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 number of brick-and-mortar electronics shops available to do-it-yourself (DIY) system builders and consumer electronics (CE) junkies has fallen dramatically in the past several years. First it was Good Guys that fell by the wayside in 2005, then CompUSA that sunk itself into financial trouble a year later before being bought out by Systemax,...
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As we discovered during our formal review of the iPhone 5, Apple's newest smartphone isn't just fast, it pretty much smokes the top Android devices in benchmarks. Much to the approval of Apple, the iPhone 5 is also lighting up the sales chart, a point the Cupertino company is all too happy to gloat about. According to...
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Asus today lifted the curtain on its F2A85 Series of motherboards built around AMD's new A85X chipset and FM2 socket. The boards are designed and optimized for the Sunnyvale chip designer's second generation "Trinity" Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), which are expected to launch next month. One of the things Asus...
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Samsung likes to rub it in Apple's face that "the next best thing is already here," but for tried and true Android users, the next best thing on the open source side of the mobile fence is Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.x) on the Galaxy S III. Well, move over Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.x), because here comes Jelly Bean...
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Riots involving thousands of disgruntled workers have erupted at one of Foxconn's plants in China. Foxconn builds and supplies Apple's iPhone devices, including the new iPhone 5, as well as various other electronics for companies like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and other well known companies. "The plant is...
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Apple will tell you that Mac OS X 10.8 is the Mountain Lion's meow with its more than 200 new features versus the previous build, tighter social integration, and everything else it has going for it. For those of you clinging to Mac OX X 10.5 (Leopard), here's another reason to upgrade: no more Google Chrome browser updates for you! "Google...
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Some have criticized Apple for letting the iPhone fall behind the competition, and the iPhone 5 is no exception, as Samsung is more than happy to point out. A 4-inch screen? Yeah, several other smartphones have that beat. Fast 4G LTE connectivity? Again, there are plenty of mobile devices that already do that. A new proprietary dock connector?...
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After channel surfing and catching the tail end of HBO's "2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony" on TV last night, I got a hankering for some Guns N' Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was signing up for a 30-day free trial of Spotify's Premium service. I...
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The iPhone 5 is on pace to become the best selling smartphone model of all time, but even though that's the case, wireless carriers won't see any real gain for several months. Unlike Android phones, the subsidies on iPhone models are much higher. Barclays analyst James Ratcliffe estimates that the iPhone subsidy is...
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The power of the Internet makes us wonder how we ever got along without it. Case in point: Kevin Burke, an independent developer, discovered a major security hole that left six million Virgin Mobile USA customers vulnerable to a relatively simple brute force attack. After alerting Virgin Mobile of the flaw a month ago and seeing no fix in...
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Kickstarter, an increasingly popular crowd funding site that's helped developers and inventors raise millions of dollars for their projects, wants to clear the air. First and foremost, "Kickstarter is not a store," the site stated in a blog post. "It's hard to know how many people feel like they're shopping at a store...
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After months and months of rumors, followed by an official announcement and a little over a week of waiting, Apple's much heralded iPhone 5 is finally here. Depending on where you live, however, don't expect to leisurely trot on down to your neighborhood Apple store and walk away with a new generation iPhone model...
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AT&T claims it has the nation's largest 4G network, a claim that's based largely on its HSPA+ infrastructure. But what about 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution)? The wireless carrier's working on it. Leading up to the iPhone 5 launch, AT&T flipped the 4G LTE switch on in almost a dozen new major cities across the...
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The television market isn't growing as fast as display makers would like, and as we reported earlier in the month, global TV shipments actually declined for the second consecutive quarter, dropping 8 percent yer-over-over in Q2. That's bad news for companies like Sharp, who have made a living selling TV sets. Enter...
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You don't buy an iPhone device with the intention of tearing it open and modding the handset in any significant way. In fact, most of Apple's products are a bear to service and/or mod, but would you believe things are getting better? Perhaps you've heard, Apple launched a new smartphone, and believe it or not, the iPhone 5 isn't a complete...
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One current and two former Hewlett-Packard employees have been named in a criminal bribery case brought on by German prosecutors. According to the indictment, a three-year investigation found that HP executives issued $10 million in kickbacks in order to secure a contract worth four and a half times as much with...
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Samsung is certainly feeling spunky these days. After launching a pretty hilarious ad campaign poking fun at Apple users who wait in long lines to purchase every new iPhone iteration, the smartphone maker is again going on the offensive, but in a more serous manner. Reportedly, Samsung said it expects to sue Apple for...
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Not even a week after Apple held a press event to announce the iPhone 5 (and new iPod models), the company's share price has shot up and above the $700 mark, ending the day at $702.10 on Wednesday. Apple's market capitalization now sits at $658.15 billion, an obscenely high valuation that underscores the legacy Steve Jobs left behind. Credit...
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If Apple wasn't worth over half a trillion dollars, we'd almost feel bad about Samsung's comically disparaging ads aimed at the iPhone maker. Sometimes the truth hurts, however, and far be it for us to discourage Samsung from making us laugh by pointing out how silly the whole Apple culture has become. The latest ad (embedded below) once again...
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Intel is leveling up its Wireless Display (WiDi) technology that was first introduced two years ago. The newest iteration -- version 3.5 -- adds a bunch of nifty new features that expand its capabilities, and of course implements support for Windows 8 and its touch-friendly interface. Before we dive into the new...
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Nokia is desperately trying to reestablish itself as a major contender in the mobile phone space, but it's no easy task going up against the likes of Apple and Samsung. There's also a lot riding for company CEO Stephen Elop, who could find himself looking for a new job if the Lumia 920 fails to excite customers the way he envisioned. Elop...
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A number of prominent online companies have joined forces to create The Internet Association, the nation's first trade association claiming to represent the interests of the Internet economy. Led by President and CEO Michael Beckerman, IA consists of Amazon.com, AOL, eBay, Expedia, Facebook, Google, IAC, LinkedIn...
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