Joel Hruska
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
We recently disccused Valve's decision to offer free-to-play games on Steam. Such titles make money either by selling items and upgrades in game (microtransactions) or by offering a tiered service. Free gamers have access to a significant portion of the game, while paid subscribers have access to additional gear, weapons, or areas. Valve has...
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We've discussed ARM's plans to enter both the netbook and server markets, but a new interview with Tudor Brown, the company's CEO, suggests the CPU designer's plans are more ambitious than some have realized. Speaking to DigiTimes, Brown claims that the company will snatch a huge chunk of the...
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Tilera is a small CPU design firm that first attracted attention back in 2007, when it debuted its TILE64 architecture. The company's tech is designed to offer a grid of CPU tiles. Each tile contains a very simple CPU core, its cache, and a router. All of the processors are attached via mesh...
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Nintendo's Wii U was one of the biggest unveils at E3 this year, but neither Sony nor Microsoft is going to be goaded into tipping their hands. Sony is apparently annoyed with certain game developers, some of whom have implied that the PS4 is none too far away. Jack Tretton, CEO...
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At its Fusion Development Summit this week, AMD discussed the concepts and capabilities it's targeting for future generations of AMD graphics cards. The company isn't sharing any specific architectural features, but even the general information it handed out is interesting. Demers began...
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Larrabee, Intel's once-vaunted, next-generation graphics card died years ago, but the CPU technology behind the would-be graphics card has lived on. Intel discussed the future of MIC/Knight's Corner today. After Larrabee was officially...
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Last month, we covered AT&T's decision to impose caps on its previous unlimited Internet service plans. An estimated 56 percent of Americans now pay for bandwidth-capped service, almost always at the same price point that once allowed them unlimited bandwidth. Now, toss in the fact that...
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Work in IT long enough--say, a week--and you'll inevitably encounter an employee whose enthusiasm for their own ideas is matched only by their utter inability to comprehend their own incompetence. These are the users who open every attachment, volunteer to help the poor millionaires of...
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Beginning in 2009, a number of companies began building small "plug" computers, some of which plugged directly into an AC adapter (hence the name). One such manufacturer is Cloud Engines, which sells a series of plug computers aimed at making files available online without having to leave a PC...
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The past 18 months have seen a significant evolution in browser graphics. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera have all added support for such standards as OpenCL, HTML5, and Direct2D acceleration. (HTML5 isn't a graphics standard, strictly...
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Not too long ago, we covered news that Microsoft--in an apparent bid to steal Apple's thunder--was offering a free XBox 360 with the purchase of any qualifying PC. Apple has offered a "free" iPod Touch for several years. The company didn't actually ship an iPod with each system; students were required to order both, then submit a rebate to...
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Steam has become an important launch point for all modern PC games but it's concentrated on titles that were sold as discrete products. As of this week, that's changed--the company has announced that it's adding support for multiple free-to-play games. F2P games offer free access to much of the game, but use microtransactions to fund the purchase...
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In early 2010, a copyright holding company named Righthaven was formed. The company first purchased copyrights from Stephens Media, the parent company behind the Las Vegas Review Journal. Once it had its rights in hand, Righthaven revealed its business strategy: Suing journalists...
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ARM made good on its announced intention to introduce server products today through a partnership with Calxeda (formerly Smooth-Stone). The CPU developer has been planning to introduce server products for quite some time. ARM, in this...
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Most of the fuss regarding Windows 8 to-date has focused on its support for ARM processors and the new GUI that's supposed to offer a finger-friendly alternative to the nearly unusable Windows 7 Touch Edition. The company's latest...
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Video game industry analyst Michael Pachter has a reputation for accurate sales forecasts and an ability to predict changes in console pricing. That said, Pachter may have gone a bridge too far with his bifurcated discussion concerning Nintendo's Wii U. While he praised the Wii U as "the most...
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The battle between Amazon and certain individual US states continues to escalate, with a number of small business affiliates caught in between. Over the last few years, a number of cash-strapped states have attempted to hold Amazon liable for sales tax based on its business in each area. While...
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AMD's GPU solutions have come a long way since the company acquired ATI. The combined companies have competed very well against Nvidia for the past several years, at least at the consumer level. When it comes to HPC/GPGPU tools, however, Nvidia has had the market all to itself. Granted, the...
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The popularity of its iPod, iPhone, and iPad product lines have propelled Apple to the top of the charts when it comes to NAND flash consumption. iSuppli reports that the Cupertino-based company has surpassed HP (the former champ), with 2010 purchases coming in at $17.5 billion. That's a...
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The Spanish National Police announced today that they've captured three individuals connected to the online hacktivist group Anonymous. According to the policía, the three are linked to attacks on multiple Spanish banks, one Italian energy company, Visa, MasterCard, and the governments...
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The stock slump that followed Nintendo's Wii U announcement shows no signs of abating; the company's share price is down more than ten percent as of this writing. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has expressed surprise over the reaction. "Honestly speaking, the reaction to (Tuesday's)...
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Microsoft's tablet strategy (or complete lack thereof) has drawn significant criticism, but the rumor mill suggests the manufacturer may take unprecedented steps to establish itself as a player in this space. DigiTimes, quoting unspecified industry sources, claims Microsoft may build and...
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