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
In a way, the future of Microsoft and its Windows platform is wide open right now. The way Microsoft's devices and services chief Jule Larson-Green sees it, we're on the cusp of a new era of computing and user interaction. Speaking at the UBS Global Technology Summit, Larson-Green talked about how user interaction...
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Talk about bad timing. A collection of Microsoft's online services all suffered an outage just as the Xbox One was launching to retail. For a period of time, Xbox.com was knocked offline, with outages also reportedly affecting Microsoft.com, Outlook.com, and Office 365. These first occurred in late afternoon on...
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The holiday shopping season is here and that means coming up with gift ideas for family and friends. If you're stuck on what to get, you may want to consider an Amazon Prime membership, both for yourself and for someone else. For the first time ever, Amazon is allowing shoppers to give the gift of its Prime service, and there are a couple...
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Critics who worried that the Xbox One's $499 starting price might detract gamers and send them scurrying to the competition need not fret over the MSRP anymore. Gamers have spoken (with their wallets), delivering a message loud and clear that they're totally stoked to begin the next era of gaming with the Xbox One. The Xbox One made its debut...
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Overshadowed by Microsoft's long anticipated Xbox One console launch today is the availability of unlocked iPhone 5S handsets. By "available," we mean that Apple is now accepting orders for SIM-free iPhone 5S devices to customers living in the United States, though new orders won't actually ship out for 1-2 weeks...
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Spotify wants to be your go-to service for online music streaming, and with the help of investors who believe in the company's future plans, it just might emerge the winner. In a new funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures, Spotify added $250 million to its purse, thereby valuing the streaming service at $4...
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Sony's been the target of more than one high profile hacker attack in the past few years, so it's understandable if the company is a bit on edge. To underscore that point, Sony Europe recently took the "precautionary measure" of resetting passwords for some PlayStation Network users in which irregularly activity was...
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Depending on where you live, you may have seen a fleet of green and black armored trucks with the Xbox One logo plastered on every side roll through town. Yes, the paint job drawing attention to these trucks reveals an obvious publicity stunt, but given the hype surrounding the Xbox One's launch today, it's probably...
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This is a big month for console gamers. Sony last week launched its PlayStation 4 to retail, and tonight at the stroke of midnight, stores like Best Buy will begin selling Microsoft's Xbox One. That means the next-generation console wars will be in full swing, and while gamers debate exclusive titles and which has the...
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Following widespread media attention over an allegation that LG's Smart TVs had the nasty habit of beaming viewing habits back to the mothership even when that option is turned off in the settings, the south Korean electronics maker fessed up to the situation and promised to issue a firmware fix to stop the behavior...
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A single dollar won't get you very far these days -- a soda or burger at your local fast food joint, perhaps. Up the ante to $35 and it's a whole new ballgame. Just how far can $35 take you? We're still finding that out. That's precisely how much it costs to buy Google's Chromecast dongle, and when it launched four months ago, you could enjoy...
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Google is making a major play for the retail spending sector by offer Google Wallet users a prepaid debit card that they can use at physical locations where MasterCard is accepted. There's no big mystery here -- it works just like the debit card your bank issued you. The card itself is free to obtain, and there are no...
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Starting today, Windows Phone users can finally join in the fun that is Instagram, which at its core allows you to add filter effects and "transform everyday moments into works of art," or something like that. That's the good news. The bad news is that in an attempt to rush Instagram to the Windows Phone platform...
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Logitech wants to turn your iPhone 5S, iPhone 5, and/or iPod touch (5th generation) into a legitimate mobile gaming platform. In order to do that, Logitech today introduced its PowerShell Controller + Battery accessory. Simply slip your mobile device running iOS 7 into Logitech's accessory just like you would with a...
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MediaTek on Wednesday announced what it claims is the world's first heterogeneous computing SoC (System-on-Chip) with a scalable eight-core processor for improved multi-tasking performance, more multimedia muscle, and excellent performance per watt. Dubbed "MT6592," MediaTek is billing its chip as the first true...
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It looks as though Nintendo is interested in getting into the tablet game, though what the company has in mind isn't a gaming tablet. Instead, Nintendo has gone and built a slate intended for schools. The unreleased tablet runs Android and is designed for play educational games rather than saving Princess Peach from...
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Call me a curmudgeon if you want, but I don't think there's a lot of traction to be found in the smartwatch market. To me, it's a category that doesn't make a ton of sense now that smartphones are so ubiquitous. I don't doubt there's a niche, but on a mass scale, I just don't see it. I could be wrong, and an initial...
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Given the amount of spying that's taking place within our borders, we should all feel like the most interesting men and women in the world. Unfortunately, it's just not flattering to find out that the government is helping itself to hordes of private data, or that LG might be looking at our TV viewing habits without...
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It's easy to see why Yahoo chose Marissa Mayer to serve as the company's President and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) after parting ways with Scott Thompson in 2012. For the most part, she's been nothing but brilliant in her role and is quick to react to market conditions. Underscoring her business savvy is the...
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Drew Houston, a former student at MIT, would often forget to pack his USB flash drive on the way to class. He solved his problem by creating Dropbox for his own personal use, but it didn't take him long to figure out that others could benefit as well. That was around six years, and since then, Dropbox has become one...
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Ouya figured out a way to squeeze a few more dollars out of its $99 Android game console.Offer it up in white, make it a "Limited Edition" SKU, double up on storage, and then charge a little more. That's the not-so-secret formula behind Ouya's newly unveiled "Limited Edition White Console" with 16GB of internal...
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If you're a Roku user looking on at your Chromecast-owning brethren in envy, we have good news for you. PlayOn today made its PlayCast channel available in the Roku channel store. Using the PlayCast app, Roku users can stream online videos to TVs and mobile devices, in essence giving the Roku crowd the Chromecast-like...
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