Toshiba Set for PC-TV

How big is PC-TV? Japanese consumer electronics and computer giant Toshiba Corp. figures it is a potential monster and is introducing its own “convergence” system in Japan this month. “Demand for PCs for living rooms is growing fast,” says Atsutoshi Nishida, the company director in charge of its personal computer business.

Toshiba’s new product is the $2,000 “Vision Connect,” a small box that contains most of the innards of a personal computer in about a quarter the space. It sits atop a conventional TV and allows users to use the TV screen to run software, surf the Internet and watch movies on the new digital versatile disk (DVD) format.

Toshiba didn’t say when, but disclosed in a recent Tokyo news conference that it will market Vision Connect worldwide once it establishes the product in Japan. If it hits the U.S., Irvine-based Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. would be the distributor.

John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations and manufacturing for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at [email protected]