Showing that the PS3’s brain is good for something other than games, IBM has signed Mercury Computer Systems to build computers based on the Cell. Mercury Computer Systems traditionally builds systems for image and signal processing applications.

Under the terms of an agreement, Mercury and IBM (nyse: IBM – news – people ) will codevelop products with powerful graphics-processing needs, for which the Cell processor chips were specifically designed. IBM has said it has no plans to sell the chip on the merchant market directly, but instead will custom-design versions of the chip aimed at specific applications. Neither IBM nor Mercury described exactly what they will develop, but they say the chips could be used in computers aimed at several types of customers, including Mercury’s traditional defense and medical-imaging precuts, plus telecommunications and seismic research.

Link: Forbes – IBM Snags New Customer For Cell Chip
Link: iTnews – IBM Cell chip moves beyond gaming