Sun Microsystems has started parading a series of customers and partners in a bid to promote its newly unveiled retail grid. 

The grid was launched on Wednesday for users in the US, and a UK version is expected within the next six months.

The service offers access to computer power at a rate of $1 per CPU hour. Units can be purchased through a verified PayPal account.

As the term suggests, a CPU hour represents one processor running for one hour at full speed.

However, as processors become more powerful, customers will effectively receive more computing power for their money, according to Aisling MacRunnels, senior director of utility computing at Sun.

As part of the official launch, Sun is highlighting several applications for which partners are currently using the grid.

A service using text to speech recognition, for instance, will allow consumers to turn their daily newspaper into a podcast that they can listen to during their morning commute.

Sun suggested that the grid offering could allow start-up companies to quickly ramp up production without having to worry about building a data centre first.

The server maker also promoted an endorsement from long-time partner Oracle. The vendors promised to build in support for the services into Oracle's On Demand products for hosted applications.