Welcome to Verge Guidebook

Today we’re starting the next stage of tech reviews at The Verge, and we’re calling it Verge Guidebook. Reviews have always been at the red-hot center of what we do here, and after our redesign last November, we wanted to make sure that everything we have been (and will be!) doing with tech reviews is easier to find.

Think about your favorite city guide or a really great book about your favorite hobby. The best guidebooks explain things simply without talking down to you. They’re based on years of work and research from the most qualified and intelligent people in their fields, but they distill it down into something that’s actually fun to read and watch. They’re approachable, connecting to real experiences and culture instead of throwing arcane terminology in your face.

With Guidebook we’re going to put our knowledge and expertise to work so you can learn everything about the tech we review and live with every day. We’re introducing new sections and reviving old ones — and later this year we’ll be doing even more.

So what’s new?

Well! We’ve got an all-new Tech Reviews page where you can quickly find everything we’re doing, broken down by section. We’ll be pinning our most important categories where you can find them, and updating each section more often. You’ll be able to scroll down this main page and see everything, all in one place.

A new How-To section will focus on actually using all of the products and services we’re covering. We’ll have simple, small tips and in-depth how-to articles that can take you from a novice to an expert (or an expert to a wizard) without feeling like you’re slogging through a textbook.

This is My Next is back! We’ll be updating our best of lists on a rolling basis instead of a seasonal schedule. But don’t worry, our TIMN video is sticking around, and we’ll have new episodes later this year.

Editor’s Choice. Yep, we’re doing it. We’re slapping a big ol’ badge on our very favorite products. This award will be given to products we can (and do) personally recommend to our friends, family, and random strangers on the street. Often the Editor’s Choice will be a product that’s the very best you can get — but not always! Sometimes a product transcends purely objective reasoning and is great just because it is. It’s for our personal picks, the stuff we use, we think you’ll want to use, or has earned a special place in our hearts.

The return of What’s in your bag? We’re going to splay out all the gear that Verge writers and friends of the Verge actually bother to carry around every day. (Hint: it’s only the good stuff, and there’s more of it than you might think.)

More video! You should expect much more video from us covering reviews, how-tos, and This is My Next best-of lists. We’ll be doing our usual, high-quality stuff, including some scrappy experiments on Circuit Breaker.

Even with all this new stuff — and a new emphasis on telling you how to actually use all this tech — we are still going to keep doing all the things that make Verge reviews great: authoritative reviewers who know their stuff cold; incredible video and photography that’s more than just gadget porn, but actually helps tell the story of the technology; telling you what’s good, what’s bad, and explaining why it matters. The Verge is founded on the idea that tech creates culture and culture creates tech, and Verge Guidebook is our way of figuring out how well all that tech actually works.