Quantum Computer Tested

Following up on its earlier claims, the Canadian firm D-Wave announced today that it has successfully demonstrated the world's first commercially available quantum computer. The company used the still unnamed chip to match patterns in a database, proving that the already controversial development was truly functional. The breakthrough was reportedly accomplished by merging the principles of quantum mechanics with a more conventional semiconductor design that jumps the hurdles associated with the exotic approach to physics.

Although revolutionary, the results are grounded in the real world by their usefulness, D-Wave says. Quantum processing as found in the new chipset only truly shows its full power for "NP-complete" problems, according to the company -- those problems where the sheer number of factors would overwhelm binary processors. This turns the quantum design into a companion piece meant to solve very complex equations for geneticists and others for whom a single result could take days or weeks with current technology.

The quantum chipset is "intended as a complement to conventional computers... not as a replacement for them," the company said.

The firm intends to first sell its advancement directly to those businesses and labs it already associates with. Both an exact timetable for a release as well as concrete specifications for the computer are still unknown.

By Electronista Staff