A new dedicated device, launched in the United States, gives users access to their Twitter stream on the move. But in the age of the smartphone, is it really necessary?
Twitter Peek is designed for
Twitter addicts who don't own
a smartphone -- but just how
many of them are there? There's lots of coverage on the internet today for a new device that has gone on sale in the US -- the Twitter Peek. This pocket-sized Qwerty keypad device, which looks like a bright turquoise BlackBerry, brings Twitter push-notifications to the masses.
It's aimed at Twitter users who don't own a smartphone, and so are unable to keep up with the latest tweets through a mobile browser, or apps such as TwitterBerry, EchoFon and Tweetie.
Unlike its predecessor, the hugely popular Peek Messenger, Twitter Peek cannot send and receive emails -- it can only be used for accessing Twitter. And it doesn't come cheap -- prices for the device start at $99.95, including six months of service, with users having to pay $7.95 per month thereafter to receive tweets via the mobile phone network.
The Twitter Peek is clearly not designed for power users -- it only supports a single account, for starters. However, it does allow you to preview TwitPic photos, open links contained in tweets and view webpages as plain text, manage your network of friends, and follow and unfollow people. The little device even blinks, rings, vibrates or emits a chirruping, tweeting sound whenever a new message is received.
Amol Sarva, chief executive of Peek, says that Twitter is more useful on a mobile device. After all, Twitter's original message limit of 140 characters was designed to fit on a single text message. But, says Sarva, not everyone wants to spend hundreds of dollars on a smartphone, and $30 each month for a data plan, just so they can tweet on the go.
"Newbies will finally ‘get' Twitter once they have TwitterPeek in hand," says Sarva. "Even businesses that Twitter will dig TwitterPeek as a convenient way to stay connected with their customers.”
That's as may be, but I can't help wondering if this is a gadget designed to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. Although Twitter is becoming more mainstream, discussed on everything from This Morning in the UK to Oprah in the US, the fact remains that it is still a relatively niche service. As such, many of its users tend to be natural early adopters -- the tech-savvy and digitally engaged who own the latest smartphones, and are at home with the idea of accessing Twitter through third-party mobile services.
Mobile phone makers, too, are becoming attuned to our increasingly "social" lives, and our desire to connect with friends and colleagues on the go. In the UK even relatively basic, entry-level phones, such as the new INQ Mini, have one-click access to Twitter and Facebook. Network operators are also moving towards unlimited data packages for many phones, or free access to Facebook and instant-messaging services, in order to entice younger phone users.
It's easy to see how the Twitter Peek could prove something of a hit in the US though, where there seems to be a wider gulf in functionality between entry-level and high-end handsets, and all-you-can-eat data plans are sliced and diced rather differently.
"Twitter Peek is a device for a novice audience that's interested in Twitter, but not interested in a smartphone," tweeted technology analyst Michael Gartenberg. "A year ago, Twitter Peek would have been too early. Perhaps next year, too late. Given it's leveraged off existing tech, it's not a bad idea. But it's not a device for me."
Nor me.
source:telegraph.co.uk
