Hello and welcome to the all new Pocketables.com, bigger and better than ever and now home to Good and EVO, Nothing But Tablets, and StreakSmart.
Since Pocketables was acquired by CrowdGather last year, we continued to bring you the latest news about pocket-sized tech and also introduced a weekly newsletter and podcast with the rest of the CrowdGadgets team. Now it’s time to take the site to the next level with a new focus, a larger staff of gadget experts, a multi-site merge, and a complete design overhaul.
New Focus
We’re tearing the seams of our previously sizist “pocket” definition and expanding our coverage to include more of the devices that interest you. Pockets aren’t exclusive to pants and coats, after all. You can carry an iPad or 11″ Macbook Air in a range of ScottEVest clothing pockets, a 10″ Android tablet slips easily into a backpack or messenger bag pocket, and an ultrabook or notebook fits into airplane and car back pockets.
In addition to welcoming more gadgets, the new Pocketables.com (we’re not a .net anymore!) will return to its roots by including more long-term coverage and feature-specific reviews of single devices that we’re using in our real lives.
We’ll also be increasing our daily post count and bringing you fun new series, collaborative articles, and original content you won’t be able to find anywhere else.
Larger Staff and Merged Sites
Since this is quite the undertaking, we’ve asked a few of our sister sites to join us on our new adventure. That’s why as of today, Good and EVO (G&E), Nothing But Tablets (NBT), and StreakSmart (SS) are all taking up permanent residence right here at Pocketables. This merge brings together some of our most obsessed gadget experts, while also consolidating and strengthening CrowdGather’s tech vertical.
Your favorite editors packed up and moved along with their sites (some are already familiar names around here): John Freml and Paul King from G&E, Andreas Odegard and Bryan Faulkner from NBT, and Calob Horton from SS. Joining them are Aaron Orquia, who you may already know from Pocketables, and William Devereux from the non-merged Anythingbutipad/phone/pod trio of sites. I’ll stop by every so often too. If you don’t know or remember me, hello there. My name is Jenn, and I founded Pocketables in 2006 and G&E and SS in 2010.
While we hope that faithful readers of these sites will become devoted readers of this site, we understand that some of you may not be ready for the change. That’s okay. We’ve made a special top menu bar for you with links to take you directly to where you want to go to see only the content you want to see.
Click “GOOD AND EVO,” for example, and you’ll find everything from the old G&E plus all the new EVO-related content you would’ve seen if the site had been untouched. In other words, it’s the same G&E you’ve always known; it’s just at a different URL. And since you’re reading this, you already know that GoodAndEVO.net now redirects to pocketables.com/htc-evo (NothingButTablets.com takes you to pocketables.com/tablets and StreakSmart.com leads to pocketables.com/dell-streak). Our social media links have not been changed and will continue to display the content you’re used to; that is, you’ll still find only G&E content autopublished to the G&E Twitter feed.
When you’re ready to venture beyond the G&E/NBT/SS “micro site” to see what the entire Pocketables has to offer, just click back to the main home page and you’ll find all the G&E/NBT/SS posts seamlessly merged with the content from the rest of the site.
Design Overhaul
Now let’s talk about the new design, which is undoubtedly the first thing you noticed. Regardless of which site you’re coming from, we know this is completely different from it.
Change always takes some getting used to, so while we don’t expect everyone to immediately embrace the makeover, we hope you’ll focus on and enjoy the content more than any layout element.
That said, however, we do think our new look is a change for the better. It’s fresher, sleeker, and more representative of what the new Pocketables is all about. At the top of our main home page we have quick links to the G&E, NBT, and SS sections, as well as the CrowdGadgets website. Below that is our updated logo and navigation bar to the main areas of the site, including our forum. Then you’re looking at our Featured Posts Slider, which is regularly updated to display 5 of the best posts across the site, followed by 10 of our most recent posts, each in its own little box. Click on any photo or title to view the entire post. The sidebar on the right contains a search bar, social media links, and other useful information, and you’ll find our latest tweets at the bottom of the page.
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And that’s the new Pocketables! We all think it’s going to be awesome and hope you’ll give us the opportunity to prove that to you. Whether you’ve been here since the site was pink and about UMPCs, this is your first visit, or you fall anywhere in between, thanks for reading and allowing us to do what we love to do. No one knows where this new path will lead us, but I hope we can find out together.
This is very exciting!
I’d like to welcome all of our new readers, as well as everyone who followed us over from our other CrowdGather Gadget Network sites. We have some great stuff in store for you!
