In 2003 the electronic industry's chattering classes began buzzing about a forthcoming superchip, one so powerful that video games using it would have near-cinematic clarity and run far faster than any other piece of silicon made by Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, or anyone else. Its backers raved about what they termed a "supercomputer on a chip."rnThe rumors were true. Unveiled in 2005, the Cell processor-a joint project of Sony, Toshiba, and IBM begun in 2000-held undisputed claim to the silicon equivalent of the land speed record for a few years. Nevertheless, neither the chip nor the PlayStation 3 video-game system for which it was designed has lived up to expectations.
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