Now might be a good time to lock in one of these Peek devices if you’ve subscribed to the idea of mobile e-mail and texting without the cost and complexity of an entire smartphone. Today only, Peek is offering $10 monthly service for the lifetime of the device.

That’s unlimited e-mail and texting, plus the cost of the Peek itself — the Pronto runs for $60 while the Classic goes for $20 (compare features here).

Peek [GetPeek.com]

For the rest of us, this thing is pretty rough. I follow 2104 people and so this thing was buzzing and Tweeting all afternoon until I finally turned it off. Weird batches of tweets would come in, all from one person, for example, or weird messages like “Oh Hey, you’re Tweeting so much! We’re going to try to catch up” or something to that effect. It’s also really slow. You have to click twice to read a Tweet – once to bring up the menu and once to read the Tweet – and scrolling is really bad. And it makes a buzzing and a tweeting noise when tweets come in – which is all the time. And it’s $99 with 6 months free or $199 for life. And it only does Twitter. No email. No texting. I’m really selling this thing, aren’t I?


What Peek has done, however, is create one of the first standalone Twitter devices. This is kind of a big deal and I’m going to talk about this more later this week. I suspect the rise of Twitter as a service and as a cultural entity. As I just retweeted, Manischewitz is now on Twitter. Yeah, the guys who make a nice matzo ball soup.

While I’m sure this will be relegated to the dustbin of history, we can say we were alive at a moment when a service gained so much traction that it was made flesh. Interestingly, Peek clearly knows what they’re doing here and they’re small enough to make a few mistakes on the way – again, more on that later – but, and this is momentous as the moon landing, spotting the first Tweek in the wild will mean Twitter is finally mainstream.

So the TwitterPeek gives you an always-connected view of Twitter over a nationwide cellular network. You can tweet and twat all you want. The device runs $99 with 6 months of service or $199 with a lifetime of the device service.

I’m sure the TweeterPeek is a wonderful device, but most feature phones now include a Twitter app. So if you’re really getting into Twitter, first reevaluate your life, and then check out your cell phone provider’s offers to make sure you simply can’t upgrade your phone to get access to Twitter. Or you can just drop $200 on the TweeterPeek and call it good. Your call.

Peek Unveils TwitterPeek – Making It Affordable for Millions More to Twitter on the Go

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Peek, the maker of the award-winning Peek email and texting device, debuts the world’s first Twitter mobile device today exclusively on Amazon.com. TwitterPeek promises to unleash the thrill of Twitter on-the-go by enabling millions to tweet interesting news, stories, and ideas as soon as they happen – in real time – without an expensive smartphone or data plan.

Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon, but – until now – the millions of Twitter users without a smartphone haven’t been able to fully experience the fun of Twitter on-the-go. “TwitterPeek will make it easy and affordable for everyone who doesn’t have a smartphone to really enjoy Twitter on–the-go,” said Peekster-in-Chief Amol Sarva.

TwitterPeek delivers the world of Twitter in a sleek, palm-sized gadget sure to top this year’s holiday gift list. “Twitter die-hards will appreciate its ‘always-on’ instant tweet delivery and newbies will finally ‘get Twitter’ once they have TwitterPeek in hand,” continued Sarva. “Even businesses that Twitter will dig TwitterPeek as a convenient way to stay connected with their customers.”

At $99 including unlimited nationwide service, TwitterPeek offers affordability no smartphone can match and a user experience far superior to SMS text messaging Twitter with a traditional cell phone.

Key features of TwitterPeek are:

Unlimited tweets and direct messages
Always-on instant tweet delivery
Views links (as plain text) and Twitpic images
Nationwide coverage. No wi-fi signal necessary.
Full QWERTY keyboard, color screen, click scroll wheel
30-day money back guarantee
1-year manufacturers warranty
Availability:

TwitterPeek is available exclusively on Amazon.com and TwitterPeek.com from November 3, 2009.
The original Peek Classic and Peek Pronto email and texting mobile devices are available at Amazon.com, GetPeek.com, Costco.com, and select Blockbuster and RadioShack stores.
Cost: TwitterPeek

$99 includes device plus 6 months of unlimited Twitter service ($7.95 per month for service thereafter)
$199 includes unlimited Twitter service for lifetime of device
No contracts

The Pronto costs $59.99 with $14.99/month service. The Classic costs $19.99.

In related news, it seems the company has created a new version of the hardware with dedicated Twitter access. We’ve seen images of the box, above, and we’re asking for more info right now.

[Thanks, Peter ]

The Peek has been around for a year already and surprise, surprise, it’s still around. In fact, you can now snag one without a monthly subscription charge for $299 exclusively from Amazon. Now, I’m not saying you should spend $299 on a device that just does email now that smartphone’s monthly subscription costs are dropping, but someone out there might want a dedicated device for email, Twitter, and Facebook.

The deal has two options: either you can get the Peek Pronto with one year of service for $229 or spend $299 for the handheld with the lifetime service plan. Generally you have to buy the Peek for $60 and then spend another $14.99 a month on the service. So if you’re eying the device, it would only make sense to spend the extra hundred bones and get the lifetime service plan if you plan on keeping it more than a year and a half.

Update: Target has the classic, non-Twitter’n , non-Facebook’n version for only $15 bucks. Just saying.