WTH. Good and EVO was better on it’s own
Agreed, I hate it. I much rather like the old G&E site…you know, the one where you don’t have to click on every story to read most of it? I hate that I can’t just browse the page anymore and read most of what I want to know. Now I have to click on each article to even get the main points. Very much dislike the new site.
I thought the big announcement was an official launch date for the EVO 4G LTE…sigh
So did they just axe GoodandEVO.net?
The whole point of the sight was that it was all about the EVO worst move ever. Just lost a reader.
All of the G&E-only content can be found here: http://www.pocketables.com/htc-evo
Aside from this welcome message, that page will only show you stuff from G&E.
Willing to give it a shot…
Do not like it! I’ve been a reader for over 2 years, and loved goodandevo.net and it’s layout. It was all about the evo line and pretty straight forward about it. Now I dont know in what direction to look!
Just look here: http://www.pocketables.com/htc-evo
We are looking there. It just doesn’t help to be jumping back and forth from left to right to figure out which are the most recent articles. It’s so much easier to read from top to bottom.
…not to mention having to actually click the article to read it.
We used to get complaints about the old layout, too, that it was too cumbersome to go through all the articles to get the information that you wanted. This way, it’s a bit easier to scan all the most recent stuff to see what you want to read. It’s impossible to please everyone, unfortunately! :-/
I guess I get your point. I just saw below that someone found the RSS feed for G&E, so I will just use that. It’s closer to what I want. I do miss the RED though.
Give it a shot – GoodandEVO tab will look a bit different, but the content’s going to be the same unless they axe me or John.
Then again, perhaps I’m fine with it because I write about and change EVO ROMs left and right and nothing ever stays the same.
And if it is a terrible experience for EVO owners after a bit, ask for changes. I don’t think anyone’s feelings will be hurt if people nicely say “I like this and this, but hate that and that” after trying it out for a bit.
My two cents while I await a 400 gig backup to complete and hope that the new interface for writers is better than Typepad’s was..
Would be nice if the main page was 4 or (how many are there now?) vertical columns with each blog in it. So on the left you could have G&E, the next could be “anything but iphone”, then nothingbuttablets- oh heck I don’t know what your other columns are but having those scrollable and readable from the main screen would be nice.
That’s a good idea and sort of what we were trying to do at the bottom with the twitter/rss feed. Maybe that is something we can do as an alternative customization home screen. Thank you for the suggestion, I just copied it to my OneNote- keep them coming!
Guys, don’t be bitches. Good and Evo just want to try something new. And this way we get more information on the new gadgets going around.
You mad bro?
I’ve been a reader of G&E since I got my OG EVO early last year. It has helped a lot with root related articles, and I’ve enjoyed the other content. As long as that type of content remains, I don’t care what portal I get it through. If anything, this will open up a broader range of similar gadget news to me. I’ll miss G&E’s site layout, but as long as I can still get the same specialized information, I don’t mind the change.
I’m very much willing to give the new consolidation a shot!
I like the look and it’s much kinder to my mobile devices. Typing up comments is still a pain but other than that, let the Evo news roll! Anything that helps support the writers to let them report exclusively on Evos is good news to me.
Jenn,
Change is tough I loved G&E but I do like the new layout – can you maybe keep the site headers from the individual pages?
I will continue to view G&E but you know what? I had no idea there were sites like NBT and this will bring more exposure for us gadget freaks.
I’m happy for the merger. Congratulations Jenn.
I think it looks good. I like the idea of varied content and multiple forums covering lots of brands in one site. Nice work Pocketables!
Don’t be afraid of change people. I think they know what they’re doing. Keep up the great work everybody.
Oh wow. I kept checking the old G&E site all day because I thought it was going to redirect to the new site.
I only found this via the G&E Facebook page. Anyway, good luck on the new site and I will stick around as always.
The old URLs will redirect to the new site. The backend changes just haven’t gone live yet.
I miss the “EVO red” color scheme; the light blue is harder to read… especially the light blue/white gradient used for the comments. I would have thought the merger would have resulted in a high quality layout/design and not just a canned theme/skin… :/
I know looks come down to personal taste, so whatever.
I just hope that we see more content about custom Roms/Kernel, good hacks/mods and USEFUL apps.
I don’t need another place to be bombard with “sponsored product/accessory” reviews that just try to sell us $50 cases, chargers, etc.
Yeah, I can get used to this. It may take getting used to but I also like the variety of information to compare the mighty EVO to other phones since I have not decided yet to get the new EVO.
Just push the good and evo tab and get over it im on board no big deal
Been long time reader of GaE since I’ve owned all (almost, still haven’t gotten the new one) EVOs. Was scared for the change but then again I might be giving up EVOs for Samsung S III when my upgrade comes around. Still in big debate on that one, so might be nice to have a sight that looks outside of the box (since I also sport a ASUS Transformer Prime).
