Just about three and a half years ago now I bought an unlocked Sony Ericsson w800i "Walkman Phone," borrowed a friend's MOTO RAZR, and sat down to write my first reviews for PhoneDog. Long before there were any YouTube channels, invites to catered launch parties, or even a blog to speak of, PhoneDog's Co-Founders had grown the company from an idea to a small but successful tool to help consumers shop for long distance services. A few years later we're all about wireless, but it's that work that Tom, Andre, and Rebecca did before anyone had even heard of Android or iPhone that allowed me to join the fold in '06, and PhoneDog to grow into a blog with an awesome team of Editors, a video channel on YouTube and iTunes, and now a network of mobile tech sites.

It gives me all kinds of goose bumps to formally announce DroidDog.com and BBerryDog.com, the first two of PhoneDog's new network sites. DroidDog, our Android-focused destination, is already up and running under the masterful eye of John Walton. BBerryDog will be launching very soon (once you've finished voting on a logo design) under the also-masterful watch of Aaron Baker. John and Aaron will continue their great work for PhoneDog.com while also serving as Managing Editors of their respective labors of love. That's what makes this so exciting for all of us - it's truly a labor of love to cover the mobile tech industry and to do it for you, our readers, viewers, and always-spirited commenters. Whether you're making suggestions for dogfights, providing tips and tricks for your fellow readers, or calling us all sorts of names by way of disagreeing with a review, Top 5 list, or blog post theorizing about when and where the next hot new phone will launch, it's you all that make this job worthwhile.

Honest. The catered launch parties and trips to Barcelona and Vegas are nice, don't get me wrong. But it's all of you who make it worthwhile for all of us.

DroidDog and BBerryDog are the first of our network sites, and we've got plans on the drawing board for a few more in the coming months. But don't worry, PhoneDog isn't going anywhere. We're super excited to roll out some technical and content improvements designed to make it easier for you to interact with us and each other all across PhoneDog.com and our presences on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and whatever social networks crop up next. We know our Inboxes are overflowing and certain forum threads have been waiting for an answer from the Editors for far too long now. From the IT Guy to the Business Manager Gal to Adriana the Gadget Editor, we've all been working on ideas to make the site - now, the sites, plural - better for you. And we're eager to roll out our work and see how you like it.

As our humble way of saying thanks, we're going to kick the One-Pawed Bandit up a few notches this Fall with a ton of high-end giveaways. Yes, high-end. Yes, hot new phones. The behind the scenes folks at PhoneDog always work hard, but they worked extra-hard this Summer to line up some seriously cool handsets to give away and a seriously great new partner to help us do it. So stay tuned for that - I think you'll like what we've got on deck in the giveaway department, even if you'll still need three handsets in a row to win on One-Paw. Yes, three handsets - three cherries is not a winner, sorry.

So once again, thank you for allowing us to do what we do. No readers and no viewers would mean no PhoneDog, so we look forward to your (ahem, always honest) reactions to our new sites, new features, and new giveaways. And we look forward to continuing to do what we seem to be doing a pretty okay job at: Bringing you honest looks at the latest in mobile phones, wireless services, and whatever else the design and engineering geniuses in this industry have on tap for us next. 

Thanks for coming along on this crazy ride with us. And feel free to invite some new friends to join the party ... Enough outta me, I've got an appointment with Motorola and Verizon to get to (yes, it's "Droid Day" today).

With A Huge Thank You,

Noah Kravitz

Editor in Chief, PhoneDog   (PhoneDog Networks? PhoneDog Media? The PhoneDog Family of Awesome Phone Sites?)

P.S.  Yes, my title changed. No, I won't stop making videos filled with lame jokes. Unless you really want me to.