The Peek is already a solid email device. It’s dead simple and works well, so we’re curious about the long-term goal of loading Linux onto these handhelds. We’ve already heard a rumor that placed Google Maps on the device. Perhaps Peek would offer a model with more data capabilities but that would certainly require a more expensive monthly free. Or maybe the company is looking to add an MS Office-type suite to the Peek.

Hopefully we’ll eventually find out, but that’s only if a developer gets Linux up and running on one first.

Geeky Peek via SlashGear

The Peek, everyone’s favorite tiny email device, now costs $20 for the Aqua edition. Note that the Peek requires a $19.95 a month service plan for unlimited email, but with a price this low you’re almost getting the device for free.

Considering this thing has moved from $80 to $20 in a matter of months I wonder how much longer this great little service will survive. Regardless, it’s a great deal in the short term, especially if you’ve been toying with the idea of getting one.

via Slashgear

I stumbled upon a little surprise during a quick trip to Target last night: Peeks are clearanced out at Target.

I don’t know if all the color options, or stores, are running the same pricing, but at least the red and blue models are $25 at Flint, MI target. The website still lists the email devices at $50, but who knows, maybe it will drop on there shortly. $25 is closer to the price point that the Peek should be sold at considering th $20 monthly service charge that is required.

Peek made a spectacular splash last year winning loads of accolades for doing one simple task – e-mail. Being the technophiles that we are, the entire tech community bitched and moaned about what else the Peek should have in the feature set. Yes, we simply cannot leave things the way they are. So, Peek seems to have heard our whining and it appears a new device or OS upgrade is on the way. It’s unclear whether or not it will be hardware or just software, though.

A Slashgear tipster sent in a shot of Peek device with what appears to be Google Maps. By the looks of the shot they received, it could be anything, like, an image attachment.

BBG was also tipped off with the following info on how Peek plans to undermine RIM with cheaper e-mail access.

It looks like there is a new Peek handheld model coming out. Rumor has it that the new model is going to undercut even the cheapest BlackBerry, and deliver cheap push e-mail. I personally think that tactic works pretty well, with the iPhone eroding into RIM’s high-end and mid-end devices market.

So the other day a new device from Peek called the Pronto was leaked out and Peek wasn’t afraid to disavow any knowledge of it. In fact, they told us what’s been improved on the Pronto!

I don’t have much to say, but I will give a leak away.. it is much, much faster in every way possible. The time to open a menu on 1.08 is .09 seconds. The time to open a menu on Pronto, .04 seconds!!!!

via Geeky Peek

Peek is trying to drum up some small business business (I meant to type “business” twice, ROFL!) with a five pack of its $20-per-month e-mail devices for $150. A single Peek e-mailer now costs just $50 out the door, so the five pack results in $100 worth of savings.

I’m interested to see how this goes – not so much the five pack deal but how businesses take to the Peek. It actually seems like a pretty good idea for companies that want to keep their employees in constant e-mail contact without shelling out big bucks for an actual smartphone.

Peek for business [Peekforbusiness.com]

Amazon has a schmoopie-riffic Valentine’s Day deal for you and your lovie. Keep in constant textual contact with one another with a two-for-one Peek sale. Just add two of the devices to your cart and one of them will be zeroed out, for a grand total of $79.99.

You’ll each have to pay $20 per month for service but there’s not a monthly fee in the world that could keep two star-crossed, nimble-fingered lovers from communicating, right?

Peek Mobile E-mail Device [Amazon.com]

Anyway, it’s a good little device that does its one and only task very well. I’ve never really gotten into these teardown videos, but to each his own. The first video is a look inside the Peek while the second shows the differences between an early prototype and what you can buy today.

via Slashgear

I don’t know about you but when I think of the inauguration of our 44th President, I think about the Peek e-mail device. I can’t shake it! It’s all I can see when I close my eyes!

Peek knows this and is offering the device for $44.44 for the next 44 hours in honor of the 44th President, Barack Obama. Wait! There’s more!

If your address is 1600 something-something anywhere in the country, you can get a free Peek today. Granted, both of these deals require a some-would-say-hefty $19.99 per month service fee, but the device itself normally sells for $80 so if you’ve been planning on getting one anyway, you might as well grab one today.

Peek [GetPeek.com via SlashGear]

Whoa, ho, ho there. Take a look at this. If you’ve been intrigued by the e-mail-made-simple Peek device but thought the $20 per month outlay for service was a bit too steep, you can get the device with unlimited service for $299 today.

We reviewed the Peek a while back and found it easy to use, but wondered if it’d be able to find a home somewhere between regular phones and smart phones. For $299 out the door with nothing more to pay, it should definitely have a better chance. My guess is that this one-day deal is Peek’s way of gauging interest in some sort of unlimited plan. It’ll be interesting to see how many people bite.

Peek E-mail Device [GetPeek.com via Obsessable]

Oh, don’t forget about the $19.99 monthly data charge. That’s not on sale today.

Who knew a simple little gadget like the Peek could garner so many entries? Not me – that’s for sure. It only does e-mail!

Without further ado, the following two individuals have won themselves a Peek e-mail device provided by Target. Don’t forget about our Livescribe smartpen giveaway.

Congrats to SN Hendrix and Richard Goodwin.