Review: AndroidGuys

All the blogs I have reviewed up until this point in time have been mainly authored by one individual. Although for most blogs having one author is the norm, this week I review a blog that seems to go beyond that norm.

From the design to the focus of this week’s blog, you will see that this isn’t your ordinary blog. This week I review AndroidGuys.

Web Site: AndroidGuys

Description: A site dedicated to Google Android and the Open Handset Alliance. We cover the 34 companies involved in Android including Motorola, Samsung, Intel, T-Mobile, etc. Run by a handful of guys with a love of smartphones and gadgets.

Design 

When I first viewed the blog I noticed one thing straight away: the design and layout is not what I am accustomed to in a blog. While there is a menu bar at the top, and a side navigational bar on the right, the content section is much different than that of a standard blog.

Within the content section the authors have chosen to include a featured article at the top, some recent headlines on the left, and an editorial and opinion section to the right. This introduces visitors with many articles to read, while focusing one main article at the top. I like this format as it definitely looks professional.

The only problem I saw with the design appears in Internet Explorer. It appears the browser can’t find some images in the recent headline articles, so it displays the usual square with the red “X”. This is the only serious issue I found.

The menu bar at the top provides some nice links including Podcasts, information on members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), the about and contact pages, and other secondary links.

The navigation sidebar is nicely ordered with links to similar posts, archives, and categories all easy to find and use. Some may have trouble reading the categories list as there isn’t much contrast between the link colour and the background colour.

I really like the design of AndroidGuys as it is much different than most blogs online today.

Focus 

For those that are having trouble determining the focus, it is about the Open Handset Alliance and Android. It seems most of the posts are regarding one of these two subjects. I don’t know much about OHA or Android, but I’ll read the posts to find out.

Content 

The posts of AndroidGuys are really well-written, with very little spelling mistakes. There aren’t many images that go along with each post, however, the posts are not too long so an image isn’t necessary to add colour to the text.

There are times when the posts reference a published article on another site. The authors have chosen to write about the article in their own words, and at times quote a few sentences from the article. They have also included a link to the referenced article. For those that like to use published content on your blog, take note: this is the professional way of referencing published content from another site.

The content of AndroidGuys is some of the best content I have seen on a blog, with well-written and professional posts.

Spelling and Grammar 

I read a few posts and found no spelling or grammar mistakes, at least none that took away from the readability of the post.

Overall 

If you are interested in the Open Handset Alliance or Android then you should definitely check out AndroidGuys. This site has probably compiled the most information on these two subjects.

For those that aren’t interested in those subjects, you should check out the blog anyway to see how a professional blog is authored.