Apple Computer Inc is seen to have a ready-made low-cost Internet access device in place in the shape of its Pippin stripped-down subset of the full Macintosh and Mac OS – and the company already has three US licensees in place for Pippin, according to chief executive Michael Spindler. Speaking at the Personal Computer Outlook conference in Burlingame, California, he demonstrated Pippin, which uses a television set as the display, but declined to name the licensees, saying that it is up to them to reveal themselves. The only announced licensee is Japanese toymaker Bandai Co Ltd, which will launch Pippin in March in Japan and later in the year in the US. Stephen Franzese, director of business development for Apple’s entertainment and new media division, said the device is expected to sell for about $500. Spindler said licensees will initially sell Pippin under their own logos in the US but that Apple might eventually offer its own version.
