Social Network Gadget Site Launches - GDGT

Normally we talk about phones and services related to them in this blog but today I'm going to mention a new website for gadget lovers called gdgt. The site is a mix of social networking, a wiki, tech forum and review site. What's not to love?The site was launched yesterday by Ryan Block and Peter Rojas. Ryan Block is the former editor in chief at Engadget and Peter Rojas is the co-founder of both Engadget and Gizmodo. Both of these guys have tons of experience with gadget related sites and everyone was anxious to see what the new site would be all about. I knew it wouldn't be another tech blog, but didn't know what it would be.

They started doing the gdgt podcast last fall that lasts about an hour each week. Cell phones certainly seem to take up a majority of the time, which is fine by me as I think that is the most interesting part of the gadget world right now. They do talk about a wide variety of technology though, from the latest news at Apple to game consoles and the forthcoming Zune HD.

Yesterday the site launched (then crashed, relaunched, crashed again, etc. until they finally got the massive bandwidth they needed to handle the traffic) and it isn't just another tech blog by any means. Once you go there, the first thing you should do is watch the video by Veronica Belmont that will give you a quick two minute overview of what the site offers.

Then you can create an account and start adding devices to your profile of what you have had in the past, what you have now and what you want. Don't see your device listed? No problem. Just like a Wiki, you can add devices to the system. They have a comprehensive and dynamic template that steps you through things like battery life, screen size, number of controllers, memory and whatever else is relevant to the type of device you are adding to the system. Once you've added it and it has been approved, all other gdgt users can then add that device to their profile. They can also add and correct information that might be missing.

On the community page, you can see what is going on with other members and choose to follow those that have interests similar to yours. They also have the more traditional discussion forums so you can get into deeper discussions about a device, technical problems or rumors.

It is a site worth having in your bookmarks for any gadget lover, especially mobile phone enthusiasts. I just signed up yesterday and haven't had a chance to fully flesh out my profile, which is EdH. I plan to spend a little time over there this week and get all my gadgets listed, including a few that I want to pick up in the next few months.