By now it’s clear that I have something of an obsession with Retrevo as a buying guide for consumer electronics, so it was good luck when I ran into CEO Vipin Jain just inside the door at the CES ShowStoppers event. He had Retrevo up for display and was quick to show me some of the latest improvements.
First, the site has added laptops, digital audio players and cell phones to its CE category guides. I consider laptops and cell phones to be both major purchases and categories where there are often an unwieldy number of options available. I like them as Retrevo additions. Second, the Retrevo value map I wrote about before is now more interactive. Quick pop-up information is available any time you mouse over a point plotted on the map. This makes it easier to determine which products are worth investigating further.
The new Retrevo features are iterative improvements, but welcome nonetheless. And having now met Vipin Jain in person, it’s just an added bonus to know that the man behind the company is good people. As a few people have pointed out, the best part about a show like CES is the people you meet.