Peek, the thin email-only handset with a full keyboard, is Wired’s gadget of 2008. From Peek’s Amol Sarva:
Wired Magazine has had a huge impact on me over the years; I remember the first issue I ever saw. I remember dreaming of doing something that might merit them writing about it.
So we were honored when Wired’s editors selected Peek for their holiday wish list, and chose us to be featured in their tightly-curated Wired Store in New York this year.
But….when we got December’s issue, it floored us. Peek is Wired’s #1 Gadget of 2008.
I liked it a lot, too: see us buff it good. Real good. If you don’t have a BlackBerry, or otherwise don’t want a smartphone with an expensive contract, its super. There are just two serious issues: (1) deleting email is slow, making busy or spam-infested account management a pain, and (2) it does not have IMAP. But it does have instant messaging, thanks to a recent firmware upgrade.
The story isn’t up yet at wired.com, it seems: you’ll have to catch it on the stands, the old-fashioned way!
no IMAP? no thank you.
Now, about that phone that only makes phone calls……
Why is this device given credibility wen the Palm Foleo was mocked out of existence before it was even released?
I’m suspicious of how it is being promoted, as the only buzz I’ve seen has been from the likes of, well, people paid to write about it. Wired and Time giving it “of the year” accolades? WTF? Some palms are getting greased.
Every email appliance has failed. This one is too small to type on, and two big and expensive to carry with a cell phone, and therefore, it will fail harder than most.
Corruption accusations are the dumbest sort of comment.
I see this going down the toilet.
I see this being cool for international use(I remember you saying it had free international roaming somehow), but $20 a month for this is retarded, and $10 a month is pushing it. Granted, I’m lucky enough to have a phone plan that’s only a required $6USD a month(go Taiwan!), and comes out to $10-$12 for all my phone use(non-gimped plan, mind you) with general gmail and Opera Mobile J2ME app use, so maybe that’s swaying my decision.
Sure, it does e-mail only, and does it well, but this is largely becoming redundant with what mobile phones do(and are getting better at doing), and mobile phones are everywhere. What seems to be the death of this device to me is that this becomes pocket redundancy; it becomes something extra to lug around with my other device that can also perform the same function but also has other functions I regularly use.
So, add me to the list of people boggled by how this could be device/gadget of the year.
To me this looks like a great gadget and I can’t wait to get hold of one here in the UK. IMAP would be great on it though.
I’d love to have one of these. Wearing a cochlear implant (CI-borgs rule!) I can’t use a normal phone. I communicate with my wife and family and freelance clients through email. So I wouldn’t be carrying this in addition to a phone but instead of one. Figuues range from 9-22 out of 1000 people in the US are deaf or have a severe hearing impairment. A device that can have an impact on that many people…not bad.
i was at target yesterday and they had peeks on clearance for $49! not sure if it’s because they released new colors and wanted to get rid of blue and red.. or if target is just going to stop carrying them… but i was tempted.