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Peek killing off US email and Twitter devices after 'lifelong service'
There's an old saying that eternal love lasts for two years. Apparently, that also applies to Peek's bare bones email and Twitter devices, which launched in 2008 and 2009 respectively. We've received emails from users anxious that their handsets -- all running on T-Mo's network -- stopped working on January 30th, despite them having paid up to $299 for "lifelong service." Although at least some users received emails about this, we've just had confirmation from Peek's CEO, Amol Sarva, that the products really are being abandoned. By way of justification, he told us that they're "seriously old" and have reached their end of life, with only a "handful of users" left in the US. He adds that anyone who bought the $299 one-off bundle still eked out 28 months of service, whereas paying the monthly $19.95 subscription plus extra for the device would have added up to much more. As to why the service is being killed, perhaps we should have taken the hint back in July, because now the company is all about software-only cloud services rather than handsets. Here's some more detail from Sarva himself: "Unfortunately we cannot maintain the network forever for a few users, so that end time has come. The networks are changing standards, protocols etc and the old units are now end of life. We have lots going with rapid adoption of our software by phone brands around the world, so Peek is flat out building for a number of platforms that our OEM customers are deploying like Android and Mediatek. We are not offering a Peek-made device to replace these old ones." [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
How would you change the TwitterPeek?
It's Christmas day, so we're asking you to go a little easy on Peek here, but we've got a sneaking suspicion that our request will be cutely ignored in comments below. This week's episode of How Would You Change features Peek's latest handheld -- you know, the one that only does Twitter. We didn't find the creature too incredibly useful / valuable during our time with it, but that's not to say it couldn't be molded into a pristine object of desire. Speaking of which, how would you go about tweaking or overhauling the TwitterPeek? Make the screen resolution higher? Change the user interface? Add support for apps, email and calling? Make Peek pay you to use it? Sound off below!
TwitterPeek review
Peek is a company with ideas -- but they like to tackle them one at a time. Last year, amid snickering and cries of uselessness from the gadget world, the tiny company launched an email-only handheld that's attempted to bring the idea of email on the go to the smartphone fearing crowd... and we do know at least one avid user. Now the company has turned around and tried it again, this time with a seemingly even less essential device, the TwitterPeek. The TwitterPeek works in conjunction with Twitter, and only with Twitter. It's that simple. There's nothing else to figure out or set up, so presumably, the idea is that the device, like the original Peek, is intended for the dumbphone lover who just can't go without a constant stream of Tweets. So, fair enough -- those of us who are more than a little tech savvy may find reason to smile at this, but supposedly this will be attractive to someone. Right? So how did the TwitterPeek fare when we got our mitts on it? Read on to find out.
Josh reveals TwitterPeek on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Qlorigan** (video)
Only on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon could the TwitterPeek overshadow Verizon's DROID. Fact of the matter is, it's easier to grasp the idea of a dedicated tweeting device than a Verizon phone touting "open development" as one of its main features. TwitterPeek is available now for $200, a price that includes lifetime service, or $100 for a 6 month subscription. Hit the read link below for details or mosey on through to the other side of the break for the Late Night buffoonery. ** Qlorigan is a trademark of Fallon Corp.
The TwitterPeek is... a Peek for Twitter?
Peek's never been one to shy away from the wacky and opportunistic marketing schemes but launching a whole product just for Twitter? That's courage, drive, and possibly a mental health issue. Yet here's the TwitterPeek -- what looks to be the same old Peek you know, love, and probably haven't purchased, stripped of its email and SMS functionality and re-oriented towards telling the entire world too much about your body and what you're doing to it every waking moment of the day. Now, to be fair, we're getting a distinctly strange feeling of phoniness about this whole thing, but there's already an Amazon listing and a picture of the box has already surfaced on -- where else? -- Twitter, so this could really be happening. Just think about that for a second. And then tweet about it, of course. [Via LiveDigitally] Read - Amazon TwitterPeek listing Read - Peter Ha's TwitPic of the box
