Mitsubishi to sell Net TVs

Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics is expected to start selling Internet TV sets in the United States by the fall.

The company will offer television sets that incorporate technology that allows users to surf the Internet. It will be the first such product Mitsubishi will introduce in the U.S. market, according to a report in Kyodo News, a Japanese wire service.

Mitsubishi, which is becoming increasingly active in the Internet appliance market, also recently showed a number of network computer devices that can run Java applications. The company demonstrated a mobile NC that weighs under two pounds and can be connected to networks through a wireless LAN, as well as desktop machines.

In addition, the company is developing a low-cost platform for use in information appliances such as Internet phones. Mitsubishi is using a 32-bit microprocessor that includes memory on the same chip, along with operating system software from Diba. No products based on the Mitsubishi-Diba technology have been announced yet.

Other companies that have announced their intentions to ship Internet-television devices include Samsung, Zenith, Sanyo, and Sony, among others.