Peek Speaks
Peek is simply connected. This blog is simply Peek.

How Peek started

Peek was born on a walk in the park. Well, kind of. Here’s the short version:

My partner was pregnant with our first child, and it was getting uncomfortable to sit around the house. So we would go on big walks - 1, 2, 3 hours at a time. Most parents are familiar with this phase. For me this was just good outdoor time — I was on my email and on my cell phone the whole time.

But for Ursula, a few hours out of the house was a few hours away from her lifeline: her inbox. The longer we’d walk, the more emails there would be piled up for her when we got back home. Friends, family, work, etc, etc contacted her by email. Her cell phone would ring rarely; most stuff was email. And the longer we’d walk, the more she would get inbox anxiety. “What’s waiting for me to get to at home?”

When I tried to get her to use a smartphone to check her email, the idea for Peek was born. Smartphones are too complicated and tricky and costly and just not made for someone like her. They are businessy and techy but not easy. It took just one look from her to say it all. “You want me to carry that THING around?”

So we decided to make Peek: a beautiful, thin, little gadget that is super easy and accessible as a way to keep on top of your emails any time, anywhere. Voila! The story of Peek.

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7 Comments

1. Hi Peek team,

   Well done and best of luck on your new venture! Awesome! I love hearing about companies, projects and entrepreneurs, as I am building a company, and working on a project myself, which is how I stumbled across Peek.

   I have the most obvious concern, and I guess you’ve been asked this a zillion times. Why should I give up my BlackBerry to grab a Peek? I already walk with an iPod as well as my BlackBerry. Can BlackBerry use their muscle to essentially steal your idea if it is a success, and make a standalone email device compatible with people’s existing cell call and data plans?

   Comment by Troy — August 18, 2008 @ 4:47 pm

2. Hi Folks,

   I congratulate you on your venture. I too am a bit confused so I hope you’ll respond to two simple questions that are on everyone’s mind:

   1. How is Peek different from my 2000 BlackBerry device that only did email and PIM?

   2. Does Peek support push e-mail or is it a pull solution?

   Comment by Iggy — August 20, 2008 @ 4:05 pm

3. Hi. great idea to bring old fashion email only pager. I used to own Motorola T900 2-way pager. I was thrill to see all the features on the device. The one thing that concern me is I am on Blackberry Curve 3 8320, and my contract is over in Oct 2009. Will T-Mobile honor to end this contract to use Peek? If so then it will help saving me a lot of money. It will be nice if T-Mobile can make a contract agreement and I can transfer my contract to Peek.

   My other question how much memory is built in Peek device? Battery life? USB charging up Peek? Hope there can be more spec before the release of Peek. Thank You, Tom

   Comment by tom — August 20, 2008 @ 5:09 pm

4. Troy - thanks for the post. We’re all entrepreneurs at heart here at Peek - it’s been a ton of fun getting to where we are today and we’re all psyched about the coming months. Best of luck with your venture as well!

   If you’re happy with your Blackberry, keep on using it. But if all the bells and whistles on the device make it too complicated to use or you’re tired of having to deal with a cell phone company and the contracts and hidden fees, Peek’s the device for you.

   Hey Iggy - appreciate the kind words. Similar to my response to Troy, Peek is a super-simple device - it will literally take you 30 seconds to set-up and start emailing - and you don’t have to deal with any cell phone carriers. That’s where we feel Peek is different from Blackberry and every other device that’s currently, or has ever been, on the market. Peek is currently a pull solution although you don’t have to manually tell the device to get your email - we’re constantly checking. We’ll be working very hard to offer incredibly fast push email soon.

   Tom - one of the best things about Peek… no contracts, period. While it’s true T-Mobile is providing the data service on the back-end, you won’t have a contract with them or Peek. Stay tuned on all of the device specs - we’ll formally announce all of them once the device is for sale online in early September.

   - Jeremy
   Peek Marketing

   Comment by jeremy — August 21, 2008 @ 4:49 pm

5. Can’t wait for it to become available!

   Comment by Tom — August 21, 2008 @ 5:26 pm

6. Thanks Tom! You’ll be able to purchase a Peek online in early September or at Target nationwide on September 15th. Looking forward to having you as one of our first customers.

   - Jeremy
   Peek Marketing

   Comment by jeremy — August 25, 2008 @ 9:38 pm

7. [...] Peek was made for a mom (really!) [...]

   Pingback by Peek Speaks: Simply email. Your personal email anywhere, anytime. — November 13, 2008 @ 7:47 pm

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