TwitterPeek Mobile Tweeting Device (Gray)

If you enjoy using Twitter and don't own a smartphone, this is a very good investment, but not at the moment:I already owned a Peek Pronto when I ordered the TwitterPeek from Amazon with lifetime service. I won't review the hardware aspect here, which rates very well. I wasn't expecting Twitter to be integrated into future Pronto's seeing the release of the TwitterPeek last year, which is the only reason I decided to carry two identical devices. Unfortunately about 3 weeks into owning it, Twitter changed their authentication method Aug 31st, which rendered the device useless, and of this writing, is still so. The plan is to fix the problem on their servers, but is taking longer to fix than expected. I will try and update this review when I'm certain that fix is in place.As for the software, Tweets are organized very much like an email inbox, you can see who they're from and the first few words in the inbox. Once you've selected one to read either by the enter key or menu, it's easy to read the next Tweet with the press of the "n" for next newest. Twitpic is supported, but to my knowledge, the only service of that kind. Many Tweets have included links these days, and only the text can be viewed by accessing the link.I suspect the TwitterPeek maybe phased out as the new Peek 9 will have Twitter and Facebook built in. It's a good deal except for the temporary server issue.

The media could not be loaded.  *******OCT. 19, 2010 UPDATE:The TwitterPeek does NOT work any longer. Don't buy it. If you already have a TwitterPeek with LIFETIME SERVICE, this is NOW what PEEK INC. is telling me: PEEK INC. is only offering TwitterPeek Users with LIFETIME SERVICE to switch to a Peek 9 with only ONE YEAR OF SERVICE. No more LIFETIME SERVICE on a direct straight swap. But someone else in the GetPeek discussion forum is saying you have to pay an extra $50 to get lifetime service on the Peek 9 if you want to swap to a Peek 9. It's up to you. But I say: Don't buy the TwitterPeek. Get a real phone with internet on the phone for doing your twitter. Based on my experience with the TwitterPeek, you can expect a DEAD DEVICE and you will be wasting your money.*******OCT. 14, 2010 UPDATE:The TwitterPeek no longer works. The TwitterPeek is a dead device. According to a support message that I've received, PEEK INC has no ETA as to when twitter service may be restored. PEEK INC. is now saying that TwitterPeek users should get the Peek 9 device which is their new email device. There's is a "lemonade" offer where you can get a Peek 9 for $1, but you have to contact PEEK to swap your lifetime service from the TwitterPeek to the Peek 9. But there is NO TWITTER on the Peek 9 because PEEK INC. still hasn't gotten twitter to work. They may advertise twitter on the Peek 9, but they admit twitter is not working. I haven't switched to the Peek 9 yet, but anticipate doing so to at least get some sort of LIFETIME SERVICE that I've originally paid for. [EDIT: my contact at support is checking to see if there is a difference in paying for the Lifetime Service on the PEEK9. If there is, I may not want to get it because I've paid all that I want to pay for these Peek devices.]If you are looking at the TwitterPeek, don't get it. Additionally, I suggest you don't bother looking at any of Peek's other devices because the service is not reliable from my experience and also if you look at the GetPeek discussion forums where people complain about the outages on the other Peek devices. You will be better off looking for an unlocked phone, put an AT&T SIM card on the phone, and use AT&T GoPhone prepaid service on the phone to get voice as well as internet to thereby get twitter. As I've mentioned in a previous update, my review here used to be five stars, but I've since downgraded my review to ONE STAR. Don't get the TwitterPeek. I used to be enthusiastic for the TwitterPeek, but I now wholeheartedly agree with the other one-star reviews here. Those other one-star reviews had no experience with the TwitterPeek, but I have experience with the TwitterPeek and can tell you that you will definitely make a mistake if you get the TwitterPeek since the TwitterPeek is now a dead do-nothing bricked device and when the company behind the device is telling people to switch to something else.*******OCT. 8, 2010 UPDATE:Still No Twitter Service.This was originally a Five Star Review.I've completely downgraded it to One Star.This TwitterPeek is suppose to haveLIFETIME SERVICE, but at this pointthere has been NO SERVICE forOVER ONE MONTH and counting.