Crave

A young Wilson G. Tang celebrates his 68th birthday.

(Credit: CNET/The 404)

Wilson G. Tang is happily celebrating his 25th birthday tomorrow, so we take a few minutes at the beginning of today's episode of The 404 podcast to congratulate the man on making it this far. Can you believe this fool has only been on Earth 25 years? I always assumed you could tell Wilson's age by counting the highlights in his hair, but the consensus is that Wilson is certainly an old soul.

He also brings in a very special birthday present that he got from his boo-bear this morning: a brand new Apple Mac Mini to add to his Apple museum brewing at home! Don't tell Wilson, but we've also arranged for a naughty Steve Jobs look-alike to pop out of his mooncake later tonight.

iMEvil iPhone Soundboard App

(Credit: TechPad Productions)

Speaking of scary things, just because Halloween is over doesn't mean you can't still creep out your friends with this new iPhone app from TechPad productions called iMEvil. On today's episode of The 404 Podcast, Jeff manages to get his hands on a free copy of David Sobolov's (the voice talent behind Halo Wars, Call of Duty 4, Diablo III, Unreal Tournament 3, and more) soundback app that has 32 hilarious lines like "Prepare yourself to serve me" and "I'd buy that for a dollar."

Since we're all about giving here at The 404, Mr. Sobolov and Tech Pad Productions were nice enough to provide our listeners with 5 free codes (normally priced at $1.99 in the iPhone App Store). If you'd like a free download, e-mail us at THE404{AT}CNET[DOT]COM and put only "iMEvil" in the subject and we'll pick five random winners to announce on Monday. Good luck!

In the spirit of all things Apple, we present to you the typical dating profile of the average iPhone user. A new study from Retrevo reveals the absurdity behind what makes iPhone users tick. Among other things, one in five iPhone owners has admitted to watching "adult material" on an Apple gadget, which happens to be twice as many as the average BlackBerrian. And well...judging by Wilson's constant fixation on his iDrone, we ain't too surprised.

Many more stories to get to that won't fit into this blog post, stuff like this Twitter-only handset and the most impractical, irresponsible, and dangerous accessory ever for your laptop, so be sure to check out today's full episode.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILSON!

TwitterPeek sells for $99 or $199.

(Credit: Peek)

A new gadget designed specifically for people who want to tweet on the go was launched Tuesday by gadget maker Peek.

The device, dubbed TwitterPeek, does one thing and one thing only: it lets people tweet. It doesn't access e-mail. It doesn't make phone calls. It tweets. That's it.

TwitterPeek, which looks like a smartphone, features a QWERTY keyboard and comes in black or aqua blue.

The idea behind TwitterPeek is simple. After buying the device, users need only to input their Twitter credentials to get going. The gadget lets them tweet, reply, retweet, send direct messages, and download followers. It supports one account at a time. Users can also view TwitPics by clicking the "view content" option from the TwitterPeek menu. The company claims its battery lasts three to four days with average usage.

Included in the price of TwitterPeek is a service plan. According to the company, users can access Twitter nationwide through Peek's own "mobile network," which accesses mobile-phone networks. If users choose to pay $99 at the time of purchase, they will get the TwitterPeek device and six months of Peek service. After that, they need to pay $7.95 per month for network access. If customers plunk down $199, they'll get the device and service for the life of the product. In either case, TwitterPeek allows for unlimited tweeting.

It makes sense that a device designed exclusively for Twitter would come from Peek. The company already offers the Peek and Peek Pronto, which are designed exclusively for mobile e-mail and text messaging.

But TwitterPeek, while an interesting idea, will need to convince consumers that it's really necessary in the marketplace. There are a slew of mobile apps that allow people to tweet while they're on the iPhone, some BlackBerry models, and Android-based devices.

It's also debatable whether even the most ardent Twitter users will want to pay $199 just to have access to a tweeting gadget. Evidently, the gadget was built for people who don't have access to mobile Twitter apps. It may also be useful for people who access Twitter from their mobile browser; that experience tends to yield more headaches than value when people want to post a quick tweet.

If you're interested in picking up a TwitterPeek, you can buy it exclusively on Amazon.com for $99 or $199, depending on your desired service plan.

But will you? Let's hear it in the comments below.

A Peek just for Twitter?

