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 the growing 7-inch tablet space, Google made its Nexus 7 device more competitive by knocking the 16GB model down to $199, effectively replacing the 8GB model, and introducing a 32GB version for $249. Storage upgrades are no minor deal, considering the Nexus 7 doesn't sport a microSD card slot, but it can also be a...
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Microsoft is making a big deal about its Touch Covers for Surface tablets, touting them as "revolutionary" and "brilliant," to use just two adjectives you can dig up in marketing materials. But are they also defective? The word from some early adopters is that, yes, Microsoft's Touch Covers are poorly designed. "My...
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The next YouTube video that's likely to go viral is that of Walmart employees tossing around iPads in the warehouse of a Kentucky store. Apple iPad devices are shown being thrown like several feet in the air like frisbees not always getting caught. In one instance, an employee purposely slams a boxed iPad to the...
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Blizzard has been hit with a lawsuit over its $6.50 Battle.net Authenticator keychains that it sells online. According to the lawsuit, Blizzard makes millions of dollars by "deceptively and unfairly" charging customers for an after-sale security product, essentially shifting responsibility from the publisher to the consumer to protect their...
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Windows 8 isn't without controversy, in that Microsoft designed the operating system to offer a unified experience between touch-friendly mobile devices and desktops that may or may not be equipped to handle touch input. But should we also be concerned about security? That depends on your perspective. On one hand, a new study by security firm...
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The latest data from research firm NPD Group is a little misleading in that you'd think the games industry is in a tailspin, even though it's not quite as bad as it seems. To wit, retail sales of new game hardware, software, and accessories in the U.S. plummeted 25 percent, NPD Group reports, noting that this is the...
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Exercise is important, there's no disputing that. It's especially critical if, like us, you spend hours each day plopped in front of a computer screen hammering out hardware reviews, TPS reports, or whatever. Activity is key to a healthy lifestyle, but how do you know if you're doing enough? In the old days, a mirror and scale would keep track...
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The campaign team for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney prepared a transition website in the event he won the election. We know this because the site accidentally went live for a short period of time, and though it was quickly taken down, there are no mulligans on the Internet. Taegan D. Goddard, founder of political...
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Good news for those of you who pre-ordered the Wi-Fi + Cellular version of the iPad mini. The waiting game is almost over, as Apple has begun notifying customers that the 4G LTE-equipped tablet will start shipping out in the next five days. Despite carrying a pricing premium over competing (and slightly smaller) 7-inch tablets like the Nexus...
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Facebook's Chief Operating Officer (COO), Sheryl Sandberg, is setting herself up to have a very nice holiday season by selling truckloads of company stock for millions of dollars. Sandberg unloaded around 353,000 Facebook shares worth some $7.44 million a week ago, and has now followed that up by flipping another 176,000 shares of the social...
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This one's probably a long-shot, but apparently Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is thinking about branching out and building manufacturing facilities in the United States. Two potential destinations reportedly being evaluated include Detroit, Michigan and Los Angeles, California. Foxconn is a major manufacturer of electronics devices...
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Shopaholics and bargain hunters have it easy these days. They can click, instead of clip, coupons to use online, avoid pushy crowds and idiot drivers, and even buy goods in their underwear, if they so desire (just be sure to pull the shades down, folks). Sure, you skip out on the instant gratification of shopping in a brick-and-mortar store...
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A poster on an overclocking forum is drawing widespread Internet attention over claims that Razer's Naga mouse requires a persistent Internet connection in order for it to work properly. The special drivers supposedly require that Naga owners create an account with Razer before they're allowed to configure the mouse...
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If you're a Star Wars fan (and who isn't?), Rovio believes it has the Angry Birds title you've been looking for all along. It's Angry Birds Star Wars, and it's now available on iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac, PC, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. That covers just about every major platform, save for Linux on the desktop (feel free to "Wine"...
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Perhaps as the result of a momentary sense of panic following Foxconn's reiteration that those newfangled iPhone 5 models are a bear to build, investors grew slightly skittish yesterday and sent Apple's share price down nearly 4 percent by the end of the trading day. Apple stock is now the lowest it's been in five months. "It's not easy to...
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Samsung today announced that its scintillating 840 Series solid state drives (SSDs) are now available to purchase, but that's not all. To sweeten the pot, select 840 Pro SSDs come with a free copy of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III in the form of a download code that's good for snagging the full version. The game...
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It was just a few short months ago when Linus Torvalds ripped into NVIDIA for its perceived sub-par support of the Linux operating system. During a talk at Finland's Aalto Center for Entrepreneurship, Torvalds referred to NVIDIA as "the single worst company we've ever dealt with" before flipping NVIDIA the bird on...
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Sharp recently warned investors that it was on the verge of collapse after doubling its full-year net loss forecast to $5.6 billion, citing a "worse than expected drop" in LCD TV sales in Japan and China. At the time, it was being reported that Sharp was looking for outside help to stay afloat, and was in talks with Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn)...
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Apple's iPhone 5 is a gorgeous looking smartphone, there's just no two ways about it. From its thin and light profile to its crystalline diamond-cut chamfers surrounding the 4-inch display, there's a high level of precision required to build the iPhone 5, and apparently that's making it difficult for Hon Hai Precision...
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Amazon isn't making a big deal out of its new $7.99/month Amazon Prime subscription plan, but clearly the online retailer has competing services like Netflix and Hulu Plus in its sights. Amazon Prime, if you're not already familiar with it, is a membership program that runs $79 annually in exchange for free two-day...
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It's been more than seven years since Apple began putting Intel inside its systems, and that relationship might be coming to end. Rumors are running rampant on the web this morning that Apple is seriously considering embracing ARM for its Mac lineup, with a version of the chip that it's already using in its iPhone...
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Asustor, a subsidiary of Asus that's focused on network attached storage (NAS) and video surveillance solutions, today announced the launch of its all new AS 6 Series NAS boxes. According to Asustor, these are the first NAS devices in the world to feature System Sleep Mode (S3) along with near instantaneous wake up...
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