Launching in beta today is MyCE, a community-driven network that aims to cross swords with the CNETs and GDGTs of this world when it comes to building places on the Web people gather to share news, reviews and knowledge about consumer electronics and gadgets. The site is a new venture from Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based RankOne Media.
Actually, it’s not entirely new. MyCE is in fact the rebranded version of CDFreaks.com, an online community founded in 2007 focused solely on optical storage devices. The existing community, which the company claims currently amounts to about 3.5 million unique monthly visitors, will be integrated and rolled over to the new platform it is debuting today.
Much like the recently launched gdgt, MyCE lets you create a user profile that includes lists of products you own and wish you owned. You can go to the site to discuss news about certain electronics and gadgetry, argue about what certain products lack and what they rule at, compare pricing and write reviews, but also to set up or join conversations centered around support and troubleshooting.
The site supports OpenID, so you can sign up with your Windows Live ID or Google, Yahoo, Facebook account (among others). Members can cross-post reviews to Twitter, Facebook, etc.
The content on MyCE.com is nearly 100% user-generated, the company says, and mostly consists of in-depth product reviews written by 70+ voluntary community members located all over the globe. The database is currently about 100,000 products strong, and the site will kick off with 450,000+ registered members it’s transferring from the former CDFreaks.com community. About 60% of its traffic comes from the U.S., and the rest is evenly split between the UK and Continental Europe.
MyCE is an entirely bootstrapped initiative and its parent company will continue to generate revenue through advertising and affiliate partnerships with online retailers.
