Introduction

With so much of our resources going into the launching of new topic areas such as the Mobile Device Guide , and the addition of Peripherals reviews, we haven't had the opportunity to create the kind of news content that our readers deserve. That's all about to change.

Now, things are going to change. First and most important: We're partnering with The Register UK - a site that we consider to be the best information technology news service on the Web - to create www.TheRegUS.com , The Register USA . The reasons are simple, we like The Register's style, the people who work there, and their attitude. We want to read their stuff, and see them get more exposure in the US.

So, here are the facts:

Tom's Hardware Guide, and The Register UK will continue as they are. This is not a merger as gossip on the Web has had it. www.TheRegUS.com will cater to the US audience that has, so far, only had access to The Register UK. Yes, The Register will contribute to Tom's Hardware Guide's news coverage, but Tom's will always have a hardware focus while The Register is billed as an IT news site. The two sites are partners. In addition, Tom's is bringing on board Scooby McKay, our own news editor to beef up the Hard News area on THG.

With www.TheRegUS.com we feel we have a partner who can shake up technology news and that's a good thing. The Reg guys in the UK have been doing that for some time now, and they have a growing US audience, but the focus has been mostly for a UK audience. We're broadening the US focus, and localizing the content where appropriate .

Let's be honest - almost all tech news is becoming puffy, manufactured, manipulative, and boring. Really good tech news journalists in the mainstream press don't have a heck of a lot of opportunities these days. Most at the big tech publishers have either laid them off or are severely hampering their talent as their management struggles to win ad dollars. The control has slipped into the hands of PR reps, and spinmeisters, some of whom will burn in hell. We're are committed to rooting out evil doers everywhere in the topical manner of the times we live in.

The founders of The Register, including Mike Magee who set up breakaway organization The Inquirer, are all tech journalists who share our desire to cut through the crap that gets fed to a tech savvy audience, and treat them like intelligent beings. You can read The Reg and even if you don't agree with the editors, they certainly ain't dull.

In addition, Tom's is going to welcome its own undercover news hound, Scooby McKay. That's obviously not his real name, but despite the bad choice of an alias, we think he has the makings of a good news guy.

McKay is not the easiest guy to get along with, and we have a tough time getting a hold of him, but he is going to do something that we should have done some time ago, and that is keeping our readers informed of what's going on in the rest of the hardware world on the Web. In light of the tough times for the tech business, and the struggles that a lot of sites are having, we should do our bit to support the guys doing a good job out there, and make sure that everyone hears about them .

McKay, if anyone cares, is a former journalist with some spare time that's available to us, and he has a big mouth. He doesn't really seem to like people, but he has good intentions, and he's beeing dogging us to work here for a long, long time. He'll never wear a Tom's badge at trade shows or, tell you his real name, and that's fine by us.

So, send your news scoops to scooby@tomshardware.com , and we'll keep our fingers crossed that the guy works out. I know he isn't going to be reading this so, it's safe to warn you about him.

Take a look at www.TheRegUS.com , and if you like what you see, spread the word . Keep giving feedback to us and The Reg editors. We can't always reply, but we do read everything you send us.

As always, we continue to thank you for your support and enthusiasm for the site and the work that all the editors do.