But the downside, every time I try any of the links I get this: Error establishing a database connection
Please fix.
I think the G&E loyalists loved having a site that was completely dedicated to them. I see what you guys have done, but man… give it a try, but it does feel like I lost a friend. You took aware part one of my geeky things away from me.
Do not like the new site at all. Got the EVO LTE at wal mart today, I picked up the last one. Blow me WireFly.
When is pocketables going to get a app?
Not impressed. Do not like the new format. And it is slow loading and browsing. Think you missed it. Sorry to see GoodAndEvo go down the tubes like this. Long time reader – not sure where I will go for my EVO info now. Thanks for nuttin’
Personally, I like this new and improved site. I’ve followed you for the past 6 years and love all your sites. Congratulations! Keep up the good work!
Wow, all your great commentary and info at one concise site. I like the format and the navagatability. Keep up the great work and look forward to your reviews.
Wow, all your great commentary and info at one concise site. I like the format and the navagatability.
It says in the description that we just need to type in goodandevo.net and we’ll get redirected to pocketables.com/htc-evo, but it’s not happening for me. Is this happening to anyone else? Is the domain goodandevo.net still going to be active to redirect us, or will we have to type in the new address every time now?
Thanks
Oh well another reason to sell my 3D and buy a galaxy nexus. Later!!!
wth? I take it we can’t pay the bills for our own website.
Glad you’re back! I was going through G&E withdrawals!
I concur with ST7, basically keep good content growing. I’ve trolled the other sites (pocketables, nbt, etc), so having “everthing” in one place is ok.
Also, throw in a giveaway soon! An EVO 4g LTE would be sweet.
But since I got mine last Friday, a case would be okay. 
“everything” – dang stock keyboard! Or fat fingers?
Looks like the site is back now and all the urls are redirecting properly.
I liked having the separate site for my evo news. Oh well, nothing I can do. I do miss all the red in the g&e site.I hope this works out otherwise they are about to loss a lot of readers.
Kind of miss what GoodandEvo was, but I am sure in time we all will become accustomed to this format as well.
Any chance we can get a separate rss feed for goodandevo only? Id like to add it to my Pulse app.
looks like the rss is available here … http://feeds.feedburner.com/goodandevo
Thanks Bis, that is a much better way to get G&E content. I needed to consolidate some of my more common reading into one place anyway! Looks good on Google Currents.
LOL. Yooooo. People are pissed about this. Here the thing if sprint had ever decided to drop the Evo brand GoodandEvo.net would adventurally go down hill. Since they merged with these guy they have now insured some stablity. (I hope that is what has happen otherwise you just screwed yourself.) This will help them be more flexiable with thier content if the worst was to happen. In other words it looks to be a (ERPP) Evo Recession Proof Plan. Not the most popular move but a smart one.
i think you’ve nailed it!!
I stopped reading after the first few negative comments. I like it. It’s still a separate Evo page with the same Evo news, now it’s just connected with a few other(great) pages. Give it time. Also, I can actually read the comments when at work, on GoodandEvo.net the forums were blocked from my network!!
here here to this comment, i mean all you really have to do is click goodandevo tab if you don’t like change… and it has extra gadget info. If the information and articles that pass through the previous goodandevo remains consistent then really there should be no problem… although i do agree with andy, i’m kinda missing the red
bring back the red!
The new format is ugly and it loads terribly slow on my mobile phone.
A site for/about mobile phones that loads slowly on said mobile phone is a downright injustice.
Clean up your act
Things are fast today, we had a rogue WordPress plugin slowing down the site yesterday- its since been fixed. Enjoy!
That’s crap.
It took 2 minutes and 47 seconds to fully load the page on my Evo 4G LTE.
Oh brother, I get less drama from my 7 year old! Some of you act like Jen just kicked a puppy! There’s a tab at the top of the screen that gets you specific Evo info. There is literally a 1 mouse click difference between the resource we had and what we now have. The layout is a bit different, but still easily accessibly and enjoyable. Obviously a lot of thought went into catering to the needs of each group through the merge, and it’s good execution.
This new site is painfully ugly. 2 thumbs down!
Having worked in IT for 15 years and having “forced” thousands of users to change and use new programs along the way, I feel your pain. One thing I know is that you will NEVER satisfy everyone. Keep feeding the great content on the Evo line and I’ll continue to read. Thanks for looking forward.
Meh Liked the old site better. More article preview less boxes. will keep checking in but site is less appealing than your old one. Hope the content keeps up. Even if I have to click more to read it.
