Top Stories on YugaTech for 2008

As the year 2008 is ending, I dug up into my Google Analytics to see which stories in tech made a lot of buzz here on YugaTech. We’re heavy on gadgets and gizmo’s so here are the top 20 gadgets and top 10 stories published here this 2008.

Top 20 Most Popular Gadget Coverage

1. On top of our list is our coverage of the iPhone 3G. It’s not a surprise though and about half a dozen stories garnered over 50,000 pageviews throughout the year. The review alone was read by about 7,800 unique readers (excluding the RSS).
2. Hanging close is our coverage of the entire line of the Asus Eee PC with a combined pageviews of 50k as well.
3. The MSI Wind took the 3rd spot as the most popular gadget read on YugaTech with over 28,000 pageviews,  a fourth of which read the review.
4. The Nokia E71 came in 4th with 19,000 pageviews with half that number reading my review entry.
5. The 5th spot goes to another netbook — the Deep Blue H1 UMPC, the first netbook to be offered in the sub-10k price.
6. Samsung Omnia SGH i900
7. Sony Ericsson XPeria X1
8. HP Mini 2133
9. Nokia N78
10. Astone UMPC
11. Sony Ericsson c905
12. Lenovo IdeaPad s10
13. Compaq Presarion b1200
14. Nokia E51
15. Nokia E63
16. Verzio Duplii
17. LG KP500 Cookie
18. Nokia N81 8GB Special Edition
19. Redfox Wizbook
20. Acer Aspire One

Top 10 Most Popular Story Coverage

1. Smart Bro remains the most popular story on the blog, especially with the introduction of Smart Plug-it and the prepaid & postpaid plans.
2. Paypal‘s increasing presence and support for local e-commerce in the Philippines brought in a lot of people wanting to open a Paypal account for the first time. This also allowed me to earn a couple hundred bucks from Paypal’s Merchant Referral bonus.
3. After the quick failure of uMobile in the country, Red Mobile was relaunched and got a lot more attention because of the apparent TV commercials attacking the unlimited offer of competing networks.
4. Dell officially opened its doors to the Philippine market and existing customers were excited to get more models locally available plus the after-sales support.
5. Globe Visibility became a second choice next to Smart Bro after they discontinued their Unlimited plans. Still, they’ve got some loyal supporters wanting for more and waiting for the unlimited plans to go back.
6. “Are Internet Cafes Still a Good Business” is my most read feature story of the year with close to 10,000 pageviews.
7. When Smart Uzzap first launched, it looked it it was gearing to be a Chikka competitor. This PC-to-Mobile (and vice-versa) service from Smart is hoping to replace all other IMs in your PC and mobile phone.
8. uMobile promised to be the first in Asia to offer an ad-supported mobile service but looks like advertisers didn’t bite it.
9. Insider info on the apparent closure of the Intel Cavite plant spread as we investigate the real story behind it. An email interview with their Corporate Communications Manager did not yield any additional information.
10. Sun Cellular introduced their very own Wireless Broadband with unlimited use for Metro Manila-wide coverage for only Php999USD 17INR 1,443EUR 16CNY 124. This might have prompted Smart to offer their Smart Bro Mobile Postpaid plan to just Php1,500USD 26INR 2,167EUR 24CNY 186 (though still currently on hold).