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Product review – Peek mobile email device (part 2)

by Scott Carmichael on Sep 2, 2008

Welcome back to part 2 of my Peek review. A quick reminder; Peek is a pocket email device that will be on shelves at your local Target stores in 2 weeks for $99. Unlimited email service is $19.99 a month.

In this follow-up to my initial “unboxing”, I’ll describe my experience with Peek in real life use over the past couple of days.

Normally, I’ll receive email from all my accounts on one device; my Blackberry. For this test, I actually switched one account to the Peek so I could determine how well it would perform.

The Hardware

As I pointed out in my first look, the hardware impressed me a lot. The device feels great, it looks fantasic and they clearly put a lot of thought into the design. Peek is powered by a 700mAh Lithium-Ion battery pack, which is enough to get it through several days of average use.

It can be charged with the included MicroUSB charger. MicroUSB is becoming quite popular nowadays, and large companies like RIM (Blackberry) and Nokia are including it on their newest devices. Using a spare MicroUSB cable I had lying around, I tried to charge the device on my PC, but couldn’t get past the “unrecognized device detected” message on my desktop.

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The Interface

The same thought that went into the outside, has clearly also been applied to the inside. The interface is clean, bright and easy to navigate. Of course, since the device has just one function, it isn’t hard to find your way around.

Email notifications are provided through a vibrating alert, an audible alert and a blinking blue LED above the screen. The settings menu has options for vibrate, 3 levels of audio and silent.

On the email screen, the device displays 8 emails with the sender, subject and time/date. Above the email list, is a signal indicator, battery indicator and the time/date. Next to those is an activity indicator that starts spinning when an email is being sent or received.

In the main email screen, the menu is activated by pressing the scroll wheel. The options in this menu are:

open email
new email
reply, reply all
save email
mark read/unread
delete email
Sent folder
Drafts folder
Saved folder
Trash folder
Send/receive
Contacts
Peek Manager

The “Peek Manager” screen is where the system settings can be found. Options are present for setting up your email accounts, registering a credit card to pay for the service, sounds/alerts, backlight settings and a choice of 3 different color themes (dusk, tangerine and spring).

Email performance

I did several email tests both sending and receiving emails from the Peek. On average, an email sent to the device arrived in about 5 minutes. Email sent from the device arrived on my desktop anywhere from 30 seconds to 4 minutes later. Since the device won’t be used by the Blackberry crowd where every second counts, I don’t think these times will bother anyone.

Peek for travelers

Peek operates on the T-mobile nationwide network, which covers most of the country. Peek does not allow international roaming with their device, so once you leave the United States, the device will no longer function. Since the device only provides access to email, you also won’t be able to browse flight update information or other online sources of travel news unless it is email based.

The cost

The cost model for getting a Peek is simple; $99 out the door, and $19.95 per month for service. There is no contract and no credit check involved. The device comes with 30 days of service, and to keep that service going, you provide Peek with a credit or debit card. That is all there is to it. No paperwork, no long term commitment and as long as you have a valid credit card, you are good to go.

I’ll admit that my initial reaction was “that is too expensive”. Then I looked into the alternatives. There really aren’t any. It’s not hard to get email on a device, most mobile phones currently have some form of email included, but to get that on a prepaid or commitment free device is much harder.

The only close competitor is the T-mobile Sidekick. This swivel-screen mobile phone has been available on a prepaid plan for several years. The downside to this plan is that you’ll have to pay the full unconnected price to purchase the Sidekick, which is between $299 and $499 depending on the model. The Sidekick prepaid service costs $1 per day, which includes unlimited email and SMS messages. Of course, because this is a regular prepaid phone, you’ll also be able to make phone calls on the device.

Other alternatives involve purchasing a separate smartphone, Blackberry or iPhone. Each of these solutions will usually end up costing more than the Peek. The only solution that costs the same as the Peek service is adding a T-mobile Blackberry to an existing Family Plan ($9.95 for the line, and $9.95 for email-only Blackberry service). Of course, as with all line additions on a mobile carrier, this solution will come with a 2 year contract.

Final thoughts

When you tell a geek about a product like Peek, their natural reaction will be to think it’s a crazy concept. $100 for something that only does email? Preposterous! They’ll show their iPhone and its GPS enabled Wi-Fi surfing superiority. But to be honest, I doubt that really is the target audience for Peek. When I talk to less technology savvy people, their number one complaint is that most products nowadays do too much. Many of them just want something that can make a phone call, or a camera that just makes photos without trying to be too cocky.

I won’t go so far as saying that Peek is designed for the Jitterbug generation, but it really is perfect for anyone who just wants email, and wants to be left alone the rest of the time. I’d have a hard time trying to convince a corporate email user that Peek could replace his Blackberry, and I would probably be killed if I tried to swap someones iPhone for a Peek.

But even as a hardcore geek, I think Peek is cute. It does one thing, and it does it really well, in a well presented manner, without trying to seem too smart. It is the perfect solution if you want to give your kids email access without the risk of costs spiraling out of control.

