Monday, November 18, 2013

Engadget is getting a whole lot bigger: profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/18/engadget-is-getting-a-whole-lot-bigger-profiles-forums-produc/

Engadget is getting a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

A few days ago we launched the best designed version of Engadget ever, and today we're about to get bigger. A lot bigger.

Back in 2008 when Peter Rojas and I departed Engadget to found gdgt, we had a hunch that the future would be driven by the intersection of social, interest, and product graphs. Today we're bringing it all home, integrating the best of gdgt into Engadget.

This means Engadget readers will have access to user profiles, forums + Q&A, and a massive, highly organized product database (among many other things). Finally.

Not only is this by far our biggest launch ever, it also marks a major turning point in our history, redefining the Engadget of today and laying the foundation for the Engadget of tomorrow.

I can't wait to tell you everything about all the new stuff Engadget can do for you, read on!

User profiles and gadget lists

Engadget gets a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

Starting today we've got a lot of new things to offer including building your gadget lists, participating in forums, writing user reviews, editing our product database, and plenty more so your first step should probably be to go register for an account!

If you previously registered for an account on gdgt, don't sweat it, that is now your Engadget account, and your data has been fully ported over just log in! If you didn't ever register for gdgt, well, go register now, there are still a ton of great usernames available!

Once you've got a profile, keeping track of (and showing off) your products has never been easier. See something you want? With one click, you can get relevant updates (like new reviews and price alerts). And for those products you already own or have owned, we can also keep track of your purchase date, serial number, and lots of other information. Build your Engadget profile and show off your collection!

One small thing to note: our commenting tool (Livefyre) doesn't in any way plug into your Engadget account. Not ideal, we know, but stay tuned.

Forums + Q&A

Engadget gets a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

There's so much more to be said about the entire universe of technology than can be said in comment threads, and finally you've got an outlet to say it here on Engadget. We've curated some of the best, highest quality technology discussions and technology Q&A threads anywhere on the internet.

So go familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines and go nuts. Okay, don't go that nuts our aim is and will always be to keep the commons high-brow. We're looking for the cool kids with something smart, interesting, helpful, or constructive to say which is why we can't wait to see you over there posting in the forums!

User reviews

Engadget gets a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

Ever feel the urge to share your opinions about your devices? Well, now you've got access to the easiest, best-designed product review system anywhere. Add a product to your Engadget list, pull the criteria sliders, maybe drop in a few comments, and you're ready to share it with the world. This is how reviews were meant to be written and read.

Product database

Engadget gets a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

Engadget's universe got a lot bigger with the addition of our massive new hand-crafted, fully-editable product database, containing some of the highest-quality entries on tens of thousands of devices across the entire spectrum of consumer electronics. We aren't kidding when we say we have tens of thousands of reviews, and millions of spec data points to pore over. For a taste, go check out our pages on the Xbox One and PS4, or the iPad mini and Nexus 5.

See a missing product? Go add it to the database! See something wrong with some product specs already in the system? Submit an edit to the page! Your contributions are what makes our database so great, and we need the help of experts like you to keep it ship-shape.

The Engadget Global Score

Engadget gets a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

One of the things you're sure to see around the site is our new Engadget Global Score, a unique ranking of products based on extensive independent research and analysis by our expert editorial and research teams.

We arrive at our Global Scores only after curating hundreds, sometimes thousands of weighted data points (such as critic and user reviews), and in the next few weeks we'll fully launch our new scoring strategy, including the Global Score's fully-editorial counterpart: the Engadget Score.

Together, the Engadget Score + Global Score will represent the only product rating system you'll ever need. More on this soon.

Price alerts

Engadget gets a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

Looking for a deal, but waiting for the right moment to strike? Sign up for a price alert, and we'll drop you an email the moment a device dips in price. But be sure to act fast, sometimes those prices jump right back up!

Product comparisons

Engadget gets a whole lot bigger profiles, forums, product database, and so much more!

If you've ever wanted a better quantitative view of multiple products at once, meet your new best friend. Our product comparisons draw from an enormous number of spec data points across tens of thousands of products to help you get the best possible birds-eye view of the devices you're interested in. We also save your comparisons for later (like this one)!

The future

Our goal is nothing short of making Engadget the most useful, advanced, and thoughtfully designed place on the internet to learn about personal technology, and that doesn't just end with our world-class news and editorial.

Engadget's come a long way, but we're only getting started in building a new, brighter future where finding the right product to buy, and sharing your passion for technology is as easy as getting the day's news and opinions.

Join us in the future, won't you? Engadget will be there.

P.S. -I'd be remiss not to thank everyone who made this launch possible, including our tireless product teams (Logan Bailey, Cass Chin, Michael Cosentino, Evan Fribourg, Rick Garner, Paul Heuts, Lydia Katsamberis, Mitchell McKenna, Conrad Muan, Erik Sagen, Brett Terpstra, and Jon Ursenbach), our world-class ops team (Chris Stolfi, Ameir Abdeldayem, and Kevin Pettit), and our incredibly supportive executive team (Susan Lyne, Jay Kirsch, and Ned Desmond).

I also have to give a big thanks to Marc Perton, Dana Wollman, Chris Trout, Kris Naudus, Frank Spinillo, Dave Schumaker, and, of course, the entire Engadget editorial and product research staffs. And last but absolutely not least, my friend, co-founder, and creator of Engadget, Peter Rojas. This moment has been almost ten years in the making, and I'm insanely proud to share it with everyone involved.

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