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
Can you smell it in the air? It smells like a Honeycomb cooking, otherwise known as Android 3.0, which Google's trying to bake to perfection for the tablet space. The search titan has begun serving up samples of its next-generation OS to allow developers enough time to get acquainted with the new platform. "Today, we are releasing a preview...
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It's said that the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the oil, and there's been a lot of squeaky wheels complaining about borked hinges on Dell's Alienware M11x notebook line. In one forum thread, there's over 150 users who reported problems with their M11x, most of which cried foul over...
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What kind of topsy-turvy world would it be if Research In Motion (RIM) allowed BlackBerry devices to run Android applications? The awesome kind, that's what. More than just a pipe dream, Boy Genius Report insists such a future is possible, or so "multiple trusted sources" keep chirping in...
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Microsoft's Office for Mac portal has been a little wonky for us today, which might be the result of increased traffic and downloads. Why, you ask? The Redmond outfit is now offering a free trial of its Office for Mac 2011 software. The trial lets Mac users test out full versions of the software, albeit for 30 days (Windows users can play...
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Ready. Set. GO! If you've been patiently waiting to port your existing phone number over to Google Voice and flip the bird at your cellular company, start flexing your middle finger because your time has come. Following a limited preview of the service (Google initially only tagged a certain...
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For the better part of the second half of 2010 there's been plenty of hype surrounding the emerging tablet market, but few actual product releases. As 2011 slowly gets underway, things are starting to look different already. CES was bustling with working tablets, Android 3.0 is just around the...
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Someone over at Hewlett-Packard is apparently ultra-excited about the company's upcoming Topaz tablet -- the first slate to be built around HP's semi-newly acquired webOS platform -- and has leaked a ton of info and pictures to Pre|Central. Topaz, as you already know, is the name HP is giving its first webOS-based slate, and while some of...
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Little did Gail Davis know that she was the winner of Apple's 10 billionth App download promotion, because had she known that, she wouldn't have hung on up the Cupertino company. But that's exactly what she did when Apple called to inform her she had won a $10,000 iTunes gift card. "I thought...
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Hey, you there, out from under that rock. Have you heard? Verizon's going to carry Apple's iPhone 4 starting February 10, 2011. Oh, you have heard? Alright then, here's something you probably haven't seen just yet. It's Verizon's first commercial promoting the new partnership with Steve Jobs...
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You can debate the so-called "Apple Tax" all you want and whether or not it actually exists (and, in fact, we did just that -- see here), one thing we should all be able to agree on is that few other companies go the same lengths as Apple in keeping its users from poking around inside its...
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Let's forget for a moment that Apple's iPad has been on the market since April of last year and still has yet to really be challenged. Despite the lack of competition, market research firm IDC says the media tablet market still managed to grow 45.1 percent in the third of 2010. Much of that credit goes to the aforementioned iPad, but it's...
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Ever the crafty (and malicious) bunch, malware writers added a new trick to an old scam, and it appears to be working. According to the Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3), a recent FBI analysis reveals that cyber crooks are targeting employers with fake job applications capable of wreaking...
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Listen up tightwads, if you view paying for antivirus software only slightly more appealing than shoving bamboo under your fingernails, then we have good news for you. ClamAV recently announced the public beta for ClamAV 3.0 for Windows, which the company says "includes full integration of the...
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Uh oh big fella, did you jump the gun on a smartphone this past holiday shopping season thinking that the Verizon iPhone 4 rumors would never come true? If you did, and assuming you were interested in the iPhone 4 to begin with, then you're probably left with a serious case of buyer's remorse...
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Oh the horror! The inhumanity! The injustice! Say it isn't so! What are we bellyaching about? Not much, really, but plenty of Netflix users are none too happy with the online DVD rental streaming service's decision to remove the 'Add to DVD Queue' from streaming devices. "We're doing this so...
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Ruh roh Shaggy, get ready to fork over an extra $10/month to Sprint to cover the wireless service provider's "Premium Data add-on charge to activations of smartphones." But don't worry, the additional funds coming out of your pocket is how Sprint shows it's "committed to providing its...
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Even those of you who really have been living under a rock or in a cave are undoubtedly aware that Apple's iPhone is coming to Verizon. Some of you already have February 10, 2011 circled on your calendar, the day this long-anticipated partnership between Apple and Verizon will finally take...
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Taking aim at serious photography buffs and enthusiasts who "need to shoot like the pros," SanDisk today introduced its new Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I card. What is UHS-I, you ask? For those of you not savvy to the newly released SD 3.0 specification, that's the new Ultra High Speed technology...
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The British Recorded Music Industry (BPI) released figures for music sales in 2010, sparking a debate over whether or not piracy is playing a role, or at least a significant one. According to BPI, combined 2010 digital and physical album sales declined 7 percent overall in volume to 119.9...
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Zotac today announced its first Zbox series of mini-PCs equipped with USB 3.0 technology -- the Zbox ID41 series. The boring name belies what's a fairly sexy nettop, made even more so with the addition of SuperSpeed ports (two on the back panel). There's also four USB 2.0 ports (two on the back, one on the front, and one on the top panel)....
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Before we get bombarded with emails and angry comments, let's clear the air real quick. We're well aware that by a technical definition, a Mac is a PC (personal computer). But when we use the term, we're generally referring to Windows-based PCs (and sometimes Linux). Clear? Awesome. That said, according to IDC's latest figures, Mac sales posted...
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To the best of our knowledge, ECS just did something no other motherboard maker has yet done. What is it, you ask? They jumped on the 3D bandwagon by releasing a new motherboard "specially designed for 3D home theater" setups. ECS brings a bunch of buzzwords to the table to promote its latest...
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