Engadget

URL	engadget.com
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Weblog
Registration	Optional
Available language(s)	English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Korean, German
Owner	AOL[1]
Created by	Peter Rojas
Launched	March 2004
Alexa rank	456 (June 2012[update])[2]
Current status	Online

Engadget is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. Though on appearance Engadget functions much like a blog and may be defined as such, much of its editorial content takes the form of an online magazine. Engadget currently operates a total of ten 'blogs' - four written in English and six international versions with independent editorial staff. Engadget frequently ranks among the top 5 in the 'Technorati top 100'^[3] and was noted in TIME for being one of the best blogs of 2010.^[4]

History[link]

Engadget was co-founded by former Gizmodo technology weblog editor and co-founder, Peter Rojas. Engadget is a member of Weblogs, Inc., a blog network with over 75 weblogs including Autoblog and Joystiq and formerly including Hack-A-Day. Weblogs Inc. was purchased by AOL in 2005.^[5] Engadget's editor-in-chief, Ryan Block, announced on July 22, 2008, that he would be stepping down as editor-in-chief in late August, leaving the role to Joshua Topolsky. On March 12, 2011, Joshua Topolsky, along with most of the senior editorial staff, announced that he was leaving Engadget making Tim Stevens the editor-in-chief.^[6] Joshua Fruhlinger, who has been writing for Engadget since 2004, has acted as Engadget's Editorial Director since 2007.

Writers[link]

Engadget Blogs[link]

Engadget operates a number of blogs spanning seven different languages including English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Korean and German. The English edition of Engadget operates four blogs which, like the international editions, have been assimilated into a single site with a sub-domain prefix. These include Engadget Classic (the original Engadget blog), Engadget Mobile, Engadget HD and most recently Engadget Alt.

Launched in March 2004, Engadget is updated multiple times a day with articles on gadgets and consumer electronics. It also posts rumors about the technological world, frequently offers opinion within its stories, and produces the weekly Engadget Podcast that covers tech and gadget news stories that happened during the week.^[5]

Since its founding, dozens of writers have written for or contributed to Engadget, Engadget Alt, Engadget Mobile and Engadget HD, including high profile bloggers, industry analysts, and professional journalists. These writers include Jason Calacanis, Paul Boutin, Phillip Torrone, Joshua Fruhlinger, Marc Perton and Susan Mernit. Darren Murph, who became the World's Most Prolific Professional Blogger as recorded by Guinness World Records on July 29, 2010, is the site's Managing Editor and has written over 17,212 posts (and growing) to date.^[7] Industry analyst Ross Rubin has contributed a weekly column called Switched On since October 2004.

Engadget has been nominated for numerous awards, including a 2004 Bloggie for Best Technology Weblog, and 2005 Bloggies for Best Computers or Technology Weblog and Best Group Weblog; Engadget won Best Tech Blog in the 2004 and 2005 Weblog Awards.

Google Reader, as well as many other RSS readers, has included Engadget as a default RSS feed, pulling the latest articles which appear at the top of all user's mailboxes.

To extend readership, the blog is available in several languages including Spanish, Japanese, German, Polish (until 1.04.2010), Korean, and Chinese (traditional and simplified).

Engadget uses the Blogsmith CMS to publish its content.

The Engadget Podcast[link]

The Engadget podcast was launched in October 2004 and was originally hosted by Phillip Torrone and Len Pryor. He was the host for the first 22 episodes of the podcast at which point Eric Rice took over. Eric Rice is known for his own podcast, called The Eric Rice Show and has also produced podcasts for Weblogs Inc. Eric hosted and produced 4 episodes of the podcast for Engadget until the show was taken over by Peter Rojas and Ryan Block. The podcast was hosted by Editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky along with editors Paul Miller and Nilay Patel with occasional special guests, until their 2011 departure. The podcast was produced by Trent Wolbe under Topolsky's editorship and continues to be under Tim Stevens (Editor).

The topic of discussion for the podcast is technology related and closely linked to events that have happened during the week in the world of technology. The show generally lasts an hour or more. The show is normally weekly, however the frequency can change, especially during special events. When events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) occur, the podcast has been known to be broadcast daily.

The Engadget podcast is available as a subscription through iTunes, Zune Marketplace and as an RSS feed. Alternatively, it can be downloaded directly from the site in either MP3, Ogg, AAC or m4b format. The m4b version features images related to the current topic of discussion and can be displayed in iTunes or on a compatible player.

Engadget has started doing live podcasts, usually broadcasting Thursday or Friday afternoons on Ustream. The recorded podcast is usually available the day after.

The Engadget App[link]

On Dec 30th 2009 Engadget released its first mobile app for the iPhone and iPod touch.^[8][9] Engadget then released an Engadget app for the Palm Pre and Palm Pixie phones on January 1, 2010 claiming it was the "1000th application in the "webOS" Catalog".^[10] A week later, on January 8, 2010 they launched the app on the BlackBerry platform. An app for Android devices was released on March 25, 2010^[11] & finally the app for Windows Phone made its way to the marketplace on July 1, 2011^[12] making the app available on all major mobile smartphone platforms. The app's features included sharing articles through Twitter, Facebook or e-mail, the ability to tip Engadget on breaking news, and the ability to bookmark and view articles offline.

The Engadget Show[link]

On September 8, 2009, Josh Topolsky announced that Engadget would be taping a new video show once a month in New York City. The show will be free admission and will later be put onto the site. It features one-on-one interviews, roundtable discussions, short video segments, and live music. At first it was taped at the Tishman Auditorium at Parsons The New School for Design, but after the 5th show they began taping at The Times Center part of The New York Times Building.

