Paul Lilly
Follow Paul on Twitter, and Facebook
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Biostar this week rolled out its new TPOWER X79 motherboard, which is apparently "the most powerful motherboard on the planet" (Biostar's words, not ours). Part of the reason Biostar is marketing its motherboard as such is due to its "extreme overclocking" capabilities, a notion that might have seemed silly coming from Biostar a few short...
Read more...
Whoever keeps tripping over the 4G LTE power cord over at Verizon struck again this week, the third time it's happened in December and raising questions about Verizon's reliability going into 2012. Customers coast-to-coast reported having no 4G data access, and in some cases, 3G was taken offline as well, though Verizon claims the outage was...
Read more...
Hewlett-Packard spent the majority of 2011 chasing its tail and getting nowhere in the process. Maybe 2012 will be better, and in some respects, it almost has to be. On the fail scale, it's hard to top shopping your PC division when it's the biggest in the world, buying a British software firm for $12 billion as part of a shift in strategy...
Read more...
Toshiba's Surveillance & IP Video business unit sent us a note introducing its new IK-WD14A dome camera, the company's first such model to sport a Full HD 1080p resolution so you can see what the bad guys are up to in sharp detail. According to Toshiba, it's new HD surveillance camera will make it far easier to make out facial features...
Read more...
If you fancy yourself a betting man, head over to Las Vegas and see if you can find anyone willing to wager which will happen first: the world will end, or Google+ will top 400 million members. Both are predicted to happen in the 2012, the former by the Mayans, and the latter by Paul Allen (stat guy, not the co-founder of Microsoft). Is either...
Read more...
Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has a long way to go before it truly challenges Android and iOS for mobile dominance, but after a bit of a rocky start, it might be starting to hit its stride. According to All About Windows Phone (AAWP), one of the go-to blogs for Windows Phone app statistics, the Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than...
Read more...
Overclocking used to be a dark art reserved for a power users who didn't mind taking potentially catastrophic risks in order to squeeze a few more ounces of free performance out of their components. Things have changed dramatically in recent years, but lest anyone forget, overclocking can still be dangerous, even with...
Read more...
We've been hearing rumors of an Apple branded television (not to be confused with Apple TV, a streaming media player) for quite some time now, and if the latest online chatter proves correct, we'll finally see a shipping product by the third quarter of 2012. Two products, actually, Citing un-named "industry sources," DigiTimes reports Apple's...
Read more...
Conspiracy theorists will have you believe the reason why Intel is taking so long to natively support the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 transfer spec is because the Santa Clara chip maker is much more interested in promoting its Thunderbolt technology. The only problem with that theory (well, one of several, actually) is that Thunderbolt is still exclusive...
Read more...
CTL probably isn't on your short list of laptop makers if you're in the market for a new notebook, but if you're specifically looking for an Ubuntu-powered machine, perhaps the Oregon-based outfit should be. The 14.1-inch MB40U is CTL's first Ubuntu compatible notebook, and the company's pretty excited about it. So much, in fact, that it's...
Read more...
ASRock recently posted a pair of pictures on its Facebook page that are sure to appeal to Transformers fans. One is of an X79 Optimus Prime motherboard and the other is themed after Bumblebee, also based Intel's X79 chipset. As far as we can tell, these are concept shots and not actual boards, though if they are real, there's a good chance...
Read more...
If you managed to survive Christmas, give yourself a pat on the back. And if you survived the holiday while spending time with the in-laws, figure out a way to reward yourself. One way you can do that is by grabbing some free tunes and other content from Apple as part of its annual "12 Days of Christmas" promotion, which starts today. From...
Read more...
Netbook sales aren't what they used to be. A combination of factors ended the netbook craze that existed not all that long ago, including the rising popularity of tablet PCs, lower cost notebooks, and the recent introduction of highly portable Ultrabooks. Underscoring this point is the fact that Intel's Atom processor and chipset revenue fell...
Read more...
Fans of Google's Android platform are proving to be a patient lot. It hasn't been easy pulling for Android in the tablet space, which for a period of time was limited to a few overpriced and underwhelming Gingerbread slates. Things began to change when Honeycomb came out, the first version of Android designed specifically for tablets, but...
Read more...
Internet domain registrar GoDaddy isn't afraid to ruffle a few feathers, because if it was, it would never run all those sexually suggestive ads during the Super Bowl and at other times during the year. But what really got GoDaddy in hot water was the fact that it was supporting the "Stop Online Piracy Act," or SOPA. When word got out that...
Read more...
The holidays bring enough stress as it is, such as dealing with the in-laws, fighting through crowds and bumper-to-bumper traffic, and even what to wear. For some, Best Buy is piling even more on by letting an untold number of customers know the electronics chain will not be fulfilling their orders, according to a report in The Wall Street...
Read more...
Looking for a last minute gift idea? Time is running out, but if you have $5 to spare, a sense of humor, and want to flip the finger at big media companies who insist on shackling their content with sometimes draconian-level DRM schemes, you need to purchase Louis C.K.'s "Live at the Beacon Theater" comedy download...
Read more...
Wouldn't it be great if 2012 turned out to be the year of the IPS panel? We don't want to get our hopes up just yet, but there are encouraging signs that point to this being a real possibility. Throughout the course of the year, we've seen IPS panels drop in price to the point where you can pick up a 21.5-inch model for $160, or a 23-inch...
Read more...
We've been chomping at the bit to play with Razer's upcoming Razer Blade gaming notebook ever since it was revealed in August, and like everyone else, it looks like we'll have to wait just a little bit longer to find out if it lives up to the hype. A last minute storage upgrade prompted Razer to delay the release...
Read more...
Optimus Prime and the rest of the Transfomers crew might be the victim of identity theft, in a matter of speaking. Hasbro has filed a lawsuit against Asus alleging the company's Transformer Prime tablet is a clear violation of trademarks related to Hasbro's Transfomers brand, which has been revitalized in recent...
Read more...
Microsoft is going to make one more big splash at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and after that, the Redmond software giant will barely keep up appearances at CES. After 2013, there will be no more Microsoft keynote presentations and no more Microsoft booths. While some are wondering if this is a sign that CES is on its...
Read more...
If you spot a good deal on DRAM and could use an upgrade, you may want to pull the trigger rather than wait and hope prices will fall even further. According to Adata CEO Simon Chen, DRAM prices are likely to rebound in January 2012, mostly because of cuts in DRAM output made earlier in the year. The effects of those cuts are about to take...
Read more...
