More on the 500Ghz processors

Most improvements in chip speeds over the years have come from shrinking transistor sizes, but IBM's approach is to fine-tune the silicon on the atomic level, meaning that transistors can be designed from the ground up with very specific applications in mind. The advances will show up in real products within a couple years, probably in chips to power super-fast wireless networks capable of transmitting a DVD-quality movie in as little as five seconds.