The show was originally hosted by Joshua Topolsky along with editors Paul Miller and Nilay Patel. After their departure from Engadget and AOL in early 2011 newly appoined editor in chief Tim Stevens became the show's host. It is directed by Michelle Stahl and is executive produced by Joshua Fruhlinger and Michael Rubens.

The first episode (List of The Engadget Show Episodes) was taped at Parsons The New School for Design on September 13, 2009,^[13] and featured guest Jon Rubinstein, CEO of Palm Inc. The second episode's guest was Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer and was taped live on October 22, 2009 at the Times Center.

Episode three featured HTC's Drew Bamford, Joystiq's Chris Grant and was taped live on November 22, 2010 at Parsons The New School for Design. The fourth episode taped live at Parsons The New School for Design on December 20, 2009, featured guest Peter Rojas. Episode five taped live at the Times Center on January 16, 2010 and featured Erick Tseng, a former Senior Project Manager for Google (now employed by Facebook.) The sixth episode was filmed live on February 27, 2010 at the Times Center and featured guest Avner Ronen, CEO of Boxee.

Episode seven featured Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab and was taped live at the Times Center on March, 20th 2010. The eighth episode was filmed live at the Times Center on April 21, 2010 and featured guests Ryan Block of GDGT and Dr. Dennis Hong, a mechanical engineer who specializes in robotics. Episode nine featured guest Kevin Lynch, Adobe Systems CTO and was filmed live at the Times Center on May 22, 2010. The 10th episode was filmed on June 23, 2010 and featured Jimmy Fallon and was taped live at Cooper Union in New York City.

The 11th episode was filmed live at the Times Center on August 4, 2010 and featured game designer Peter Molyneux. Episode 12 was filmed on August 27 live at the Times Center and featured guest Omar Khan, CSO of Samsung. The 13th episode featured guest Bobby Braun of NASA and taped live at the Times Center on September 14, 2010. Episode 14 was taped live on October 23, 2010 at the Times Center and featured guest Aaron Woodman of Microsoft.

The show's end is always marked by audience prize give-aways and Chiptune music with visuals from a variety of different artists.

Controversy[link]

Trademark infringement[link]

In early 2006, Engadget reported that they were victims of their likeness being stolen and used as a store name at a mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. However, they stated they would not be taking any action.^[14] The store has since changed its name (or possibly shutdown and a new store opened with a new name). In July 2007, another store had opened, also in Malaysia, with a logo bearing the same resemblance to Engadget's.^[15]

Apple delay hoax[link]

In May 2007, Engadget published a story based on an email sent to Apple employees announcing that the company was delaying the launches of both the iPhone and Mac OS X Leopard.^[16] After the story ran, Apple's share price dropped 3%.^[17][18] Less than 20 minutes later the story was retracted after the email was discovered to have been a hoax perpetrated on Apple employees. Apple's shares eventually recovered and Ryan Block apologized for the mistake.^[5]

Misattribution[link]

In March 2006, DAPreview, a website about digital audio players, noted that Engadget used a photo that had originally been taken by DAPreview, and then removed attribution by cropping the DAPreview logo off.^[19] Engadget's managing editor Ryan Block agreed that the photo had been copied and cropped, stated that it had been a mistake, and apologized and restored the image's attribution.^[20]

T-Mobile "magenta" accusations[link]

On March 31, 2008, Engadget reported that Deutsche Telekom (the parent company of T-Mobile and T-Mobile USA) had sent a letter requesting that Engadget cease using the color magenta in its Engadget Mobile site, claiming that T-Mobile had trademarked the color.^[21] Engadget issued a response on April 1, mainly by repainting the Engadget sites and changing the Mobile logo for the day to a logo that looks as though it is saying "Engadge t-mobile".^[22] The site has since returned to normal format, with the exception of the highlighting color.

Mass exodus[link]

In early 2011, a mass exodus ensued at Engadget with eight of the more prominent editorial and technology staff members leaving AOL to build a new gadget site with CEO Jim Bankoff at SB Nation.^[23] On leaving, Joshua Topolsky, former Editor-in-chief, is quoted having said, “We have been working on blogging technology that was developed in 2003, we haven’t made a hire since I started running the site, and I thought we could be more successful elsewhere”.

It appears the departure of the team from AOL which includes not only Topolsky but editors Nilay Patel, Paul Miller, Joanna Stern, Ross Miller, Chris Ziegler, Chad Mumm, Justin Glow, Dan Chilton, Thomas Ricker and Vladislav Savov was primarily the cause of an internal memo distributed by AOL detailing "The AOL Way", a 58-page long company plan to turn AOL into a media empire. Some employees suggested that AOL was destroying journalism for page views and that it would be difficult for the organisation to apply a 'one size fits all' business model to a business primarily made up of acquisitions with diverging outlooks.^[24]

Paul Miller makes a mention of this on his blog where he writes "I’d love to be able to keep doing this forever, but unfortunately Engadget is owned by AOL, and AOL has proved an unwilling partner in this site’s evolution. It doesn’t take a veteran of the publishing world to realize that AOL has its heart in the wrong place with content. As detailed in the “AOL Way,” and borne out in personal experience, AOL sees content as a commodity it can sell ads against".^[25] The group set up a "placeholder site", This is my Next, while they developed a new technology news site in partnership with Vox Media. The new site is called The Verge.

Awards[link]

People's Voice Webby Award in Consumer Electronics 2011 for The Engadget Show^[26]

See also[link]

List of The Engadget Show Episodes

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Engadget

• Engadget
• Technorati's top 100 blogs
• Engadget on Twitter
• Engadget at the iTunes Preview
• Engadget for iPad at the iTunes Preview