The Peek Pronto email device tipped last week has been officially launched, offering push email functionality, Microsoft Exchange compatibility and support for up to five email accounts rather than the usual two. The Pronto is priced at $79.95 and requires the same $19.95 monthly service charge as the original Peek messenger.
Video overview after the cut
It looks as though Peek are developing Google Maps functionality, either for the existing Peek email device or for their upcoming Peek Pronto. A SlashGear reader spotted a Peek user browsing Google Maps on the NYC subway, something the current emailer is unable to do.
The Peek tweaks continue, with the latest reported hack being the ability to securely post from the simplistic emailer to a WordPress-based blog. It means that Peek users – who are already able to email and send SMS messages – may soon be able to update their blogs from the handheld, with only one predictable monthly data fee to contend with.
Peek are really pushing their email messenger lately, with seemingly a promotion for just about every main event. Next up in the calendar is Valentine’s Day, and in keeping with the loving spirit there’s a two-for-one deal through Amazon.
If you’ve ever wondered what’s inside the Peek emailer – or why the company picked the buttons, casing and display they did – then you’ll want to see the video after the cut. In it, Peek’s Dan and Gabe explain the development of the emailing handheld. First, though, there’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the Peek’s guts and some prototype hardware.
After the success of their lifetime-service deal on Friday, the Peek team are back with another special offer, this time in honor of Inauguration Day. The Peek Inauguration Day Special sees the emailer offered at a reduced-price of $44.44, with the deal valid only for 44 hours. Even better, if you live at certain addresses in the US, you can get the Peek device free.
Peek are running a one-day special offer, whereby you can pick up their eponymous messaging handset for $299.95 with lifetime service. Normally the Peek – which offers easy access to email and text messaging from a candybar-format device with full QWERTY – costs just $79.95, but requires a $19.95 monthly service charge.
Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm launch was something of a success for the carrier: after all, they managed to sell out of the touchscreen RIM smartphone. One thing I don’t remember seeing in the official coverage, however, was Peek’s tongue-in-cheek demonstration outside one Manhattan Verizon Wireless store: people dressed in prisoners’ uniforms, chained to giant Storms, protesting against two-year contracts.
Video of the Peek protest after the cut
If you have any interest at all in the device known as Peek, then you had better get moving! Apparently, for today only you can get the handheld for just $49.95. That’s a pretty good deal, which is about $30 off of its previous asking price.
I never exactly saw the appeal of this device, especially since its one and only feature is email access. Is it trying to be an old school BlackBerry? I guess no one can really know. But if you need email and you need it now, the Peek might be for you.
The only catch here is that you’ll have to shell out $20 a month for the network access. Other than that, though, this is a pretty good deal. Again, if email is your one and only means of communication.
[via Gadget Review]
The Peek email messenger is either the pinnacle of task-specific devices, or an under-functional waste of pocket space, depending on your stance on convergence. Reviewers seem fairly happy, but one regular critique is the device’s unwavering obsession with email above all other types of messaging. Now Peek have responded by adding SMS compatibility, together with updating the email app to support a broader range of image attachment viewing.
SlashGear Japan
