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Peek cuts Peek Classic, Peek Pronto prices to $19.95 and $59.95
Peek's already offered lifetime subscriptions and all sorts of other incentives in the hope of wooing folks away from more expensive smartphones, and it looks like the company's now giving good old fashioned price cuts a(nother) try. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the basic Peek Classic has been slashed to just $19.95, down from the original $99.95 (or $49.95 more recently), while the Peek Pronto, which adds push email and Exchange support (among other features), will now run you $59.95 instead of the $79.95 it demanded when it launched just back in March. Service, however, remains at the same $20 per month as before.
Mobile Gmail goes 2.0 for J2ME and BlackBerry phones
Right about this time last year, Google updated its mobile Gmail client to be leaner, meaner and altogether more awesome. Now, we're looking at version 2.0 of the app for use with J2ME-supported and BlackBerry phones. The team behind it rethought how mobile users interacted with Gmail, and they attempted to provide solutions for each instance in which your connection may be spotty. Furthermore, the entire client was made to operate faster and be more reliable than ever, and there's even support for keypad shortcuts, multiple drafts, undo, 35 languages and background mail sending. Hop on past the break for a demo vid, or better yet, just point your handset to m.google.com/mail and have a look for yourself.
Verizon gets Motorola VU30 next month, Nokia 7205 not until December?
So we don't think Verizon really intended to leak any handset release dates via a slide about Mobile Email launches on various devices -- but alas, they did. At present, the Moto VU30 is scheduled for a September 9 date with destiny, and it seems that its name has changed from "Utopia" to "Rapture" somewhere along the way. Further out, the LG VX8360 (which we're guessing will be an update for the forgettable VX8350) gets real in October -- and unfortunately, that shiny, hot mess of CDMA technology from Nokia, the 7205, appears to be shelved all the way back to December. There's also a u440 "Cleo" from Samsung in there somewhere, too, though no launch window is listed. Anyway, sorry for the interruption, Verizon; please, continue fascinating us with your stories about mobile email.
NTP shows fall 2007 lawsuit fashions, sues AT&T, Sprint, Verizon
Remember those crazy sons of guns at patent holding firm NTP that ended up working RIM for a shade over $612 million? They're back at it, throwing lawsuits at AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon -- that's three of the States' four national carriers, in case you're keeping count -- for alleged infringements of eight patents involving mobile email. The firm seems to be something of a one-trick pony seeing how mobile email was the issue at hand with RIM and later with Palm; for a company that does nothing but sue other companies, two-thirds of a billion dollars seems like a plenty healthy bank account, but heck, what do we know? At this point, we're assuming that once they're done suing every company that's ever offered, used, or mentioned "mobile" and "email" in the same sentence, we'll finally be able to put this issue to rest -- but until that day comes, watch your back, folks, because NTP's back on the prowl.Update: Silly us for thinking NTP wouldn't just go ahead and make it a nice, round four! T-Mobile's been caught up in the suit, too, with its Sidekick services specifically called out (among others) for infringement of NTP's email patents.[Via Phone Scoop]
KDDI to roll out Gmail-based mobile email
We're not sure why people wouldn't just... you know, use Gmail, but Japan's KDDI is working with Google to roll out a customized version of the ubiquitous email service for subscribers of its au brand. Called "au one mail," a prototype getting passed around last week showed a mobile interface virtually indistinguishable from its Gmail doppelganger -- except, of course, for the KDDI au branding. Like Gmail, au one mail will be accessible from both phones and desktops; we reckon that's a good thing, though we're still not really understanding the value proposition. At any rate, look for it to launch at no charge to subscribers some time next month.[via mocoNews.net]
iLane, the email reader for your car
It's probably not the safest practice to to single-handedly control your vehicle while single-handedly checking your email, but until now there really wasn't an everything-free way to check your inbox while cruising. The iLane, a small device that interfaces with your Bluetooth-enabled handheld, acts as your own personal narrator by notifying the driver of incoming mail, reading your messages in a "natural sounding voice" -- which we'll believe when we hear it -- and replying to your commands. Reportedly, you can even forward, reply, or compose a message via the device, but we're unsure how chaotic your driving environment may end up whilst dealing with the presumably poor voice-recognition assistant. One much appreciated feature is the ability to prioritize messages so those disjointed "male performance supplement" advertisements in your spam folder aren't read before the manager's memo. Although the iLane currently lacks a price and release date, the handsfree approach to email while road-tripping should eliminate a few hazards along the way. [Via Mobilemag]
