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 sultan of search (Google, who else?) wants the Institute of Electronics Inc. (IEEE) to implement a variable-speed Ethernet standard that would make it more efficient to transfer data between data centers and ultimately cut costs. It's a move IEEE has so far been reluctant to take on. Ron Johnson, a director of...
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If you're of the opinion that it's better to show up late than the never, then kudos to the Windows Phone platform for finally getting Temple Run, an endless running game that falls into the "Just one more time..." category. Before you know it, you've wasted half the day trying to unlock characters, special powers, and knock out various objectives....
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PopCap Games, a division of Electronic Arts, confirmed on Wednesday that a sequel to its hugely popular (and highly addicting) Plants vs. Zombies tower defense game is in the works and slated to launch in "early summer." Details are sparse, with the only thing PopCap Games willing to divulge at this point is the...
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Walmart hopes to put the hurt on Amazon by taking a page from its online rival and using in-store lockers to holder items ordered on the Internet. In doing so, customers will be able to get their hands on their purchased goods much faster than waiting for delivery. The mega chain said it will put lockers in about a...
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Corsair today announced the release of a free software driver update that infuses its Vengeance 2000 Gaming Headset with Dolby Headphone 2.0 and Dolby Pro Logic IIx support, improving both surround sound quality and game capability. In other words, a stellar headset just got better, a statement we're qualified to...
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Apple has filed paperwork seeking a new trial against Samsung claiming patent violations on 14 products for which a U.S. judge saw fit to overturn a jury patent-infringement award earlier this month. It's the next logical step for Apple in what's been a long, drawn out legal process that initially saw the Cupertino company awarded $1.05 billion...
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Amazon just greenlit an original TV series pilot based on the 2009 cult-comedy Zombieland, which is one of 13 pilots that will be made into full-season productions for its Prime Instant Video service. If that doesn't excite you, then you've obviously never seen Zombieland, or you're one of the infected and dead inside. Sadly, there's no cure...
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T-Mobile's web team posted new pricing plans on the wireless carrier's website today, including an unlimited talk, text, and data plan that runs $70 per month. Even better, the plan doesn't require a two-year service agreement; there's no annual contract to sign, so subscribers are free to leave whenever they wish...
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Hulu, which is on the verge of posting record first-quarter revenue and subscriber additions, is reportedly reaching out to buyers to see if there's any interest in an acquisition. As the story goes, Hulu's board hasn't decided if a buyout is in the company's best interest, but it's certainly an option that's on the...
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If the only thing preventing you from purchasing an Ultrabook is the price, we have good news. On the manufacturing side, it's in everyone's best interest to push the Ultrabook form factor, including Intel, which will attempt to get Ultrabooks into more homes by driving down and/or maintaining the cost of entry as new...
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Best Buy management now has the support of its founder, Richard Schulze, who's returning to the electronics chain as chairman emeritus after he left the Board last year amid a scandal and then tried to buy out the company. He's already named two former colleagues, Brad Anderson, who previously served as Chief...
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Kingston Technology might be known for its iconic blue heatspreaders, but that doesn't mean the company is afraid to dive deeper into its boxy of crayons. Apparently its customers have been requesting a black line of memory, and Kingston answered the call by introducing all-new black printed circuit boards (PCBs) on...
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It's inevitable that all good things eventually come to an end, but who could have predicted that Steve Kondik's stint working for Samsung wouldn't even last two years? You might know Kondik better as "Cyanogen," his online moniker that became a household name in Android rooting communities. He created CyanogenMod...
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If it seems like Samsung's devices keep getting bigger, that's because they are. To wit, the Galaxy Note II features a 5.55-inch display that sits firmly in phablet territory, but it's not just hybrid devices that sport large touchscreens. The new Galaxy S4 wields a 5-inch display, a full inch larger than the original...
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Google's recently announced Chromebook Pixel and Apple's MacBook Pro with Retina display are two entirely different animals, but there's one area where the former trumps the latter. The 12.85-inch display on the Chromebook Pixel features a 2560x1700 resolution, which translates to 4.3 million pixels and 239 pixels per...
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Apple iPad and iPhone owners are in for a treat. Come this summer, Firaxis and 2K Games will port the turn-based tactical role-playing strategy game to iOS, the game's developers announced at PAX East. The ported title will come with all the same features found on the PC and console versions. "It's a straight port. We have not made any game...
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A new survey reveals that around 3 percent of all computer users surf naked on the web, which is to say they choose not to protect their PC with any security software at all, as opposed to literally surfing naked (a statistic we care not to know, thank you very much). That means the vast majority are rocking some form...
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A software platform is only as good as its apps, and towards that end, Microsoft's Windows Store now boasts over 50,000 of them. There are 50,341 at the time of this writing, according to MetroStore Scanner, a site that makes Windows Store apps easily searchable from the Web. The number of apps is steadily rising, having more than doubled...
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I'm a big fan of the LG Optimus G, particularly the Sprint version that wields a 13MP rear camera (versus the version on AT&T, which touts an 8MP camera). It's a solid phone with high end specs, like a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage, and a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display. One of the knocks...
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Surface RT tablet sales haven't exactly been through the roof. Out of the 1.5 million Surface tablet sales to date, a million of them belong to Surface RT, falling well short of Microsoft's expectations, assuming it's true that the Redmond outfit ordered 3 million Surface RT slates. Is Windows RT to blame? It's a bit...
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Julius Genachowski announced today that he will be stepping down from his post as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in the "coming weeks." Thus will end a nearly four-year run for the lawyer and businessman, who was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate at the end of June in 2009...
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Time and time again, we're reminded that Windows isn't the only operating system that malware writers target. It's the most popular platform for malware, sure, but it's not the only one. If you're a Mac user, don't let your guard down, and be especially leery of browsers plug-ins you run into, especially those that claim they're required to...
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