Sony's 'Micro Cell' to power mobile devices

Ken Kutaragi has outlined Sony's vision for the future of the Cell processor, announcing that a 'Micro Cell' could be used to power mobile devices in the future.

Speaking at the Tokyo International Digital Conference, Kutaragi said that the Cell processor will be reduced in size to lower power consumption and allow for multi-core architectures. Dual Cells and Mini Cells will be developed, and eventually the Micro Cell will be used to power smaller handheld devices.

These will likely include future mobile phones developed by Sony in conjunction with partner Eriksson. The recently released W800i Walkman phone has proved a hit, proving more popular with US consumers than fellow music phones the Motorola E1 ROKR and the Samsung A970 according to a recent survey by Strategy Analytics.

Kutaragi also talked about the PS3's capability to run games at 120 frames per second, saying that the new frame rate will "become the benchmark for the coming generation of digital life."

Sony is developing a number of applications designed to make the most of large scale flatscreen TVs, which are becoming increasingly popular with consumers. According to Kutaragi, the Cell processor will allow users to watch multiple HDTV broadcasts at once, and interact with the images by zooming in and rotating them around.

"At last, a greater interaction with users will be introduced. For example, broadcasting your own video or pictures will become possible and very easy," Kutaragi said.