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Device offers on-the-go Peek at e-mail
OAKLAND, Nov 07, 2008 (Contra Costa Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Robbie Hitchcock of San Ramon didn't want to shell out big bucks and spend hours learning to retrieve e-mail with an iPhone, so he bought a gadget about the size of a pack of cigarettes and the thickness of a matchbook, the Peek.
Fumbling with complicated technology is not a Peek experience. The slender device, created by the founders of Virgin Mobile, makes it supremely easy to send and receive e-mail almost anywhere. And that's all, folks; no games, camera, calendar, videos or any of the other myriad services offered by gadgets like BlackBerries or iPhones.
Peek also spares its users the $200 or so initial fee and approximately $70 monthly cost of those devices, not to mention their mandatory contracts. It's about $100 upfront and some $20 a month thereafter, and you can opt out anytime without penalty fees.
"You can set up on a Peek in less than a minute," said Peek's founder, Amol Sarva, in an interview at the 25-employee firm's Oakland office.
Peek was planned in Walnut Creek "in the cell phone aisle of Target," Sarva said, and had its first office in Walnut Creek. The company then moved to its Oakland office, which has about 15 staffers, and three of its cofounders and principals live in the Bay Area. It does have a New York office, which is technically its headquarters.
Sarva launched his company in September, unfazed by the battering the economy is currently undergoing. His device can be bought at Target
stores nationwide or at www.getpeek.com.
"In a tough economy, this is a good alternative," Sarva said. While people want to get their e-mail anywhere and everywhere, they're not wild about spending prodigious amounts of money in times like these, he said. Sarva and his cofounders are banking on this.
The startup has $11 million in funding from venture capital funds including RRE Ventures and L Capital Partners, both of New York.
Sarva got the idea for the company when he went on a walk on a summer day with his then-pregnant wife. "She was anxious because she couldn't check her e-mail," he said, shaking his head. "That was how I learned about inbox anxiety disorder," a malady that sounds like a joke but is unfortunately a reality.
"I asked her, 'Why don't you take the smartphone?' She said, 'It's the size of a burrito, it crashes and it buzzes,'" and a new company was born.
It is, of course, possible to check e-mail on a cell phone. But, Sarva said, most people are like his wife, unwilling to go through the hassle.
The device isn't perfect, with no spell checker, limited ability to process attachments and small type. The latter problem will be righted soon, Sarva said.
"By December you will be able to buy a version with bigger type on the Web site for no additional fee," the founder said. Those who already have a Peek can get a new one with bigger type for free by sending in the one they have, he said.
"We're also working on texting," Sarva said. Within the next couple of weeks, anyone with a Peek will be able to send text messages to cell phones for no additional fee, he said. He expects that the device will have spell-checking and expanded attachment handling within a year.
"It's working great," said Hitchcock of his device, which he has been using for a few months. Hitchcock, who owns Pro Image Studios in Dublin, uses his Peek to retrieve business e-mail.
"I had a trip to Arizona where I didn't need to bring my laptop, so I used my Peek. Even if I had my laptop, I would have had to pay for Internet access at the hotel or find a place with Internet access," which is not necessary with Peek, Hitchcock said.
"A lot of the success stories out of (Silicon) Valley, from the iPod to the Palm Pilot, are a result of focusing on one group or function and building a product around it, and that's what Peek has done," said Rob Enderle, principal of San Jose-based Enderle Group. "They've identified e-mail as a product folks want and created an affordable and easy-to-use device. In these economic times, this could be successful."
Janis Mara can be reached at (925) 952-2671 or jmara@bayareanewsgroup.com. Check out her Energy Blog at www.ibabuzz.com/energy.
PEEK.COM
-- Launched: September 2008
-- Founders: Amol Sarva, formerly of Virgin Mobile USA, along with John Tantum, founder of Virgin Mobile, and Rob Gray, also formerly of Virgin Mobile
-- Product: Enables users to send, receive and read e-mail
-- Headquarters: New York and Oakland
-- Oakland office: 2201 Broadway, Suite 300
-- Funding: RRE Ventures and L Capital Partners
-- Web site: www.getpeek.com
-- Phone: 1-877-677-PEEK (7335)
To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.contracostatimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Contra Costa Times, Walnut
Creek, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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