So aside from hot new phones today, there’s a new Twitter device out too (PDF). The folks at Peek have repurposed their original email only device, programmed it for Twitter functionality and are hoping people want a dedicated Twitter client in their pocket. The new $99 TwitterPeek has no connection charges — the company uses T-Mobile’s EDGE service — but has a monthly subscription fee of $7.95. Or you can bypass the monthly fee by paying $199 outright for the TwitterPeek. Peek is including the first six months of service free with the purchase of a $99 TwitterPeek.
After reading a hands-on by Dave Zatz, I’m not sold on it and I don’t think many others will be either. There’s a Twitter client for practically every phone out on the market, for starters. Twitter was originally designed for SMS usage, and while that can be kind of limiting, nearly every phone on the planet can use Twitter that way — you don’t need a smartphone to use Twitter. And the TwitterPeek device is fairly limited — it can view TwitPic images, but not web sites that your tweeps send you. Even though I’m not in the target audience, I can only justify paying for and carrying another device when it adds more value than a device with integrated functionality, not less.
Any takers on the TwitterPeek or is this an idea that simply isn’t going to fly?
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