(Credit: CrunchGear)

Peek, the makers of e-mail- and messaging-only handhelds like the Peek Pronto, are working on a brand-new Peek made only for Twitter. We don't know too many details about it, such as how much it'll cost and if there will be any monthly fees associated with it, but we do know it is coming, thanks to this image of the Twitter Peek's packaging. In a world where we can get Twitter on our phones, we wonder if something like this is necessary. We'll let you know more about the Twitter Peek once we contact our sources.

In other news, Peek is now offering its current handsets at Blockbuster stores nationwide, and new Peek customers will get a month's worth of Blockbuster Total Access for free. Also, the prices have been lowered: the Pronto now costs $59.99 with $14.99 a month for service, while the Classic is $19.99.

(Via CrunchGear)

Windows 7's Aero in pictures

Introduced for Vista, the translucent Aero skin has been heavily developed and expanded in Windows 7. See what this key design and interface feature looks like and behaves like in the new operating system.

The original Peek e-mail handheld

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Despite the many accolades the Peek received last year, we ragged on it for offering too little for too much, and we still stand by that original claim. Twenty dollars a month for only e-mail just did not seem worth it.

However, Peek has now released the Peek Pronto, which offers way more than just e-mail. Not only do you get push e-mail delivery, you also get Microsoft Exchange support, texting, PDF, and Word doc support, Search, and e-mail apps like weather, news, and maps. Other improvements include a larger font set and faster software speed. It also now allows up to five accounts. The device itself is also slightly retooled with a better keyboard.

Perhaps the feature that truly makes this worth the money is the support for texting--a lot of people use their phones only for texting these days, and having to pay for an exorbitant texting plan on top of a voice plan can be costly. The Peek Pronto is $79, and you only pay $16.67 a month (if you're on the quarterly plan) with no contract. Oh, and it's unlimited texting, too. If you don't have a need for a cell phone, or maybe if you only have a really cheap phone, this could be worth it in the long run.

The Peek Pronto is now available on Amazon from March 24 until March 31, and then available from getpeek.com on April 1, and in Radio Shack stores starting April 8. We've got a review unit in for testing, and as soon as we have our full review, we'll let you know.

It was supposed to start selling at Target stores on Monday, but Peek decided to get things started a little early. The e-mail-only device, called the Peek, appeared Thursday on the start-up's Web site.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

And it looks like it was a smart idea. Silicon Alley Insider notes that two of the three colors already appear to be sold out. (That would be black cherry, and aqua blue, though boring old gray, er, "charcoal gray," looks like it's still in stock.)

We've already gone over what we think the limitations of the Peek are (see CNET Reviews' Nicole Lee's take here). But David Pogue of The New York Times says today that the Peek's "simplicity and elegance" will win over non-techies easily.

He writes, "It will follow the usual cycle of simple, elegant tech products: 1) universal scorn by feature-listers online; 2) quiet, gradual popular acceptance by normal people; 3) bafflement on the part of the feature-listers."

You know how we feel. What do you think, will this be a smashing success among the less technologically savvy among us?

Via Silicon Alley Insider

Peek is a device that does e-mail and only e-mail.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Last Thursday, I took a look at Peek, a handheld device that does e-mail, and only e-mail. And by the end of the review, I was left wondering if I was missing something. Do people really want an e-mail-only device? Are there people out there who have cell phones, but want another gadget just for checking e-mail?

And it's not like the Peek has an Internet browser, or an instant-messaging client, or a personal organizer. No, all it does is e-mail. That's it. It's not even compatible with Microsoft Exchange, so we can't say it'd be good for corporate use.

And if that doesn't make you skeptical about it, the Peek costs a whopping $100. plus it has a $20 monthly fee. Sure there are no pesky cell phone contracts involved, but what good is having an unlocked device if it isn't a phone?

Now, this is not to say the device itself is bad. On the contrary, we like the Peek's ease of use, and the QWERTY keyboard is a joy to type on. I also really like the jog dial on the side, which lets you scroll through messages quickly and easily. Importing your e-mail account is as easy as entering in your e-mail address and password (do note that it uses POP and not IMAP, so you'll end up deleting e-mail from both in-boxes, which is a pain). The battery life is also pretty good, lasting about two or three days with a typical day's usage.

But, well, that's about it. Peek claims that its value is its simplicity, and we can't fault them for that. But for such a simple device, shouldn't it be cheaper?