Whatever happened to the old KISS method. I miss all the old websites that load fast and have less “features” and more style
Unlike. Where’s the red?? I feel all grey and depressed looking at this site. Guess I’ll stick with the RSS feed so I don’t have to look at this site layout.
aww wtf ?! where is my simple yet very functional EVO exclusive site? pocket tables? me no like but I guess as long as they have a Good & Evo section that gets updated daily it will suffice.
The only thing I don’t like is that the RSS feed link for Good and Evo takes me to pocketables home page instead of http://www.pocketables.com/htc-evo.
Not that big of a deal.
I would like the text to be a bit darker, though.
Definitely would love to try out the new site, but the “clumping” of all of the sites into one does sort of seem to make the uniqueness of the original EVO site seem like an afterthought when it is combined all in one place (like seeing reviews about iPhone stuff feels weird to me). I miss the layout too- I got used to it I guess. I know that I can access EVO only stuff by using the tab at the top, but it just feels differnt now. Have been reading since Good and EVO started, and was referring people all of the time. Will be a change that I will have to get used to
Yeah, as many others have said I’m really disappointed. I lost one of my favorite sites. No offense but your new GUI really sucks and is cumbersome. I’ll be removing you from my bookmark and I might stop by from time to time, but you just lost, another, dedicated subscriber. I’m glad I found Inside Sprint Now and S4GRU in the past few weeks as I’ll miss G&E! I remember a few years ago when I won my Seidio Extended Battery and Case from G&E! It was one hell of a ride while it lasted but there are too many other focused Android sites out there for me to take my time to view one dedicated to all types of phones I don’t own. I think you made a big mistake you’ll eventually come to regret. Mark it…
5th O…U…T…
not a fan of the new layout … sorry but you added extra clicks when all i care about what the EVO content.
I’ve been a reader(most recently a lurker) on G&E since the original Evo came out. I had the Evo 4G and Evo 3D and this was my favorite site to get news for them. I no longer have any Evo anymore(G-Note as of Februrary), but I still like to keep up to date with my sentimental first true smartphone.
I think most people who don’t like the site just miss the familiarity of the old site. I do too. It’s nice to see Jenn posting again though. Jenn I always imagined you were a middle aged white woman for some reason. I’m wrong:)
Anyways, I hope this site continues to do well…I don’t have any Evo anymore, but maybe next year when Sprint gets LTE deployed, I’ll be back.
Absolutely love it. You guys have my full support. Keep up the awesome work!
Fantastic job! (as usual) Progress requires change.
This is an awful move IMO, the unique thing about goodandevo was it was a website dedicated to the EVO line. Yes its the same great content but we lost our website. The EVO line is obviously special to all of us and so was the website, which you took away. Hate this move, bring back goodandevo!!!
Only if I had my lap top with me ,or a tablet … Or a iPhone ,or an iPad
This would be an Awsome web site if …. SOME TIMES U HAVE TO X YOUR FAVORITE WEB SITE
ok, maybe i missed this; but if i remember correctly G&E was pure EVO and HTC. When i clicked the new link, the 1st thing i see is iPads. I understand the sublink to get the the G&E the point was exclusive andriod only and non bulk kinda like ROOTING a phone to get away from their bloatwear. So do us, the users need to ROOT the site to get back to basics of what WE the USER who keep you, the writters with a reason to do what you do? Changing something that you create as a constant versus just asking the masses if change would affect or run off the loyal. I read the site because of the insiteful info, the great advice and best of all VOICING YOUR OPPINION. Here is mine, if its not broke, dont fix it. Its like trying to recreate the wheel, the 1st one works, dont change it lol.
For everyone else that thinks there is way to much junk on a site we check with our phones thy this good and evo link http://mippin.com/mip/plus/list.jsp?&id=434144
I replaced you link with the official G&E feed- you can also install the G&E mobile app to get back all the look and feel. =) http://mippin.com/app/goodandevo
I liked StreakSmart the way it ws. I’m not sure I like this new layout. Looking left, then right, then down/left, then right etc… Also I only get a couple of sentences of each article. Now when I remember an old article and want to search for it I get the whole site not just StreakSmart content. Lets say I want to recall the special tools for rooting my streak: on StreakSmart I type root in the search bar and I get all the articles about rooting my Dell Streak but now that we are at the ‘redirect’, I type root in the search bar and I get results for rooting every device not just the Dell Streak. (I can probably include “Streak” in my query and get most of the results but what about someone who posted on the StreakSmart site and substituted “it” for “Dell Streak” since they were on a site dedicated to that device only?) I thought StreakSmart was set up to be an individual site dedicated to all things Dell Streak only.