AST Research Inc. in Irvine, the nation’s...

AST Research Inc. in Irvine, the nation’s largest manufacturer of add-on products for computers, confirmed Monday that--as previously reported--it will acquire Camintonn Corp., a small Santa Ana-based manufacturer of add-on products for use with Digital Equipment Corp. computers. The acquisition, the first in AST’s five-year history, allows the company to expand its product line from add-ons for IBM and Apple personal computers to include DEC’s line of business computers, including the new MicroVAX II. Tom Yuen, AST’s vice president in charge of strategic planning, said the purchase would involve a mix of cash and stock but declined to give specific details of the purchase.