According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sony, Matsushita, Sharp, Toshiba, and Hitachi have set up a joint venture named TV Portal Service in July to develop a common standard for Internet TVs. Sony and Matsushita both have a 35% share in the company, while the remaining three take up 10% each. TVs adopting the new standard will be based on a Linux operating system, and users of these TVs will be able to access the Internet with a remote control without needing to go through a PC.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun also reported that a common standard for Internet TVs is expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2007 at the earliest, and that the companies involved also plan to start selling full-featured Internet TVs in fiscal 2007. The companies reportedly expect to sell 10 to 20 million units in Japan by 2011, when the country will completely switch to terrestrial digital broadcasting.