products besides Zego on tap. This includes Sony CineAlta systems, SRW series tape decks and codecs, and CineAlta 4K SXRD projection systems, according to “Toshi” Ohnisi, senior VP at Sony B2B, who spoke at the press event.

At the demo, a rack of BCU-100s, latched together via Gigabit Ethernet, worked with the first two apps ported to Zego: a rendering program from mental images and an inclusive Side Effects Software Houdini server offering modeling, lighting, advanced physical simulations, particle effects, compositing, and rendering. www.sony.com/zego