Brandon Hill
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Things on the Google Glass front have been relatively silent for the past three months. After effectively killing the Glass Explorer program earlier this year, Glass was transitioned in September out of the Google X development lab to its own Project Aura division, which is helmed by Tony Fadell.
Now, thanks to a...
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Hewlett-Packard stated in the past that it was done with making smartphones, but it looks as though the newly split company can’t stay away from the market for good. Too many people rely on smartphones on a daily basis, with some in developing nations using a smartphone as their primary (and only) way of accessing the...
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Samsung was expecting a miraculous turnaround in its smartphone business with the launch of the Galaxy S6 family, but things didn’t exactly go as planned. Mobile profits are down and sales never quite reached the lofty estimates that Samsung envisioned. The South Korean electronics conglomerate has the opportunity to...
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After initially promising that Apple CarPlay support would be made available in 2015 model year Sonata (which started arriving on dealer lots in late 2014), Hyundai failed to deliver. We’re now coming up on the closing days of 2015 and the CarPlay update is still nowhere to be found. So what the heck is...
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Earlier this month, we reported that Microsoft was doing its best to avoid having to deal with slowpoke wireless carriers when it comes to delivering OS updates for Lumia smartphones. Instead of going through a carrier validation process, Microsoft on its own pushed build Windows 10 Build 10586.29 to Lumia 950 and...
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When BMW launched its next generation 7-Series earlier this year, it packed in an incredible amount of technology including Gesture Control. Gesture control uses a 3D sensor to track your finger movements, allowing you to adjust infotainment functions and even accept or reject incoming calls.
Not one to rest on its...
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Apple is fighting hard to have shoot down a proposed UK law that would require tech firms to work hand-in-hand with government agencies to break encryption and provide easy access to customer data under court order. “We believe it would be wrong to weaken security for hundreds of millions of law-abiding customers so...
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HTC has found itself under attack from all sides in the smartphone sector, and it really shows. The company has taken fire from Samsung and Apple at the high-end and is under immense pressure at the low-end from Chinese competitors Xiaomi and Huawei. The company's earnings have plummeted and some analyst suggest that...
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If you’re a fan of the Back to the Future series, the past few months have been incredibly exciting. We’ve seen Lexus unveil its take on the “hoverboard” with a maglev-based creation, and just this week a company has jumpstarted a Kickstarter campaign to bring a self-drying jacket to market.
Today, we’re learning...
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Microsoft’s first-party Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL smartphones are the first smartphones to ship running the company’s brand new Windows 10 Mobile operating system (check out Marco’s review of the Lumia 950 right here). Unfortunately for those with legacy Lumia devices, the wait for Windows 10 Mobile will be a bit...
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Are you sitting on an activated copy of Windows 10 Home, but wish that you could give Windows 10 Pro a try instead before coughing up some extra dough? Microsoft is providing its customers a quick shortcut that will allow you experience Windows 10 Pro in all its glory, albeit with one big string attached.
Before...
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Blue Origin New Shepard
A new space race is taking place today, and it’s being dominated by Silicon Valley companies looking to make space travel more affordable for military, commercial and civilian launches. In November, we saw Blue Origin’s New Shepard space launch system make an incredible voyage to a...
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T-Mobile’s Binge On initiative at first seemed like a pretty good deal for its customers. In exchange for reduced video quality (480p), T-Mobile customers could enjoy unlimited streaming from partner services including Hulu and Netflix without hitting their monthly data pool.
Initially, FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler...
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If your company had its sights set on picking up one of Microsoft’s swanky new Surface Hubs, we have some bad news to deliver to you… again. Microsoft has once again delayed both Surface Hubs, and is stating that the units will instead ship during the first quarter of 2016.
If you recall, Microsoft first announced...
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Many have challenged Toyota’s dominant Prius, but none have come close to approaching its sales success. In fact, Toyota has upped the ante, expanding the family to include the Prius v and Prius c. And to top it off, Toyota just launched the fourth generation Prius, which brings with its unorthodox styling and...
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When it comes to device encryption that is supposed to protect user data, it appears that tech companies just can’t catch a break. Not only do companies like Apple and Google have to contend with domestic law enforcement agencies and the political machine, but they are now facing pressure from foreign governments to...
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Folks, we just witnessed history this evening. After two previous failed landings (one in January, one in April) and a complete vehicle failure in June, SpaceX struck gold tonight, successfully completing a powered, upright landing of its Falcon 9 rocket.
The significance of this achievement is profound, as the...
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Spending time in a busy airport terminal is not something that many of use enjoy doing; it’s something that we have to do. With that in mind, most of us will hop on whatever free Wi-Fi option available, battling it out with other travelers with whatever table scraps of bandwidth are available. For everyone else...
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The debate over smartphone encryption is a contentious on these days in tech circles. On one side, you have companies like Apple and Google which employ full device encryption to secure user data and keep it out of prying eyes — even if those eyes belong to law enforcement. On the other side, you have politicians in...
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Although many shrugged off Live Photos as a superfluous addition to the iPhone 6s, the small video clips are starting to gain some traction. If you need a refresher, Live Photos capture 1.5 seconds of video footage before you hit the camera shutter button and 1.5 seconds after, giving you a 3-second 960x720 video that is stored with the original
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There’s no question that Fallout 4 is quite a masterpiece, having captured the hearts of Fallout fans around the globe. The game launched to a very receptive audience, and despite complaints about graphics quality and glitches, most people have found the game quite enjoyable.
However, it appears that on Russian man...
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Tim Cook might seem like a soft spoken, mild mannered man from Alabama — well at least compared to former Apple CEO Steve Jobs — but there are some topics that get one of America’s most high-profile execs really worked up. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s one of two things that none of us can avoid: taxes (with the...
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