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 perfect world, solid state drives (SSDs) would offer the same capacity as mechanical hard drives for the same or similar price, but we don't live in a perfect world. Mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) still offer the best bang-for-buck, and due to their large capacities, they're often desirable in the enterprise...
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Just over a week ago, Vine rolled out its biggest update yet to iOS, leaving Android users sitting on the sideline except for a protected posts feature. At the time, Vine co-founder and CTO Colin Kroll promised to roll out the same set of features and improvements to Android "next week," and making good on that...
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We're starting to see mobile all-in-one (AIO) systems emerge in the marketplace, and in case you missed it, check out evaluation of Dell's XPS 18. Dell isn't the only system builder getting in on the action, however, as HP's Envy Rove 20 is headed to retail this Sunday with a bigger screen than the XPS 18 and Intel's...
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Imagine if AT&T had acquired T-Mobile like it intended to do before the deal was essentially snuffed by U.S. regulators concerned about unfair competition. We'd have missed out on T-Mobile's rebirth as the so called "Un-Carrier," as the company now likes to refer to itself. T-Mobile's been thinking outside of the...
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If you thought today's mobile devices were fast, wait until you see what ARM has up its sleeve for next year. Chip makers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and GlobalFoundries have both let it be known that they're planning to build 3GHz ARM processor sometime in 2014, which will inevitably end up in...
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Facebook isn't about to let its $1 billion acquisition of Instagram go to waste. Continued innovation is the secret to both remaining relevant in an increasingly crowded field of apps that offer filters for photos and videos, and to seeing a return on such a hefty investment. Towards that end, the Instagram team just unveiled web embedding...
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LG Display, a division of LG Electornics, unveiled what it claims is the world's thinnest Full HD 1080p LCD panel for smartphones, and after looking at the pictures, we won't argue against it. The display in question is 5.2 inches diagonal, but what's really remarkable here is that it measures a mere 2.2mm thin and has a bezel that's only...
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Fancy yourself a collector of memorabilia? If so, be sure to grab the current August issue of PCWorld, as it will be the last ever in print format. After three decades in print, publisher IDG decided it was time to go all-in with digital, which is the only format PCWorld will be available in from this point forward...
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BlackBerry, or the company formerly known as Research In Motion (RIM), may find itself a Guns 'N Roses fan, and in particular the song Patience. That's what BlackBerry's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thorsten Heins is asking from investors as the company continues to come up short of expectations during what's been...
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If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, both Facebook and Google should be blushing from cheek to cheek. After the introduction go Google+, the two social networking services have been copying features from each other, inadvertently helping the other to innovate and improve upon their own social playground...
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YouSendIt, a popular online service for sending large files, apparently felt constrained by its name as it looks to grow beyond a simple file sharing service. After months of planning, prepping, designing, and developing a new brand identity, YouSendIt is now relaunching itself as Hightail, a term the company feels...
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Wireless carrier AT&T has been sending out emails to members of the press teasing a major July 16th announcement, in which "What's next in wireless" will be revealed. Other than that tagline, AT&T isn't saying what it has up its sleeve, be it a new smartphone product, service, or something else. However...
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The only place you can score Acer's new M5-583P-6428 laptop is at Best Buy, where it's being offered exclusively for $700. It features a 10-point multi-touch display powered by a 4th generation Intel Core i5 4200U dual-core processor (Haswell) clocked at 1.6GHz (2.6GHz via Turbo) with 3MB of cache and Intel HD...
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Mobile devices aren't getting any slower, and so it's imperative that third-party component and peripheral makers keep up with the rapid pace of technology. That doesn't seem to be a problem for flash memory player SanDisk, which today announced the SanDisk Extreme microSDHC and microSDXC UHS-I memory cards. According...
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Microsoft's message to resellers is, 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back.' To be more specific, Microsoft introduced a new program called "TouchWins" that allows participating retailers to receive $5 to $10 for each Windows 8 device they sell from a list of 21 Windows 8 touch-enabled PCs and tablets. "The...
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One look at Apple's financial results is all you need to be convinced the Cupertino company essentially has a license to print money. Be that as it may, Apple isn't immune to market trends or fierce competition, the latter of which it's currently facing from rival Samsung. As a result, Apple may have reduced its...
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Google's developer dashboard for Android reveals that Jelly Bean is now the most popular version of the company's open source operating system, finally eclipsing Gingerbread to take the top spot. Jelly Bean is installed on more than a third of all Android devices (37.9 percent for versions 4.1.x and 4.2.x combined)...
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The streaming music sector may be on its way to becoming saturated with too many options. Time will tell whether all the different services can co-exist, but in the meantime, one of the industry's pioneers, Pandora, is ensuring that if it falls by the wayside, it won't be due to neglect in terms of app updates...
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Being in charge of a brick-and-mortar bookstore chain in this day and age of digital media is no easy task. If you don't want to take our word for it, then ask William Lynch, the former Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of Barnes & Noble who on Monday resigned from his position effectively immediately. He's also...
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There doesn't exist a mobile platform more popular than Android, a statement that will probably ring true for a long time to come. Android has the most market share on a global scale, and it leads in the U.S., though if Apple's looking for signs of encouragement, it can point to iOS closing the gap (somewhat)...
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Thank your lucky stars if your Android device is running the latest and greatest version of Google's open source operating system, because at the end of the day, you're at the mercy of your device maker and wireless carrier. That's why Google's own Nexus 4 is so popular -- it receives Android updates as soon as...
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If your business is to make and sell digital cameras, you might find yourself miffed at how many people are willing to settle for the optics built into their smartphones. For consumers, it's all about convenience and cost. Let's face it, a dedicated point-n-shoot isn't a priority for spur-of-the-moment shots when a...
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