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By Roger Sperberg, New York Editor for TeleRead

Pepper PadThe PepperPad (at pepper.com) is way bigger and $500 more expensive than my Nokia 770. But Casey Bisson persuaded me that the keyboard and bigger screen are better suited for an in-library device, where its bulk won’t be a barrier either.

The PepperPad is a Linux device and GTK+ based. Screen resolution: 800 x 600. All similar to my 770. And that got me thinking. Would FBReader run on the PepperPad? Or rather: Why wouldn’t it?

In fact, it seems to me that the Linux desktop version of FBReader should run on the PepperPad without any changes necessary. And even if some changes were needed, FBReader is open-source and the Pepper folk could make them. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to have more e-readers on your handheld, and more devices on which any e-reader runs, just as a matter of principle?

Mobipocket Reader is available for the P-pad, and you can convert html or plain text files readily to read in it. But FBReader will read html and text and Palmdoc (aportis doc) and Plucker and FB2 and zTxt (Weasel) and TCR (Psion text) formats directly, no conversion step needed. The two programs aren’t intended for identical uses, because Mobipocket’s native format is proprietary and DRMed, and you can buy commercial titles in that format. No pay books in FBR.

So I think FBReader and the PepperPad are a good fit. Is there someone out there who can tell us if FBReader desktop GTK version runs out of the box on the PepperPad?

On a separate note, FBReader released a new version today with an “of course!” feature — rotation of the text by 90, 180 or 270 degrees. On the Nokia 770, the 180- and 270-degree options make the hardware keys for paging and full-screen zoom accessible to left-handers holding the device in their right hand. (For that matter, the rotation makes it easy to switch the device from left hand to right for reading in bed when even the 770′s six-ounce weight begins to seem heavy.) And of course, the 90- and 270-degree rotations provide for newspaper-column-width portrait reading, and 0- and 180-degree for landscape.

 
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