*******SEPT. 29, 2010 UPDATE:From the PEEK discussion forum (@amolsarva):TwitterPeek fix status :Official word on TwitterPeek:- while we were getting ready to launch Peek 9- Twitter changed a bunch of stuff- that broke TwitterPeek- but we are nearly through fixing it up- and it's going to work not only on all TwitterPeeks- but also on Peek 9s- and you can even turn it on Peek Prontos [...]If you want a credit back for a "monthly plan" TwitterPeek please email care@getpeekA cool thing is that the links are "followable" by the mini browser. That will work on all Peeks*******SEPT. 18, 2010 UPDATE:Because of a recent change in how Twitter authenticates accounts, the TwitterPeek has been DEAD in getting service from Twitter since about the beginning of September 2010. First, the people at PEEK Inc. said that they would have access to Twitter restored by Thursday, September 16, but that date fell through. Now, they say they will have access to Twitter restored by sometime the following week (which is next week after the time when I'm currently writing this update) in time for the debut of their next product called the Peek 9. So far I've got only three months out of the lifetime service for my TwitterPeek. And I'm waiting to see if this comatose TwitterPeek actually rises from the dead and starts working again. Totally annoying having to wait to see if that actually happens. I'll report back if and when Twitter access is restored on the TwitterPeek, or if there is some other change, BUT I have to agree with the naysayers, that you will be better off with a smartphone that has some type of internet access for accessing Twitter while you are on the go away from a computer. For instance, look at the unlocked phones that can take GSM cards like the LG phones or even the iphone clones that you can use with AT&T GoPhone prepaid service for voice calls and internet.*******ORIGINAL (AND NOW *WORTHLESS*) June 23, 2010 REVIEWWITH THE JULY 11, 2010 UPDATE....GOOD CONCEPT BUT NOW DEAD WORTHLESS DEVICE....DON'T BUY ANY OF THE PEEK DEVICES....DON'T EVEN BUY THEIR SO-CALLED NEW PEEK 9....PEEK IS A RIP-OFF. STAY VERY FAR AWAY FROM PEEK....======================================TwitterPeek is either something you want or it is something you really despise. There seems to be no other than two ways about it. You either like it or hate it.For the record, I do like the TwitterPeek. However, the TwitterPeek is not for everyone. Particularly, not for those who just don't understand Twitter and certainly not for those vocal Haters who can't understand the reason for a single-purpose device like the TwitterPeek when there are the more multi-purpose smartphones like the iPhone. People definitely do want to have their smartphones and all the more power to them. And then there are those people who will want the TwitterPeek for it's single-purpose simplicity and the lack of a monthly phone bill if you get the TwitterPeek with "lifetime" service. It's a choice that the beauty and the diversity of the marketplace provides because people will buy what they want.Okay, let's compare the two sides of those who want the TwitterPeek and those who hate the Twitterpeek.First, this is what is typically said by those who sadly really hate and despise the TwitterPeek with a vengeance in blogs and comments around the web:1. TwitterPeek is nothing but a piece of @#$!&* junk.2. Twitter is a complete waste of time.3. Isn't Twitter just like TXTing which you can do with your cell phone anyways?4. TwitterPeek is a complete waste of money.5. Two Hundred Dollars can be used to buy a real smartphone.6. Get a REAL smartphone like the iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, etc.7. TwitterPeek is another device that you have to carry.8. The TwitterPeek interface is horrible using that Scroll Wheel.9. Using the Scroll Wheel to go into and out of tweets is like doing email.10. TwitterPeek doesn't show complete tweets in the timeline.11. TwitterPeek can't do the new Twitter Lists.12. TwitterPeek can't do multiple accounts.13. The company behind the TwitterPeek is doomed to go out of business.14. Real Geeks hate the TwitterPeek and you should too.15. Only idiots would want to use a TwitterPeek.Now, let's go on to those who happily and definitely want the TwitterPeek:1. TwitterPeek with lifetime service is now approximately one hundred bucks on Amazon.2. TwitterPeek with lifetime service means no monthly bills.3. TwitterPeek with no monthly bills goes perfect with a cheap or prepaid cell phone.4. TwitterPeek is for people who don't want a smartphone.5. Use TwitterPeek's keyboard to quickly go through tweets instead of using the Scroll Wheel.6. Use the N and P keys to go quickly from tweet to tweet. It's not that bad.7. You don't have to be a Geek to use a TwitterPeek.8. The company behind TwitterPeek shouldn't go out of business.9. People who use the TwitterPeek are not idiots. Don't Rain On Our Parade.10. REPEAT: TwitterPeek with lifetime service is now approximately one hundred bucks on Amazon.The battle between the LOVE-HATE adversarial opinions about the TwitterPeek is kind of ridiculous. It's like talking about religion where the people who hate the TwitterPeek really hate the TwitterPeek with a vengeance as an automatic reflex action on their part. The one area of contention that I find to be very silly is the criticism about the navigation using the Scroll Wheel. Yes, it's BAD going in and out of tweets using the Scroll Wheel and the back button. But the better way to really quickly go through your tweets on the TwitterPeek is to use keyboard commands. Click the Enter (Return) key on a selected tweet and then use the "N" key (for Next) and the "P" key (for Previous) to go from tweet to tweet (yes, one at a time) to very quickly and seamlessly go through your twitter timeline. This has the same practical effect of what you're doing anyways if you are reading one-tweet-at-a-time whether in a timeline or not. But the die-hard twitter aficionados and critics will say that you can't scan complete tweets in the whole timeline at once. Nonetheless, if you are quickly going through tweets using keyboard commands with the "N" and "P" keys, then that shouldn't make too much of a difference when you are looking at a very small screen. The video included with this review is intended to give you an idea as to how to navigate the Twitter timeline either using the scroll-wheel or the keyboard on the TwitterPeek.The storage space on the TwitterPeek is approximately only 7.5 megabytes. That's like teeny weeny tiny in size. That's megabytes. Not gigabytes. But we're talking about Twitter text messages that are only 140 characters long per tweet. So that's more than enough storage space. To me, this does make the TwitterPeek seem like an overly expensive device at its original price of two hundred dollars when it is such a tiny single-purpose twitter-only device. But whether at the original two-hundred dollar price tag or at the recently discounted price of approximately one-hundred bucks, whatever you're paying for the TwitterPeek with lifetime service, then that should go mostly towards the service. It's like you're prepaying mostly for the "lifetime" service and getting the TwitterPeek device for some lesser amount. And when you then average out what you've paid upfront over time, then that may turn out to be a good deal if all you want to do is twitter and assuming you don't lose or break the TwitterPeek device because the "lifetime" service is for the "lifetime" of the device that you are buying. You just have to assume and hope that the company behind the TwitterPeek (and its older sibling the Peek Pronto) stays in business to continue providing you with the online service that is suppose to send tweets to your TwitterPeek.On a related note, regarding the online service, from what I could tell, the TwitterPeek retrieves tweets every 5-to-15 minutes. (I've noticed similar delays from some, but perhaps not all, people who do Twitter and send tweets from their smartphones.) Usually, this is okay because tweets would be coming in all the time like this. But sometimes it may look like the TwitterPeek has stopped receiving tweets. If it looks like the TwitterPeek has stopped receiving tweets, like if an hour has gone by and you don't see any new tweets, try turning the TwitterPeek off and then on. This assumes you expect to get a bunch of tweets every few minutes or so from a lot of people whom you follow. Currently, I follow over 300+ people and there will be someone or someone else (although NOT everyone at the same time all the time) tweeting something every few minutes whether during the day or at night (which could be their day if they are elsewhere in the world). So I expect to constantly be getting tweets that are waiting for me to look at in a timeline pile of tweets. (If you follow only a few people, then your frequency of receiving tweets may be less and not as often.) Then if it looks like the tweets have stopped for a long time, then the chances are the TwitterPeek may need to be rebooted. Turn the TwitterPeek off and then on to see if those missing tweets show up. If the TwitterPeek is really not getting any new tweets, then that could be for any variety of reasons like the main Twitter servers (that everyone accesses) are overwhelmed or down during very busy times like during the recent World Cup soccer games or if Twitter is having other technical problems. I've seen that happen with the regular Twitter website and with other third-party Twitter apps (like Tweetie or Hootsuite). Reboot your TwitterPeek (turn it off and then turn it back on) to see if that clears things up on your end. Or wait to see if Twitter clears up and starts updating again.Okay, there are some other things to be aware of if you really want to get this TwitterPeek device. You can click the link in a tweet, but you'll only get the text for the webpage that the link is for. Sometimes, you may have to scroll through a bunch of text to get the main part of page that you want to read. If the linked page is too complex or if it is busy, you may get nothing. You can get pictures with the TwitterPeek but only if the links are at Twitpic (most of the time) and not anywhere else. The TwitterPeek does not do email. It only does Twitter. No multiple accounts. The battery life is suppose to last four days, but that depends on how much you use it and whether you have a good or bad signal. Maybe expect to plug it in to charge every night and be happy if you only have to charge the TwitterPeek every two days or more. It does come with a charger to plug into an electrical wall outlet. However, if you want to charge the TwitterPeek via the USB on your computer, then you'll have to get a blackberry cable to hook up the TwitterPeek to your computer to charge the TwitterPeek's battery. Don't expect firmware updates for the