Brandon Hill
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Mojang, the creator of Minecraft, was bought by Microsoft for a staggering $2.5 billion in late 2014. The game continues to capture the imagination of millions around the globe, and has especially become an important learning tool for children in the classroom (and even college students).
Today, Microsoft is...
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We know that Apple is playing hardball with the U.S. government and law enforcement when it comes to device encryption and protecting the privacy of its customers. But that ardent defense of its users also exists after death — even when it’s a loved one that is requesting access to a deceased family member’s Apple ID...
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Most of us were introduced to High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) DRAM courtesy of AMD’s Fury family of graphics cards, each of which sports 4GB of HBM. HBM allows Fury GPUs to tout an impressive 512GB/sec of memory bandwidth, but perhaps that just isn’t enough to fuel the next generation of graphics cards in the...
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It seems like just yesterday when we reported on some inattentive Galaxy Note 5 users inserting their S-Pen backwards, which in turn got it stuck within its silo. While removing the S-Pen was for the most part possible (if enough force was used), it would invariably break the pen detection on the smartphone.
When...
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A little over a week ago, officials from the Obama administration met with some of the biggest names in tech, including senior executives from Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo. Administration officials in attendance included Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey, National...
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When it comes to successful return landings for its Falcon 9 reusable rockets on Earth, it looks as though SpaceX has everything figured out. Things haven’t looked so hot at-sea, however, with SpaceX racking up two previous failures prior to yesterday’s third failed landing attempt on a floating droneship in the...
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Could it be the end of the line for Microsoft’s (and formerly Nokia’s) Lumia brand of smartphones? According to a new report, the upcoming Lumia 650 will be the last smartphone to wear the Lumia branding.
The Lumia 650 will reportedly be unveiled on February 1st, and there will likely be little fanfare whatsoever...
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SpaceX looked to pop open the champagne bottles with a successful landing at sea following its landmark ground landing last month. However, an unscathed landing at sea has eluded SpaceX once again. We must start off by saying that SpaceX’s primary mission, to launch NASA’s Jason-3 ocean-monitoring satellite into...
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In case you haven’t already figured it out, Microsoft is hell-bent on getting those running older versions of Windows — namely Windows 7 and Windows 8.x users — to upgrade to Windows 10. We won’t get into all the incessant nagging and peculiar tricks that Microsoft has used to persuade users to upgrade in this piece...
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In an effort to thwart malicious software from wreaking havoc on Mac computers, Apple introduced Gatekeeper in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and was also integrated into its predecessor, OS X 10.7.5 Lion. Apple maintains that the most secure way to download apps for your Mac is to go through the App Store, but for apps...
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Netflix spread its wings earlier this month, expanding its global footprint with an additional 130 international markets. While that news can be seen as a big win for overseas customers that have long waited for the ability to stream Netflix content, there are new restrictions being handed down to ensure that Netflix...
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It appears that the a wide-scale rollout of Windows 10 Mobile in the United States can’t be too away. We reported earlier this week that T-Mobile has started pushing the update to select Lumia smartphones in Poland, while the the wireless carrier is also prepping a German rollout in the coming weeks.
Today, Windows...
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If you’ve been sitting around, twiddling your thumbs waiting for Microsoft to release an Xbox One update to enable background music playback, you’re going to be waiting a lot longer. Background music playback has been an oft-requested feature by Xbox One gamers, and Microsoft has made its intentions known that it...
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If you’re the owner of a new Lumia 950 or Lumia 950 XL Windows 10 Mobile smartphone, Microsoft is just about to make your day a little bit brighter. The company announced that it will soon be giving customers a free one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal as a gift for purchasing its latest flagship...
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Seagate is a bit late to the helium party, but this week announced its first 10TB enterprise-class helium-filled 3.5-inch hard drive. Although they have yet to reach retail shelves (neither brick and mortar or online), e-commerce giant Alibaba and smartphone darling Huawei are currently sampling the drives.
Western...
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Microsoft announced yesterday that it is expanding Windows 10 upgrades to include small businesses that currently deploy systems running Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. Business users in certain scenarios have been immune from Microsoft’s incredibly persistent “Get Windows 10” app notifications, but that all changes...
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It what seems to be an increasing occurrence for gaming consoles (on both the Microsoft and Sony sides of the aisle), Microsoft experienced an extended Xbox Live outage yesterday that affected millions of gamers across the globe. The outage affected both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One game consoles, making it impossible...
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Yesterday, we were treated to the Xiaomi Redmi 3, a mid-range smartphone that some pretty stellar specs with a $107 price tag attached. Today, we’re getting a first look at Xiaomi’s latest flagship which costs 6 times at much as the Redmi 3 — but do the specs warrant the significant jump in price? Well, you be the...
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First there was NWA, and now there’s CWA: Crackas With Attitude. But we’re not talking about gangsta rap groups today; instead, we’re talking about the hacker group that is claiming responsibility for accessing personal accounts belonging to James Clapper, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
The leader of...
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Poland may be the perennial butt of jokes, but one thing is certain: its citizens are sometimes the very first to get fresh releases of operating systems. When LG starting rolling out Android 5.0 Lollipop and Android 6.0 Marshmallow to its smartphones, it first did so in Poland. Today, we’re learning that T-Mobile...
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If you bought a carrier-locked Verizon Moto X (2014), it’s understandable that you’re probably a bit angry at Lenovo (Motorola) right now. Although we would hardly call the Moto X an ancient device, Motorola made it clear that it will only provide a Marshmallow update to North American customers running the “Pure...
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Clay Bavor - left (Image Source: eVRydayVR)
It looks as though everyone wants a hand in the burgeoning virtual reality (VR) scene these days. Facebook has the Oculus Rift under its wing, Sony has the PlayStation VR, HTC and Valve are cooking up Vive, and Microsoft is testing the augmented reality waters with...
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