Paul Lilly
Paul is a seasoned geek who was first seduced into the world of computers and technology by the Commodore 64, and through the years he’s courted a number of OSes and platforms from DOS on up to the latest version of Windows. Having joined the HotHardware team in 2011, Paul is now a mainstay of the site covering the news beat and reviews, and resident wiseguy who keeps the mood light. He’s also an experienced freelance technology writer whose work has appeared in a number of online and print publications.
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
The somewhat aggressive expansion of Chromebook models continues today with an announcement from Acer that it's releasing several new C7 SKUs, including a C710-2055 model that boasts up to 6 hours of battery life. This particular model is intended for commercial customers, especially schools looking to enhance student learning with affordable...
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It seems like a distant memory when Apple's share price hit an all-time high of $705.07 per share, at the time giving the Cupertino company a market capitalization of $656 billion. And today? Apple's stock is trading hands at under $432 per share, down about $6 from yesterday's closing price. It's market capitalization sits at $405 billion,...
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In the eternal debate of PCs versus consoles, the talk often turns to the hardware and how PCs are generally better equipped. For the past several years, it was an easy argument for PC advocates to win, given that the PlayStation 3 is pretty ancient at this point. But what about the recently announced PlayStation 4...
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Kimberly "Sweet Brown" Wilkins doesn't have time for bronchitis, but the viral video star who appeared on Tosh.0 made time to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against Apple for selling a track on iTunes featuring her voice. It's a musical mashup of her television interview following a fire that broke out at her apartment complex. Sweet...
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TiVo on Monday announced the availability of a new companion device that allows TiVo users to access apps and extend the viewing of live TV, recorded and streaming content, and even on-demand programming to rooms throughout the home without having to invest in an additional DVR. It's called TiVo Mini, and it's a $99 box that works with existing...
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Less than a month after Sony dropped the price of its PlayStation Vita handheld console in Japan, the electronics maker has decided to give some U.S. gamers a break, too. The new price of the PS Vita Wi-Fi + 3G is $199.97, though you'll only find it marked down in select Sony stores in 10 different states. Gaming site Joystiq posted a full...
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AT&T is the second major U.S. carrier to confirm plans to carry the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. Beginning March 12, AT&T will accept pre-orders for BlackBerry's new flagship device, which will run $200 with a two-year service agreement. General availability kicks off on March 22. "AT&T customers were the first to experience...
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I'm not at all opposed to owning and driving a hybrid automobile, which is why if I ever have the means, I won't hesitate to buy a LaFerrari. Realistically, that's a pipe dream and is unlikely to happen, not just because of the price tag, but also because Ferrari only plans to build 499 of its new model car. It's...
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A pair of publishing groups -- the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers -- are against Amazon's plans to take control of new top-level domain (TLD) names that recently became available. The publishing groups argue that giving Amazon access to addresses that end in ".book," ."author," and ".read"...
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Electronics Arts over the weekend announced that it's been able to improve server response time by 40x for its new SimCity title, thus reducing serving server downtime due to its decision to incorporate a DRM scheme that requires a persistent Internet connection. Not a moment too soon, EA also noted that the number of...
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The Boy Scouts just made it tougher for parents to crack down on kids for playing too many video games by introducing a new Game Design merit badge. That's right, there's more to Boy Scouts than learning how to whittle your way out of an emergency situation. Through Game Design, the Boy Scouts of America is looking to...
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AT&T, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., has begun doling out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean over-the-air (OTA) updates to HTC One X owners, the company announced. The long-awaited update comes to a phone that has been on the market for nearly a year and brings with it a bevy of new features native to Jelly Bean, including Google Now, changes...
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It's not a question of if there's a Steambox on the horizon, but when and for how much. How does right now and under $1,000 float your boat? Xi3 Corporation is now accepting pre-orders for its "Piston Console" PC, otherwise known as the Steambox, or at least one version of it (with Valve playing it coy, it's entirely...
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All good things never truly go out of fashion, they just sometimes take a backseat to the popular trends of the day before making a triumphant comeback. So it goes with Age of Empires II, a classic real-time strategy (RTS) by today's standards, having first launched to PC nearly 14 years ago (and to the PlayStation 2 in November, 2001). Age...
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If nothing else, give Electronics Arts (EA) credit for acknowledging how "dumb" it was to not be fully prepared for the demand its SimCity game would attract, given that the publisher is insisting on a DRM scheme that requires an always-on Internet connection. Unfortunately, that's not where the boneheaded decisions...
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As Nokia struggles to regain relevancy in a mobile market dominated by Apple and Samsung, Stephen Elop, the company's chief executive officer, took a 45 percent pay cut in 2012, according to a U.S. regulatory filing. No need to head off to the pantry and put together a care package for Mr. Elop, however, as he still took home 4.33 million...
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If you were truly impatient, you could have picked up a BlackBerry Z10 for $1,000 off-contract from Solavei, a relative newcomer to the wireless carrier market, and you can still pay through the nose if you want to (it's currently marked down to $709). It's said that patience is a virtue, but it can also save you...
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It's tough to say what kind of resistance Michael Dell anticipated when decided to acquire the company he founded for $24.4 billion. Under terms of the deal, which was unanimously approved by Dell's Board of Directors, Mr. Dell and his investment partners will pay shareholders $13.65 per share in cash. That figure...
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The problem with DRM schemes is they tend to punish honest paying customers with a level of inconvenience that's annoying at best, and crippling at worst. Every once in awhile we're reminded of this, such as the current server SNAFU that's affecting SimCity, an otherwise well-received game with favorable reviews. Electronics Arts (EA) is a...
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Google has reportedly begun slashing the workforce at its Motorola Mobility division where it's planning to reduce the headcount by around 1,200 employees. That's a greater than 10 percent reduction in workers, though deemed necessary by Google to put the smartphone maker back in the black. The Wall Street Journal...
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Rahul Sood is joining Razer as an advisor to the gaming peripheral maker's board of directors, Razer announced today. The founder of VoodooPC will provide strategic counsel on all aspects of Razer's business, everything from global operations to sales, marketing, and product development, the latter of which is particularly intriguing. "I’m...
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NVIDIA on Thursday announced that it plans to support the Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4) game console with its PhysX and APEX software development kits (SDKs). Game developers use PhysX and APEX technologies for collision detection and simulation of rigid bodies, fluids, particle systems, and things of that nature for more realistic game...
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