Peek: the handheld that does e-mail, and only e-mail

Ready for some excitement in the form of watching a startup squirm as it waits for its product to gain traction? Take a glance at Peek, which is churning out a dedicated handheld that handles e-mail, a few chain forwards, and more e-mails when you're done with that. At first glance, one may consider such a one-trick-pony quite ridiculous, but it's hard to say what will end up catching on these days. The biggest problem facing Peek is the pricing: it'll be $99.95 up front when it lands in Target next month, plus $19.95 per month to send unlimited e-mails over T-Mobile's network. Of course, if anyone figures out how to load Opera Mini up here, the Bulls-eye Shop won't be able to keep the shelves stocked.

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2008 5:55PM]

Reminds me of the time 2-way pagers came out.
Problem was cell phones could already text.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2008 5:57PM]

sounds kinda stupid to me

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2008 6:17PM]

That pricing is pretty ridiculous considering any current T-Mobile customer can get a full data plan, with hotspots included, for an extra $19.99/month. And 3g soon, too. I'd be surprised if this off-brand thing even has edge, but then again, I guess it doesn't matter that much if all you can do is send emails.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2008 7:10PM]

price should cheaper...not quite sure why any one would want this....

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2008 9:08PM]

Sounds like they couldn't get the price down, at $49, these things would be selling like crazy, at $99, it's gonna sit on the shelves

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2008 10:04PM]

I was thinking $25 for the device and $5.00 monthly (or free co-marketed with a broadband provider).

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2008 10:11PM]

Honestly, I think if marketed correctly, It could be a hot seller. Think of it as a less cool blackberry with no contract.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 21st 2008 12:05AM]

Didnt AT&T try this already years ago with Ogo, if my memory serves correctly, the rate plan for that was some where around 12 bucks or something to that effect. I think it has a small chance of succeeding depending on the user. If it can at least surf the mobile web and include major instant messaging clients at a price of 19.95 a month, and maybe a little video and audio playback, i would definitely bite. Only device that comes to mind right now is that Nokia N810 or that thing by Sony, but they are just WiFi only i believe

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 22nd 2008 4:39PM]

Word. Then use Skype for calls. Airtime is overrated anyway.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 21st 2008 2:07AM]

way way too much money. make this thing affordable to kids and let er' rip.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 21st 2008 5:03AM]

Almost an amazing idea. Its Just too limited. However, if this device did 3 things.

IM: push, always on, logs server side.

Email. Imap, exchange, push global or individual inbox and as many send server as you like.

A Super Browsers, not like safari, more like skyfire, almost all the work done server side, tons of compression.

Take everything else out, camera, maps, stocks, weather, dancing...forget the rest of it. Just give it edge, but top end edge, so you are actually getting 384kbps, not 150kbps, and 3 weeks battery life on standby and the guarantee that it "just works." no restarting, or crashing or whatever else. Uptime and no thought.

You can keep all the apps in memory, three dedicated app buttons and a keyboard/touchscreen combo for browsing and editing, nothing else.

I think that is what they were going for and just feel short of the mark.

[PeterJames Posted Aug 22nd 2008 9:47AM]

If it did push Exchange only - it would still be a winner in the corporate world - if only because of the price and simplicity.

[keithwwalker Posted Aug 21st 2008 6:51PM]

I really like that form factor, thats what a Palm Treo should look like, maybe more screen real estate.