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
Rockstar's Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto series are typically a blast to play, provided you're into the developer's brand of gritty violence. As a result, both franchises are also huge successes, but that doesn't mean their respective fans are always happy, In fact, some of them are downright angry that it takes...
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Research firm Gartner isn't saying the sky is falling on the PC industry, but it does note that worldwide PC shipments totaled just 87.5 million units in the second quarter of 2012, representing a decline of 0.1 percent from one year prior. Perhaps even more telling is the fact that Q2 marked the seventh consecutive quarter of flat to-single-digit...
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Wouldn't it be great if game consoles didn't cost several hundred dollars, and if the games were free to play, at least to try them out? Well, that's the central idea behind Ouya, a new game console for the TV and powered by Android. Ouya's open-source foundation is the key cog in what the developers hope will be a...
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If you've ever wanted to own your own supercomputer, now's your chance. Boutique system builder AVADirect announced what it claims is the first personal supercomputer workstation loaded to the gills with dual 8-core Intel Xeon processors, up to 192GB of memory, and support for up to four graphics cards. That's some...
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It may have taken what feels like an eternity, but iPad users can now hop on Apple's App Store and download the official Google+ app rather than using a stretched out version of the iPhone app or navigating Google's social network via Safari. "The Google+ app for iPad was designed with the device in mind," Google...
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Apple is pitching Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) as the cat's meow with over 200 new features "that add up to an amazing Mac experience," but that only applies if you're rocking a compatible system. Some older Mac models, including ones that are 64-bit capable, aren't invited to the Mountain Lion party, and it's likely...
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There's no denying that solid state drives (SSDs) are the sexy storage option, offering the luxury of blazing fast read and write transfers along with the reliability that comes from having no moving parts. But they're also comparatively expensive to mechanical hard drives, and typically smaller in capacity, too. So...
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Smartphones running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich, as it's more deliciously known) are relatively few and far between, but come July 15, 2012 (this Sunday), you can add Motorola's Atrix HD to the list. AT&T confirmed it will offer the device starting on Sunday with a cost-friendly price tag of just $99, with a...
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You can quit sulking about your baseball card collection or boxes of comic books your mother tossed in the garbage bin after you moved out. Sure, they might have been worth a pretty penny, but apparently the real money when it comes to vintage items is in videogames. To wit, a French game collector sold off his...
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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) saw its share price drop by more than 8 percent after announcing preliminary second quarter financial results with lower than expected sales numbers. The chip designer told investors it expects revenue to dip around 11 percent sequentially in Q3, which is in sharp contrast to a previous...
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Peter Sunde, one of the oft-outspoken co-founders of torrrent site The Pirate Bay (TPB), has always held an air of confidence, sometimes to the point of arrogance. Back in 2009, for example, Mr. Sunde told his Twitter followers to "Stay calm," reassuring them that nothing will happen to TPB and its founders, and that...
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Fujitsu seems to be fully embracing dual-use scenarios these days, and rather than promote tablets over notebooks or vice versa, the company just unveiled a couple of products that pull double-duty as either one. These include the Stylistic Q702 business hybrid tablet and the Lifebook T902 convertible laptop. The Q702...
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There are two sides to every story, and if you ever felt yourself sympathizing with those egg thieving pigs in Angry Birds, developer Rovio has some good news. You'll be able to play a brand new Angry Birds game later this year from the point of view of the pigs. The goal will be to keep the eggs you snatched safe...
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Dell and two other companies are going to receive a combined $198.5 million payment from Sharp to settle a civil lawsuit brought forth against a group of companies for setting artificially high prices for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. Sharp, along with several other companies, was found guilty of price fixing...
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Give credit to Intel for recognizing the notebook market needed a swift kick in the pants, and for putting a noose around the necks of netbooks, which have all but been eliminated from the market place. Sure, a few straggling netbooks remain, but by and large, Intel is now heavily invested (both literally and figuratively) in the Ultrabook...
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Mozilla on Monday is expected to announce that it's no longer going to develop its popular Thunderbird email client, leaving such chores to the open source community at large. News of Mozilla's decision came to light when a confidential letter sent out to "Mozillians" was leaked to the Web for all to see. "We’ve been focusing efforts...
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Research In Motion (RIM) has its fair share of problems to sort out, including poor financial results and strategic woes in competing with the likes of Android and iOS, but when it comes to small victories, RIM can take solace in the fact that it's starting to put up big app download numbers. As in, three billion and...
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Microsoft made a lot of Windows campers happy when it unveiled a limited time $40 upgrade offer to Windows 8 Pro for users coming from Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. As it turns out, the low-cost upgrade promotion also applies to users of Windows 8 Release Preview, which is a free download. The revelation...
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Summertime is a perfect opportunity for school age kids to take their backsides outside and enjoy the sun, running through the neighborhood to do all the they things they can't when stuck in a classroom. But who are we kidding -- today's generation prefers to lock themselves inside and play marathon game sessions, and...
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Samsung has some great news for Galaxy SIII smartphone owners. As it turns out, your mobile device isn't at risk of overheating to the point where it catches on fire and burns through its casing, as a forum member at Boards.ie claimed was the case with his Galaxy SIII a couple of weeks ago. At the time, Samsung said...
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) of New Jersey released an Android app called 'Police Tape' for smartphones that it hopes will help citizens "hold police accountable" by securely and discreetly recording conversations and interactions with Johnny Law. If you happen to walk by an arrest in progress or witness...
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You would think that the processor, graphics chip, and battery would be the biggest sources of heat in any mobile gadget, including tablets, so it might seem a little odd that Apple is (reportedly) focusing on the LED backlight in new revision third generation iPad models to tackle potential overheating problems. It's not as far fetched as...
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