There is however a downside to being too easy; I can’t help feel that Peek has removed just a little too much. I’ll cut them some slack for not including email filters, or any kind of Exchange server compatibility. But the device does not even offer a password protection feature. When I asked a Peek representative about this, they let me know that they are constantly improving the features on the device, so it is certainly something that might appear in a future update.

Product review – Peek personal email device (Part 1)

by Scott Carmichael on Aug 26, 2008

In this product review (part 1), I’m going to introduce you to Peek. Peek is a handheld email device powered by a nationwide mobile network (T-mobile). For $99.95 you’ll soon be able to pick up a Peek at your local Target store, and setup your own email account without the hassle of a contract or any other paperwork.

When I say Peek can do email, that really is the only thing the device does. For $19.95 a month, you’ll get unlimited access to three different email accounts from most major providers (Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail, AOL and more).

Don’t let the low price fool you; Peek is not a toy, and I found that it felt more like a high-end smartphone or Blackberry.

The device has a 2.5″ QVGA color display, a rubber QWERTY keyboard, a scroll wheel, a back button and a power button. Each aspect of the device actually impressed me. The screen is extremely crisp and in the last hour of sunlight we had this evening, I had no problem reading it outdoors. The keyboard also took me by surprise; despite the rubber keys, I’m actually able to type faster on the Peek than I am on my Blackberry Curve. The keys are well spaced and have a nice tactile feedback (click). The only minor complaint I have about the keyboard, is that the spacebar seems slightly harder to press than any of the other keys. In addition to the QWERTY buttons, the Peek also has a dedicated row of number keys.

As I mentioned earlier; the Peek only does email. When you turn the device on, you are prompted for the credentials of the email account you want to use. In my case, I entered one of my Gmail accounts. The total time for setting up the device was under 4 minutes. As soon as my information was verified, I was able to send and receive email.

Of course, the number one question everyone will have, is whether it really is worth paying $100 for the device, and $20 a month just for email. But I’m really not the right person to ask; I’m already liking Peek a lot, and I’d certainly be willing to pay the price for this kind of convenience, despite already having access to several email devices on the go.

I’ll post a more comprehensive review of Peek in the coming days and put it through a more rigorous test. Before you head out to your local Target store to pick up a Peek, the device won’t be on shelves till September 15th, so that gives me some more time to introduce you to it.

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Turn your Gmail into an online storage drive

by Jeremy Kressmann on Mar 22, 2008

Although I use Gmail primarily to stay in touch while I travel, my account has proved enormously useful for plenty of other reasons. Rather than visiting 3-4 different airline and hotel sites, I collect and “star” all my itinerary info within my Gmail for easy reference. And rather than carrying around all those annoying frequent flier cards, I created a single file in Google Documents that lists my member number for every airline. Not to mention the hundreds of other great ways you can take advantage of Google when you travel.

Now I have another reason to keep coming back to my Gmail – an add-on for Firefox users called Gspace. Gspace turns any Gmail account into 2 gigabytes of free online storage with an easy-to-use interface. Think of it as an easy way to store your photos, videos, favorite music and important travel documents on the road. When you log into Gmail, you’ll see the files you’ve uploaded listed as emails in your account. Head over to the Gspace site, download their Firefox application, and you’re ready to go. You access Gspace from the pull-down “Tools” file menu in your Firefox browser. Check the How It Works page if you’re having any problems.

If you don’t have Firefox, you can download it for free – trust me, it’s better than Internet Explorer. Also, if you’re not already a Gmail user, it’s time to sign up. The best part? You can sign up for unlimited Gmail accounts, so there’s technically no limit to what you can store.

Leave the Cell Phone at Home: How disconnecting on your Vacation is the Right and Healthy Thing to do

by Neil Woodburn on Jun 18, 2007

When I recently traveled to Alaska, I made the mistake of bringing my cell phone with me. And thus, my escape from Los Angeles was routinely interrupted with calls that never let me totally disconnect and fully lose myself in my vacation.

It was the first exotic trip I’ve taken with cell phone in tow, but in the last five years I’ve also failed to sever that connection by visiting Internet bars and checking my email. One trip, in fact, was partially ruined when I found out through email that my company had canceled raises for the year –- not something you want to hear while on an expensive vacation!

Leaving your communication gadgets at home and disconnecting from the stress and worries which led you to vacation in the first place is the theme of a recent article by Susan Brink. Not surprisingly, I found it in the Health section of the LA Times instead of the Travel section.

Brink confirms what I’ve known now for the last five years; staying in constant contact with work and home while at the same time trying to escape from this very thing by going on vacation can undermine the very rest and relaxation which motivated you to go on vacation in the first place. In fact, it might even increase your amount of stress.

Brink sums it up nicely; “a large body of research shows that chronic stress is bad, that multi-tasking on interconnected gizmos can increase stress and that vacations are stress relievers.” She then refers to a study that reveals 39% of people on vacation check their work emails.

If you’re one of these unlucky souls, check out the article and discover the disservice you are doing yourself. If, on the other hand, the thought of being disconnected from work and out of the loop strikes job-security fear in your heart, you just might be screwed either way you slice it.