Mitsubishi has revealed details of its ‘Altair’ Virtual Remote PC (VRPC), which will be debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas in January next year. The terminal features a specially developed, integrated version of Lotus development Corp’s Lotus eSuite – capable of executing Java applets. It is based around Mitsubishi’s 32-bit hybrid RISC/SDRAM 32R/D microprocessor with 8Mb of main memory and 4Mb Flash memory, a PC card slot and 480×320 color liquid crystal display. According to Nikkei Java Review the product will also feature a wireless communications connection (probably an IrDA infrared standard port), with terminal software applets allowing remote access to PC screens. In addition, Mitsubishi intends to incorporate an internet inter-ORB protocol (IIOP) engine and the ability to input data by writing – in English – directly onto a portion of the handheld unit. The exact proportions of the Altair have yet been finalized but it is expected to be roughly the size of 3Com’s PalmPilot, the device weighs about 210 grams. Mitsubishi has released no price details on the terminal yet but hopes to be in general production some time around 1999. The company intends to make the board specs of the Altair public in order to facilitate OEM opportunities.
