Sony has announced it is in talks with a number of commercial companies interested in exploiting the power of idle PlayStation 3 units in return for free products for home users.

The scheme would see firms utilise the power of idle PlayStation 3s connected to the Internet. So far, over 82,000 PS3 users have signed up to the Folding@home initiative, which performs protein folding simulations in an effort to better understand conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

A report in the Financial Times claims that an online network of 10,000 PS3s is capable of reproducing the same power of 200,000 PCs.

"We are discussing various options with companies and exploring commercial applications," said Sony's chief technology officer, Masa Chatani. "A start-up or a pharmaceutical company that lacks a super-computer could utilise this kind of infrastructure."