just an article i found on msn
Sony is set to update software for its PlayStation 3 video game console to improve downloads from its online network, connect to a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse - and try to find cures for diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cancer.
CBC News
The latest version of the company's system software for the PS3 includes code that enables PS3 owners to let the Folding @ home project at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., use the machine's powerful Cell processor to study how proteins assemble.
The Folding @ home project links computers over the internet with the help of a small program that runs when the system is idle, and uses the networked or distributed processing power to simulate complex problems that would take months or years to work through. Anyone with a recent PC and a broadband internet connection can download the software and participate.
Understanding how proteins assemble or fold, and why they sometimes fold incorrectly, or misfold, could be a key to understanding the origins of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Lou Gehrig's, Parkinson's, mad cow and its human equivalent Creutzfeld-Jakob.
"This upcoming firmware update not only delivers capabilities that gamers are asking for, such as enhanced downloading, it also enables us to tap into the PS3 community for the Folding @ home project, leveraging the power of PS3's technology and the ever-expanding reach of our user base to help researchers find cures for diseases," Peter Dille, senior vice-president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said in a written statement e-mailed to CBC News Online.
Chip more powerful than desktop
The PS3's central processor or brain, the Cell chip co-developed with IBM, is 10 to 50 times more powerful than a standard desktop computer, IBM spokesman Glen Brandow told CBC News Online. The chip is also used in IBM's servers, and in automotive and aerospace design, he said.
According to Sony, the system can conduct simulations for the Folding @ home software about 20 to 30 times faster than the average home computer.
Only PS3s that have an internet connection will be able to link into the Folding @ home system.
The PS3 firmware version 1.60 can be installed starting on Thursday by selecting the system update feature when the console is connected to the internet, downloading it to a computer and transferring it to the console through compatible storage media such as a USB data drive, or installed from a new game disc.
Other system enhancements provided through the firmware include:
- The ability to queue up to six content selections for download from the PlayStation online store.
- The ability to use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse with the PS3 as well as an onscreen digital keyboard.
- The ability to zoom into a web page viewed through the console's browser.
The firmware will also let the 20-gigabyte version of the PS3:
- Use data such as photos, music and videos stored on a PlayStation Portable handheld gaming unit through a Wi-Fi wireless connection.
- Give users the option of automatically starting a disc inserted into the DVD drive.
- Enable the system to play back rewritable Blu-Ray discs (BD-RE).