SAN FRANCISCO -- Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Toshiba Corporation today announced at the JavaOne conference that they have entered into a letter of intent under which the companies propose to work on the joint definition and development of a low-power version of Sun's JavaChip processor that will enable a wide range of exciting new power-sensitive applications.

Under the planned agreement, Sun would be the exclusive merchant supplier of this chip and plans to target the device at low-power applications including advanced hand-held devices, laptops and other mobile applications. Toshiba will provide its expertise and know-how regarding low-power chip design in order to adapt the Java processor technology to portable network computer devices.

"We are especially pleased with this partnership because Toshiba brings world class expertise in the development of low-power technologies," stated Raj Parekh, vice president and general manager of the Volume Products Group at Sun Microelectronics. "We believe that a Java processor, combined with Toshiba's contribution, will achieve a new level of performance, cost and power consumption for a vast array of mobile applications. " Mr. Parekh expects the first devices using the low-power Sun Java processor technology to be available in the first half of 1998.

"Sun's Java processor technology has a clear fit with the requirements for next generation mobile Java devices," stated Kazuyuki Okuyama, general manager of Toshiba's Network Computing Planning Office. "Sun's Java processor technology is emerging as the preferred choice for the execution of Java applications in a wide variety of network-centric applications. We are very excited about joining them at the forefront of the development of Java processor technology for our market."

Sun JavaChip family consists of the picoJava core and the microJava and ultraJava microprocessor families, currently under development. Unlike traditional CISC and RISC processors which are general purpose in nature, the JavaChip family of processors are optimized to directly execute Java applications at higher performance, lower cost and highest security.

About Toshiba
With over 189,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over $40 billion, Toshiba is an integrated manufacturer of products spanning information and communications systems, information media and consumer products, electronic components, and power systems and industrial equipment.

About Sun
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "Network Is the Computer, " has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ "SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Java, JavaChip, JavaOS, picoJava, microJava and ultraJava are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the United States and other countries.