Devoted to technical writing and technical writers

As writers in the tech industry, we often get review units that more often than not  have not yet reached retail. Because of this, there is a greater chance that we may get some factual error in product descriptions and features because there was not product manual.

Here are some tips to help us get accurate information and do good product reviews.

Product Naming
The most common first step would be to Google for the product. Be wary of alpha and beta code names as well as nicknames for certain products like phones and PDAs. Also keep in mind that  product names such as xx10, xx50 and xx00 may be the same product after all depending on where the units are shipped. Europe, the USA and Asia usually have different naming schemes.

Be wary also of OEMs that may license the same product to different brands. You may have a Siemens smartphone that looks exactly like something from O2. Take note of the OEMs such as HTC and Quanta and see what they are making first.