TechSpot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| TechSpot | |
|---|---|
 TechSpot.com screenshot taken on October 2007 |
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| URL | http://www.techspot.com |
| Type of site | Technology websites |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | English, Spanish |
| Owner | TechSpot |
| Created by | Julio Franco |
| Launched | May 1998 |
| Current status | Active |
TechSpot is a computer enthusiast website founded in 1998 by Julio J. Franco. TechSpot is updated daily with news from the technology and computer industry, reviews of PC products, software downloads and device driver updates. The site is also known for offering system optimization tips on its 'guides & tweaks' section.
From PC fanatics to professionals in the technology field, TechSpot is visited by over 3.2 Million unique readers every month (Quantcast & Google Analytics, February 2008).
Over the years TechSpot has been featured and mentioned in several newspapers and recognized publications including: PC World Magazine, Maximum PC, PC Pro, PC Magazine, Computer Gaming World Magazine, ZDNet.com, among others.
[edit] History
TechSpot was first launched as 'Pure Rendition'. Back in early 1998, the website was started as a personal project and hosted on a free account on FortuneCity. The original site became famous for reporting news on the popular 3d accelerators based on Rendition Verite graphics processors. Shortly after the site was renamed to '3D Spotlight'. As the name change implied, it no longer reported on Rendition 3D products only, but on the 3d gaming scene as a whole. The late 90s saw a revolution of 3d graphics and 3d audio in the PC, from 3dfx Voodoo graphics, to nowadays' graphics giants NVIDIA and ATI.
It wasn't until 2001 that the website was named "TechSpot". TechSpot.com was built upon the success of 3D Spotlight, offering a broader scope on its reporting, and by then receiving over a million readers every month.
There is a screenshot gallery portraying some of the site's past designs, which can give an outlook of web design trends from the late 90s to the present.
[edit] Site Structure
TechSpot has gone through several evolutionary changes since its inception. The first sections to open were the reviews and guides. A community forum was also added in the earlier years and currently consists of over 500,000 user-generated articles from about 15,000 actively registered members.
In recent years TechSpot has added new sections that also receive daily updates: software downloads and device drivers. Both sections offer a combined catalog of over 13,000 downloads.
In July 2006, TechSpot in Spanish opened its doors as an on-going effort to deliver technology content to visitors from Spain and South America.
