Sony's new CEO Howard Stringer said that Sony will cut back on some of its research and development programs in an effort to put more focus on products that the company believes will allow it dominate once again. Stringer emphasized two items that will be key to Sony's business for many years to come: the Cell processor, will be used to power the PlayStation 3 and many Sony's electronics, -- Cell delivers improved, real-time response for entertainment and rich media applications, in many cases 10 times the performance of the latest PC processors. It is expected the Cell microprocessor will become the broadband processor used for industrial applications to the new digital home.

Cell also supports multiple operating systems, such as conventional operating systems (including Linux), real-time operating systems for computer entertainment and consumer electronics applications as well as guest operating systems for specific applications, simultaneously. -- and the Blu-ray disc, hi-def standard format for the PS3. (Sony hopes this will eventually replaces DVD in the marketplace)

"PlayStation is the largest chip eater. Leveraging game applications, we've got the most advanced [Cell] technology, which will give us high competitiveness. The next step is determining what applications we can develop on the Cell processor, for which we are launching a project," said Sony president Ryoji Chubachi