T3 (magazine)

T3
Editor Rob Carney
Categories Technology, Gadgets
Frequency Monthly
Circulation 52,979 (ABC Jul–Dec 2013)[1]
Print and digital editions.
Publisher Nial Ferguson
First issue September 1996
Company Future plc
Country Worldwide
Language English
Website www.t3.com
ISSN 1364-2642

T3 magazine is a UK-based technology magazine, which specialises in gadgets, gizmos, and other technology.

Originally, T3 stood for Tomorrow's Technology Today, but this isn't used anywhere in the magazine or on the website anymore. It's exclusively referred to as T3 or T3.com. The magazine is popular but in terms of sales is ranked second among UK gadget magazines.[2] T3 magazine is available in most countries, and has syndicated/localised versions in over 20 countries.

History

The first issue of T3 magazine went on sale around September 1996. The magazine was a spin-off of a science magazine eventually launched as Frontiers, but the publishers decided to have a look at future technology. The reasoning was that there wasn't really an all-round consumer technology magazine in the UK market and that people love reading about technology and gadgets.

The magazine started off as a celebration of the best new technologies that were appearing, to explain how it all works, and how the technologies and products would impact the readers' lives, but evolved into a glossy entertainment magazine as well. Many of the readers started buying the magazine specifically to read about items that were outrageously expensive and outlandish, and the magazine was quickly seen as a 'licence to drool' over bleeding-edge technology. The first issue of the magazine featured the first DVD player to be imported into the UK.

Things started to become digital around 1996 - DECT telephones, digital cameras, PDAs, and later DVD and digital television technology. With most technology going digital and dropping in price, general interest for gadgets rose, as did sales of the magazine.

Ultimately, the magazine started moving away from pure technology coverage, and started writing about anything innovative. As the editor at the time said: "A slightly bigger TV, for example, wouldn't go in the magazine unless it was really sexy or had clever features". Around the same time, the magazine became less geeky in its approach to technology, and became much more of a magazine for design-conscious gadget-loving men. However, the addition of attractive models has drawn some limited suggestion that the publication still relies on a core readership of "sexually repressed nerds".

The first editor of T3 magazine was Steve Jarratt, who also launched Edge. He was followed by Paul Pettengale, Rob Mead, Mark Higham, James Beechinor-Collins, Michael Brook, Luke Peters and Matt Hill. The current editor Rob Carney took up the post in early 2015.

Syndication

T3 is a franchise with has local versions in a whole series of countries. The localised versions vary from country to country: Some editions are completely new magazines, created by a local team of journalists and designers under the T3 brand. Other syndications are adaptations of the UK version for a local market, or region (the T3 Middle East franchise, for instance): In some countries or markets, for example, the T3 cover girls are unacceptable, so they might be replaced with a more family-friendly or religion-friendly version. In other markets, the covers are re-shot with local models. Most syndicated versions of T3 magazine are a hybrid of both T3 UK content (both editorial and pictorial), and content geared towards local markets, with reviews of companies, services, and items relevant especially to the national market.

Per October 2009, syndicated editions included Australia, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dubai, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates.

Apart from separate magazines, T3's stories often appear in major newspapers, and the T3 staff are frequently featured on Radio and Television as industry experts. Articles are also syndicated in the technology section of the O2 Active portal.

T3 website

The T3 web site started off as a running advertisement for the magazine, but that has changed quite radically over time. The web site now has a number of staff members separate from T3 magazine, and it operates as a publication in its own right. T3.com now creates a lot of reviews exclusively for the web site, in addition to staying on top of gadget and technology stories as they happen.

Due to its links with the T3 brand and close ties with the industry it covers, the T3 web site frequently breaks news stories before any other outlets. It relaunched in December 2007 as t3.com.[3]

The T3 Podcast is an audio podcast published weekly on Fridays via T3.com and iTunes. It is hosted by presenter Dan Maudsley with T3 Operations Editor, Duncan Bell, and T3.com's Rhi Morgan. The 200th episode was broadcast live via Mixlr from the Hospital Club, London on 16 September 2011.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Plunkett, John (13 February 2014). "FHM circulation drops below 100,000". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  2. ↑ ABC UK
  3. ↑ "T3 - The Gadget Website". Future Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
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