Checking your email and browsing the Web may soon be possible from your telephone. A Japanese subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:6752)(NYSE:MC) and Diba, Inc. have created a telephone that doubles as a stand-alone Internet access terminal.

The device, at present a prototype, will get its public debut at the Comdex show in Las Vegas, which begins on November 18. It allows access to electronic mail, for reading and sending, and the text portion of the World Wide Web. It was developed by Kyushu Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd., a company subsidiary in Western Japan, and with US based Diba, Inc.

The telephone can perform basic e-mail functions and Web browsing using the built-in software. Checking, forwarding, deleting and sending e-mail can be accomplished from keys on the front of the telephone which just requires an AC power outlet and telephone line. More complex work can be accomplished via a computer keyboard which can be plugged into the telephone.

A 3-inch by 2-inch LCD display on the front of the telephone, with 320 by 240 pixel resolution on the prototype, takes the place of a numerical conventional display.

Matsushita, better known by its brand name Panasonic, says the device will be perfect for existing Internet users who want to quickly check their e-mail when away from a computer and those that want to begin using e-mail but have no computer.

"This is an easy, inexpensive way for people to take advantage of the Internet without investing in and learning to use a personal computer," says John McNenney, national marketing manager, Panasonic Home Office Electronics Division. "And, it's a handy way to connect to the Internet when you're away from your PC."

Marketing strategies are yet to be decided, however the company told Newsbytes sales of the telephone are expected before the end of 1997. The price is also not decided but it will be "closer to the price of a high-end telephone than a PC," said McNenney.

Diba, Inc., is a Menlo Park, California-based company that is involved in development of information appliances, a new type of consumer device that combines the power of computers with the ease of use, convenience and affordability of traditional consumer electronic appliances.

Diba has created the hardware reference platform and software operating environment, the Diba Application Foundation, which it is licensing to consumer electronic companies and appliance manufacturers.