It looks like Pepperpad have been listening and watching the UMPC market very closely. The Pepperpad Plus has been spotted and its more than just a software update on the original Pepperpad.
Patron emailed me with a link to the forums over at Mobiletechreview where Lisa G, the editor, has posted information.
The most significant thing about the Pepperpad plus is that it uses an AMD processor. Its the AMD Geode LX800 processor – a 500Mhz 3.9W TDP device presumably developed from the National Semiconductor Geode range that AMD took over. We’ll take a good look at this processor now and report back in another post.
The Plus is smaller than the original Pepperpad, with a 7″ screen. It has a new keyboard (no more rubber keys), new Wifi hardware, BT hardware, camera, updated Linux kernel and well, pretty much everything that it needed to bring it right into the middle of UMPC territory. In fact, if the mention of $500 retail price is correct, this makes it a very attractive Ultra-mobile PC. Launch is expected in the Summer.
If Nokia release a new tablet device as they’ve been saying, its going to go head-to-head with this device. Nokia had a clear territory in the $400-$600 range but the first challenger is already on the field.
We’ve added the “plus” to the product portal here so take a look at the specs and watch the RSS feed for new info links that we’ll add as we see them.
This matches the Carrypad concept specification almost perfectly and becuase of that, we obviously think its going to hit the sweet spot nicely. I wonder if we can re-badge them and sell them as Carrypads. I’ll have a word with Pepperpad!
Regards
Steve / Chippy
May 21st, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Sign me up for 1. Or 2 if I let my wife use it even once.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Glad you liked the link, Chippy. I wanted to add that one downside of the pepper pad (original) is a distinct lack of software. Over at http://www.pepper.com/forums they are thinking about putting up a software repository but have not yet done so.
There really isn’t any office-type software and you can’t view PDF files. I heard from one forum user that he is trying to see whether he or the pepper folks will port a PDF viewer first.
If something like Qt/Qtopia were ported to the Pepper+, you would be able to port most zaurus software. That’s just one example of how to get software fast. They have a Java VM, but for some reason, not a whole lot of software known to run. Right now, they’re not plugged into the handheld software community and, therefore, have a distinct lack of resources and people. But with the specs the new machine has and a little publicity, it may finally be what I hoped the zaurus would be.
Forgetting the hardware specs and looking entirely at the aesthetic layout, I would say the Clio NXT is a better machine than the Pepper+. However, the NXT has been *very* slow coming out and will cost twice as much for a machine which is ultimately slower. Also, the Clio NXT runs mobile windows (i.e. more $$$ for useful software). I also have serious doubts about the NXT’s sales lifetime, so, I discount their impact on mobile computing for the average user.
So if you have software porting/developing friends, get them to take a look at the Pepper+ when it actually makes it to mortal hands.
-JN
May 21st, 2006 at 10:16 pm
Hi ‘JN’ (replies to your email address bounced btw.)
Yes, the software issue is an important one. One major advantage though is that the ‘plus’ looks like its got an x86 processor architecture rather than the Xscale arch. That makes things a million times easier. Aesthetically, the NXT looks better, yes. If they could make the keyboard ‘wings’ flip out it would be a lot more pleasing to the eye. A cool suite of colours could help to puch it into the consumer sector.
Tech specs, are , for me, perfect. I really like where Pepperpad seems to be going.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:05 pm
I just want the hardware, I’ll happily nuke their stuff and build my own linux distro for it. I just want them to document the hardware and make drivers available.