Brandon Hill
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Have you ever found yourself at night behind a large crossover or a minivan with large display screens hanging from the ceiling (usually playing some Disney movie or other child-centric content)? While it provides tiny tots with something to occupy their attention when traveling, the moving images can be somewhat...
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If you have an older system that is still chugging along with a traditional hard disk drive (HDD), the easiest and most cost-effective way to speed up the machine in many standard uses is to drop in a solid state drive (SSD). This not only true for consumer and small businesses, but especially for enterprise market...
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If you’ve been looking in from the outside with regards to Google’s Project Fi wireless service, now is your chance to hop in with no strings attached. When Google launched Project Fi last year, it did so using an invitation-only system that artificially limited the number of people that could join the service. Google...
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What would we do without the Internet Archive? In the past few months alone, the Internet Archive has posted a virtual museum of old 80s and 90s era malware and resurrected over 2,300 MS-DOS games — all of which were playable through your browser. Today, the non-profit is upping the ante with the release of 500 Apple...
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If you’re running a Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL or a Lumia 550, your smartphone came straight from the factory running Windows 10 Mobile (which is still a work in progress). For those running older Lumias with Windows Phone 8.1, you’ve had to wait patiently for the official release of Windows 10 Mobile or take your chances in the Windows Insider
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Just over a year ago, lawmakers asked for the assistance of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in investigating Verizon’s use of supercookies to track users. After a lengthy investigation, the FCC returned its verdict today, fining Verizon $1.35 million for tracking users without their consent in an effort to...
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While Apple is gearing up for its fight with the U.S. Government on March 22nd in the San Bernardino iPhone case, the company lost an unrelated legal battle today. The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear Apple’s appeal in a case where it was found guilty of conspiring with five book publishers to raise the prices...
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If you’re a fan of all things Tesla, you’ll be delighted to learn that a sneaky white hat hacker has uncovered an unannounced, if not totally predictable, addition to the Model S and Model X product families. Jason Hughes did some poking around in Tesla’s recent 7.1 firmware and discovered references to a...
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Do you want Skynet? Because this is how you get Skynet! The U.S. Military currently deploys a number of robotic weapons systems – vehicles and platforms that can roam the earth or take to the skies, taking humans partially out of the equation. Aerial drones often carry extremely lethal payloads that are tasked with...
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It’s been an interesting few days for Amazon. The company came under fire late this week when it was revealed that Fire OS 5 removed device encryption from Fire tablets. Given the brouhaha surrounding encryption these days, Amazon’s decision was rather curious. The company confirmed the move in a statement yesterday...
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Microsoft is serving up a fresh Windows 10 Insider Preview build and thankfully, this one actually has a bit of extra meat on the bones instead of the skimpy releases we’ve received in the past. Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14279 is a Redstone release and brings with it additional language and regional support for...
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We’ve already seen what Samsung and LG have to offer this time around in the flagship Android smartphone realm thanks to the debut for Galaxy S7/Galaxy S7 Edge and LG G5 respectively last month at MWC 2016. But what about HTC? The company has been dropping hints via teasers for the past few weeks, but as is often the...
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Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events? Just when Apple is fighting tooth and nail to protect encryption on the iPhone and prevent the FBI from using software tricks to bypass passcode protection, Amazon is giving up on encryption altogether on its Fire tablets. Before you dive in here, check out our recent...
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Apple has found itself in a bind dealing with the U.S. Government over its reluctance to unlock an iPhone involved in an FBI investigation. Luckily, it appears that Apple has made more friends than enemies over the years, as a group of high-profile tech companies have filed an amicus brief [PDF] in support of...
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Back in May 2015, Oculus delivered some bad news for those that were possibly hoping to experience the Rift VR headset on Mac or Linux platforms. At the time, Oculus Chief Architect Atman Binstock stated that development on both platforms had been “paused in order to focus on delivering a high quality consumer-level...
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Apple is spreading its wings when it comes to using social media to engage its vast user base. That expansion kicks off today with the launch of @AppleSupport on Twitter, which not only will provide Apple Customers with tips and tricks for its products, but also field questions from those in need of technical...
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As we first heard in early January, Amazon is expanding its Echo family, and today the company is announcing two new Alexa-powered devices. The first is the Echo Dot, which looks like a regular Echo that has been hit with a shrink ray to take on the form of a hockey puck.
The Echo Dot doesn’t have all of the...
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A newly discovered attack vector is threatening to leave millions of websites underwater, gasping for air. Since we live in an acronym-crazed society, it should come as no surprise that this latest exploit described as Decrypting RSA with Obsolete and Weakened eNcryption goes by the name of "DROWN."
DROWN preys on...
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It appears that Google isn’t content with having a standardized fingerprint-authorized payment system, Android Pay, for its Android smartphone platform. The company is always thinking two steps ahead, looking to test the next biggest thing. Today, the latest glimmer in Google’s eye is its Hands Free mobile payments...
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If you have in your possession a work-issued iPhone, Apple will soon make it easier to determine if your employer is monitoring your activities and tracking your location. reddit user MaGNeTiX discovered in iOS 9.3 Beta 5 that Apple has enabled a new feature that displays a warning message on your lock screen that...
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If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the latest installment the Mass Effect series, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer. While speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen made it clear that Mass Effect: Andromeda won’t arrive until around...
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When it comes to “modern” gaming consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, it almost seems like we’re often stuck in the past. Sony and Microsoft released these fixed-hardware platforms, and we’re stuck with them for 7 to 8 years until the next generation comes around, and then the process repeats itself. Compared...
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