Press Releases

New Pepper Pad™ Software Gives Consumers Photo, EBook and TV Watching Tools While Improving Performance

Pad users gain Flickr photo-sharing, Mobipocket eBook reader and TitanTV program guide

LEXINGTON, MA, January 3, 2006 – Pepper Computer, Inc., today announced a new version of software for its Pepper Pad handheld media computer that brings users major new capabilities, such as integration with Yahoo!’s industry-leading Flickr photo-sharing community, while giving the Pad quicker performance. Version 2.1 will be delivered on Pads shipping later this month and will be available to existing Pad owners through Pepper’s software update button for free. Both the Mobipocket eBook and Flickr photo-sharing applications can also be accessed using the Pepper Desktop software for PCs.

The Pepper Pad is the handheld media computer that enables consumers to hold in their own two hands the world of digital media and broadband services. At just 2.3 lbs., less than one inch thick, rugged and splash resistant, the Pepper Pad is perfect for the family room, the kitchen counter, the bedside table, the coffee shop or just about anywhere. U.S. customers can buy the Pepper Pad through Amazon.com, BestBuy.com and eCost.com at $849.99 (MSRP); European and Canadian customers can order Pepper Pads at Pepper.com. Pepper is offering a $50 rebate by mail for Pads purchased by January 31, 2006.

“We live in a time of extraordinary innovation in digital media and Web services. Flickr, Mobipocket and TitanTV are the three latest examples of how the Pepper Pad can make it extremely convenient and fun to use connected digital media applications right from your family room couch or just about anywhere,” said Len Kawell, CEO of Pepper.
Flickr is the leading photo sharing community on the Web and allows Pad users to store, search, sort and share their photos online. Once the photos are in the Flickr system, customers can put them to a variety of uses, such as making them into online albums for others to see, or posting them to blogs, all through the Pepper Pad’s Mozilla Firefox browser.

The eBook reader from Mobipocket, an Amazon.com company, enables users to browse and download books, magazines or newspapers and read them on the Pad’s 8.4-inch SVGA TFT screen. Publications can be easily organized and stored for future reading on the portable Pad.

Decisionmark’s TitanTV offers the only real-time household-level online programming guide available to consumers. It provides household-specific program listings of all sources of programming, whether off-air, cable, or satellite, with high-definition programs highlighted. TitanTV allows viewers to sort, filter, customize and search listings with unmatched ease. On the Pepper Pad, the listings information is available through the Pad’s built-in Wi-Fi. With TitanTV’s Watch Now feature, consumers can simply select the program they want to watch and via IR the Pepper Pad will select the proper channel.

“The Flickr service is all about simplicity, convenience and fun, which makes the Pepper Pad a natural platform for using it,” said Kakul Srivastava, Senior Product Manager of Yahoo! “The Pad Photo Library application lets Flickr users not only store, search, sort their photos but also easily upload them to Flickr where they can share their photos with anyone.”

“We are excited to provide the Mobipocket reader to Pepper Pad users, increasing the number of devices available to our mobile customers, along with a wireless access of our entire catalog of 25,000 eBook titles” said Thierry Brethes, CEO & Founder of Mobipocket.com, an Amazon.com company. “This gives them a great reading experience thanks to the large and bright Pepper Pad screen.”

“The Pepper Pad's remote-control capabilities match up perfectly with TitanTV's program listings,” said Jack Perry, president and CEO of Decisionmark. “The combination provides consumers with complete control over their home electronics experience in one simple device and furthers our goal of extending TitanTV beyond the desktop PC to wireless devices--resulting in the ultimate entertainment experience for consumers.”

The Pepper Pad is a lightweight, Wi-Fi-enabled device, with a large, high-resolution screen, 20-gigabyte hard disk, built-in speakers and a thumb keypad, providing a powerful, versatile platform for a much wider range of online and off-line activities than any other portable device. Its 8.4-inch display is ideal for viewing full‑width Web pages and watching full-screen videos. The Pepper Pad can store hours of music and videos, plus thousands of photos. And, with three forms of wireless communication – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and infrared (IR) – the Pad can access and control a wide range of devices around the home, from Wi-Fi access points, to TVs, set-top boxes, music systems, home theaters and media servers. It’s an ideal way for consumers to have Internet and media access plus wireless remote control in every room of their home.

The Pepper Pad can be used anywhere, with or without Wi-Fi. Consumers can take advantage of home networks and public wireless hotspots for access to online services, or offline, they can play digital media they’ve saved on the Pad’s built-in hard disk. The Pepper Pad is fully functional and ready to use right out of the box. It offers a far richer viewing experience than small-screen PDAs or mobile phones. The Pad is water-resistant and comes with a rechargeable lithium polymer battery with advanced power management.

The Pepper Pad has an SVGA TFT LCD screen with an 800 X 600 resolution and resistive touch screen. The system is based on a 624-MHz Intel PXA270 application processor, Intel 2700G media processor and 256 MB of SDRAM. The Wi-Fi is complemented by Bluetooth, IR, SD/MMC card slot and a USB port. It also features built-in stereo speakers and microphone, jacks for headphones, external microphone and external video display, plus a direction-pad and scroll wheel for navigation. It has two options for easy and reliable text entry: a built-in lighted thumb-style QWERTY keypad or a separate (optional) keyboard connected wirelessly by Bluetooth or wired via USB.

Developers who want to write C, C++, Macromedia Flash or HTML/XML/XSL-based applications for the Pepper Pad can register at www.pepper.com/linux to access Pepper’s supporting utilities and developer forum.

About Pepper Computer

Pepper Computer, Inc. (www.pepper.com) is a digital home software and technology company that creates and markets a handheld media computer platform that includes software, hardware designs and services, which together deliver a total user experience combining the power of the Internet and the media capabilities of a PC into an easy to use handheld device. Founded in January 2002, the company's mission is to make consumer technology enjoyable to use and a pleasure to own. The company is privately held and headquartered in Lexington, MA.

For additional Pepper press information contact:

Mark Metzger
Metzger Communications
781-648-2564
mmetzger@metzgerco.com

Pepper and Pepper Pad are trademarks of Pepper Computer, Inc. Other brand names or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.