TwitterPeek. The folks at Peek Inc. think that the TwitterPeek works fine for the basic twitter functionality that it provides.The TwitterPeek cannot directly handle tweets that contain foreign language characters like japanese, chinese, korean, and thai. Yet, I've noticed that japanese, chinese, korean, and, recently, thai characters in tweets are converted into romanized text. I'm guessing that a romanization conversion happens at the Peek servers before the tweets are sent to the TwitterPeek. It's not a translation, but a romanization of those script characters into text for phonetic pronunciation purposes. However, there may be some question marks or different strange characters where the conversion is not complete. I don't know about any other script languages. Also related to this, it looks like the TwitterPeek unfortunately cannot handle some symbol characters like the heart symbol or a pointing hand/finger symbol or musical note symbols that people may use in tweets -- you'll get question marks instead. (NOTE TO THE PEOPLE AT PEEK: It would be visually more pleasing if any incomplete conversion be replaced by asterisks instead of question marks.)There are other PROs and CONs for the TwitterPeek. You can read the other reviews here on Amazon and elsewhere to find out what other people say about the TwitterPeek.As previously mentioned, YES, I do like the TwitterPeek. I find it easy to use where I primarily use keyboard commands. I've waited for Amazon to drop the price for the TwitterPeek (with "lifetime" service) before buying it. So far, I've been keeping my TwitterPeek turned on pretty much all the time -- but every once in while I would turn-it-off-and-on to reboot the TwitterPeek if it looks like it "stopped" receiving tweets. What I typically do is I use the TwitterPeek when I'm away from my computer -- and then when I am using my macbook then I may have the TwitterPeek plugged into the USB on the computer with a blackberry cable (a kindle cable works also) to charge the TwitterPeek's battery, and I would be accessing Twitter mostly on the computer -- and later, in a kind of tag-team hand off, when I'm away from the computer, then I would be using the TwitterPeek.However, is the TwitterPeek for you? If you really want an iPhone or some other smartphone, then this is certainly not for you. If you are not into Twitter, or if you don't understand all the hoopla surrounding Twitter, then this is particularly not for you. However, if you don't want a smartphone (like an iPhone), particularly if you don't want the monthly bill that comes with a smartphone, and if you want on-the-go twitter access, then the TwitterPeek (with "lifetime" service) may possibly be for you.Thank you for reading and viewing this review.P.S. UPDATE July 11, 2010:As another point of comparison for navigating the TwitterPeek, I was looking at youtube video demonstration reviews for the AT&T Social Net app for the AT&T smartphones because I was looking at the  AT&T LG Prime Prepaid GoPhone  which is something like an iPhone. The AT&T Social Net application let's you access Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc. and the way that you navigate the app reminds me of the TwitterPeek where the main timeline has truncated tweets that are cut off at the end of each tweet and if you want to read the whole tweet then you have to go into each individual tweet. And the fast way to go through tweets is navigating message by message. So the TwitterPeek navigation is not really new and similar navigation although in a different interface can be found on other devices.Also, it looks like the price for the TwitterPeek is closing in on the ninety dollar mark for the "charcoal" version of the TwitterPeek. The price for the "aqua" version is under one hundred fifty at this time. I would really like to eventually get the "aqua" version. Nice. Whichever one you get, assuming you're getting the TwitterPeek with "lifetime" service, you can consider whatever amount that you're paying to be like mostly for your prepaid "lifetime" service on the device.Anyways, the TwitterPeek is a good buy as far as I'm concerned and I've been happy with mine. And to be clear, I do *NOT* work for PEEK INC. I'm only a user of the TwitterPeek device. However, at this point, one thing that frustrates me about the TwitterPeek (and I think this may also frustrate people using the Peek Pronto which is the email version of the device that is also made by the same PEEK INC. company that makes the TwitterPeek) is the recent service outage that have occurred. One occurred on the July 4th weekend on two consecutive days and lasted several hours each day. I'm guessing that those outages were related to how the Peek Inc. company was expanding in Europe and had to get their servers working to also serve new European users of the Peek Pronto devices in multiple countries. However, I guess that I have to expect these hiccups that may happen as part of the growing pains that the PEEK INC. company may be going through as they expand worldwide. Otherwise, I've been happy with my TwitterPeek. Here's hoping for continued smooth sailing with minimal if any hiccups.

