Sony in talks for commercial use of PS3

Sony is currently in talks with a number of companies on the commercial use of the PlayStation 3.

Following the launch of the Folding@home initiative, where latent PS3 power is used to help calculate research for Stanford University, commercial businesses could soon make use of similar scheme, reports the Financial Times.

"We are discussing various options with companies and exploring commercial applications," said Sony's chief technology officer, Masa Chatani.

Idle PlayStation 3 units are able to connect remotely via the internet and run complex calculations. So far, over 82,000 PlayStation 3 users have signed up for the Folding@home initiative.

A network of 10,000 PS3's is capable of reproducing the power of 200,000 PCs, states the report.

"A start-up or a pharmaceutical company that lacks a super-computer could utilise this kind of infrastructure," detailed Chatani.

While the Folding@home service is for research purposes, any commercial possibilities would need to offer a reward or incentive for PS3 users to take part. The report suggests free products could be a possibility.