LisaG
Head Honcho
Reged: 07/11/02
Posts: 6664
Loc: Texas
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At the Connections show in Santa Clara, CA we met with Pepper today, makers of the Pepper Pad Internet Tablet which we reviewed here. As many of you know, Pepper has been working on a new version of the Pepper Pad, called the Pepper Pad Plus when announced at CES in Jan. 2006. They're finally ready to share specs and show prototypes of the new Pepper, which will be out this summer.
It's noticably smaller than the original Pepper, with a 7" color display which is still very readable and supports the same 800 x 480 pixel resolution.
Above: the new Pepper Pad on the left and the original on the right.
A lot has changed inside. Gone is the Intel XScale processor: an AMD LX800 running at 533MHz (supposedly outperforming the 624MHz XScale in real world tests) replaces it. The unit will have 256 megs of DDR RAM and a 20 or 30 gig internal hard drive (1.8").
The SD slot will go away and two USB 2.0 ports replace the single USB 1.1 port on the original pad. One of the USB ports is a mini USB port supporting USB OTG.
The Pepper will run version 2.6 of the Linux Kernel with the Insyde BIOS (no more MontaVista embedded).
The Pepper will have WiFi 802.11b/g and the web browser was noticeably faster on the new model! In addition, Bluetooth is upgraded to 2.0 EDR, making the Pad a good companion for a 3G Bluetooth enabled mobile phone.
The keypads have changed- no more rubbery keys but instead metal keys with good tactile feedback. As you can see from the photo below, the pad has a mic and a built-in video camera (great for video conferencing, we're told).
While the original Pepper didn't handle high quality videos easily, the new model was playing a DVD quality movie with no problems (even action scenes dropped no frames). It uses software acceleration and supports MPEG4, AVI, WMV and Real format videos along with MP3, AAC and WMA for music.
The new Pepper measures 11.4 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches and weighs 2.2 pounds. The suggested list price will be $500, considerably less than the first generation model. Good stuff!
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Da Editor
http://www.mobiletechreview.com
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Trunkmonkey
junior member
Reged: 05/05/06
Posts: 1
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Ruh-roh. The cat's out of the bag! 
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LisaG
Head Honcho
Reged: 07/11/02
Posts: 6664
Loc: Texas
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And a very nice monkey, it is
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Da Editor
http://www.mobiletechreview.com
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Chippy
junior member
Reged: 05/10/06
Posts: 3
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Fantastic news.
Is the device formally 'announced'?
If so i'll put it in the UMPC product portal over at Carrypad.
I'm excited about this one I have to admit!
Steve
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Carrypad
UMPC product portal and journal.
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LisaG
Head Honcho
Reged: 07/11/02
Posts: 6664
Loc: Texas
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They announced it at CES in January of this year. This is the first time I know of where they were showing prototypes near final design. It's supposed to be out at the end of the summer. Of course, it's not a UMPC but an instant-on Linux device.
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Da Editor
http://www.mobiletechreview.com
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