TwitterPeek Mobile Tweeting Device with Lifetime Service Included (Aqua) I received the blue twitterpeek for Christmas as a gift from a close friend, bought through Amazon with a lifetime plan.In the beginning, I just used it to receive the usual tweets from those whom I was following. It was fine, with only one disappointment. I could not read tweets written in Russian, since, as I soon found out, the TwitterPeek cannot handle Cyrillic.More recently, however, I have been using it to log important observations for my diary, send myself reminders, and in general, act as my diary and log book. It has now become the one thing I carry with me, with or without my cell phone.I love it because it is so small and light and thin, and so it is easy to carry even in my shirt pocket. But when I need it, it is there. I bought a little belt holster for it so it is always there ready to use.The keyboard is great, easy to use, and to do thumb-typing. When I need to tweet, I just hit "T" and it immediately lights up the device and I can immediately start typing. When I am done, I just scroll down to the "send" button and press the thumbwheel.It is the easiest device to use, and I can whip it out, tweet myself a reminder or log entry, send, and pop it back into the shirt pocket.It is very sturdy. I've even dropped it a couple of times. And battery life is great. So far, it keeps on "ticking", as they say, after several days.Yeah, I have a tweeter widget on my Android phone, and I use that sometimes if I already have my Android open. But for a quick and easy tweet, I just whip out the TwitterPeek, which is always "on" and ready. Firing up the Android just to tweet is 3-4 times as much work, plus eats up the battery.The TwitterPeek may seem "useless" and "redundant", but I use it a lot more than my Android because of ease and speed of use in actual daily goings-on. In fact, even if I have my Android on and in use, I will put it aside and pick up the TwitterPeek and do a quick tweet, because it is so much easier and quicker.I have had good reception everywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, with no dead spots, as far as I can tell. T-Mobile has good reception where I need it, and the device rides on the T-Mobile network.I like the shortcut keys. The main menu is just the list of tweets you have received. Typing "F" takes you to the latest tweets. Typing "L" takes you to the earliest tweets on your device. Hitting the "enter" key will open up the tweet you have highlighted. Typing "N" and "P" allow you to go directly to the next or previous tweets without having to go to the main menu. And typing "T" or "C" will open up a box for you to start typing your tweet.Although you are allowed only one account per device, it is easy to change to another account, though this requires basically doing the equivalent of a "hard reset". This is done by accessing "settings", clicking on "device info", then scrolling to the very bottom option and clicking on "Reset Device", so you are then prompted to type in a new twitter account ID and password.Today, I had to go pick up some groceries. Earlier in the day, I tweeted myself my grocery list. Then when I went after work to the grocery, I read my tweet as I shopped. I know this sounds like a ridiculous and trivial way to use the TwitterPeek, but it worked beautifully for me. No stupid reading my Android while draining the battery. Since the TwitterPeek is very efficient in its battery use, I could turn the display on every time I needed to read it by hitting the "back" key on the side, then after a few seconds it would go dark again while I walked to the next item.The TwitterPeek also works well for recording my time. Each time I change tasks while I am working, I just tweet what I just finished and what I am planning to do next, and it works as a good worklog that I can then transfer later to my timecard.All in all, I've been using this for over a month, and it has become an indispensible part of my life.It's not for everyone, but it works for me. :-)

Works great. If you are a twitter whore and like to follow people, this is a great gadget.Cons: The more people you follow, the slower the software gets because of too many tweets. Battery life decreases too as LCD is turned on longer. I follow 300 people. Most people follow less than 50 people.