Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Toshiba Corp. and two other firms said Monday that they will establish a joint venture on Friday to offer Internet-access services for next-generation, Net-capable home appliances.
The new firm, Home Intergate Inc., will be set up in Tokyo with startup capital of 290 million yen shouldered 51 percent by Matsushita, 29 percent by Toshiba, and 10 percent each by ep Corp. and Internet Research Institute Inc.
Home Intergate will improve Internet access among digital TVs and other Net-capable appliances expected to become popular in Japanese households in the near future, Matsushita said.
"Net-capable appliances will be used by people of various generations, so it is important to offer them an easier and safer Net access service than that for personal computer users," the four firms said in a release.
Toshiba and Matsushita are major consumer electronics makers, while Internet Research Institute is a research and development firm for Internet technologies.
Ep specializes in a new type of communications platform called "ep" that combines digital broadcasting, hard disks and the Internet.