Sony comfirms faster PSP CPU speed in firmware 3.50

Posted by multippt

A Sony Computer Entertainment representative has comfirmed that developers of games can take full advantage of the PSP’s CPU, following the release of firmware 3.50.

Originally, the PSP’s CPU speed was capped at a lower speed (266MHz), and usually homebrew was used (way before the firmware 3.50) to make the PSP run at full CPU speed (333MHz). Faster CPU speed meant that games will run and load much more faster (but at the expense of shorter battery life).

The increase in CPU speed affects newer games designed to make use of this “feature” in firmware 3.50. Older games still continue to run at the lower CPU speed they are originally programmed to run at.

*The change in CPU speed was first reported by Quick Journal members.

Look what IBM’s doing with the PS3’s processor

Posted by signup

The Cell Broadband Engine, better known as the ‘heart’ of the Playstation 3, is finding new uses for gaming other than powering MotorStorm or Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

IBM, in a joint venture with with Hoplon Infotainment, will soon be integrating the PS3’s Cell Broadband Engine into its one-of-a-kind mainframe to aid in the handling of next-gen “virtual world” applications and Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs).

As virtual world gaming and collaboration becomes more popular on gaming consoles, the need for a network that can handle asymmetrical bandwidth while maintaining its CPU power is quickly rising.

IBM found the Cell Broadband Engine to be the most suitable for the task of creating a system that can seamlessly handle ultra-fast communications between many online users simultaneously sharing a single gaming world.

Within the new system, the Cell will handle virtual reality, wireless downloads, real-time video chat, interactive TV shows, and complex physics simulations such as gravity; while the mainframe will run admin tasks for software and user connectivity through gaming consoles, cell phones, and PCs.

“As online environments increasingly incorporate aspects of virtual reality - including 3D graphics and lifelike, real-time interaction among many simultaneous users - companies of all types will need a computing platform that can handle a broad spectrum of demanding performance and security requirements,” said Jim Stallings, general manager, IBM System z. “To serve this market, the Cell/B.E. processor is the perfect complement to the mainframe, the only server designed to handle millions of simultaneous users.”

The hybrid mainframe will be extremely fast and powerful, and will capitalize on the IBM mainframe’s specialized ability to handle such ’specialty processors’ as the Cell Broadband Engine.