Yo, Hands Off My Pepper

Is what you might say if somebody tried to snag your Pepper Wireless Pad (on display here at CES). The unit, from Pepper Computing, won't officially begin shipping until May, but for $899 you can preorder right now.

Roughly one foot wide and weighing in at about 2.3 pounds, the device (below) is geared toward home broadband users, and includes both WiFi and Bluetooth for easy connectivity. It's powered by an Intel XScale processor and includes 256MB of system memory, 16MB of graphics memory, a 20GB hard drive, and a rechargeable battery that runs for about four hours between charges.



Pepper Computing expects people to use the Pad to do just about everything, from surfing the Web and answering email to enjoying music, photos, and videos through its 8.4-inch TFT display and stereo speakers. It runs Linux (MonteVista CEE 3.1), but the unit has its own proprietary interface. Most of the apps are Pepper, too, although the browser is Mozilla based and the instant messenger is from AOL. There's also software for your PC so you can sync the Pepper with its desktop big brother.

Input is unique, too. The device, which you typically hold with both hands, includes a Game D-Pad on the left and a scroll wheel on the right. There's also a stylus for input via the touch-sensitive screen, and a crazy split QUERTY keyboard for typing.

I only had a few minutes with the Pepper, so I'm not sure it's fully cooked. It seems like a clever idea, though, and the company is touting its ease of use, which should appeal to some. However, it's worth noting that at that price you can find a pretty decent notebook these days.