Rob Williams
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
To say that Roller Coaster Tycoon fans have been waiting a good long time for the next proper PC release would be an understatement. In fact, this October will mark ten years since RCT 3 was released. Fortunately, this painful wait is soon...
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A couple of hours before folks on the east coast could see this past Wednesday's sunrise, some found themselves battling to get webpages to load, or found themselves without Internet entirely. It'd be understandable in this situation to...
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Google is soon to roll out a major update to its YouTube TV app, and it looks good. A major goal with this release is greatly simplifying the number of steps required to get to relevant content. Much like the mobile app that many of us know so well, you'll be able to invoke a menu on the left...
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Ask.com's service might annoy many today thanks to its uncanny ability to show up as a toolbar option in many installers, but back in the day, when it was still known as Ask Jeeves, many considered it to be one of the coolest services going. Amidst much competition, Ask's usage declined over...
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When we reported on the potential incentives Microsoft could be bringing with Windows 9 earlier this month, we talked about Windows 8.1's "Update 2" being a little thinner than was originally planned. As Microsoft has finally rolled that...
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Intel might not be the first vendor name to come to mind when the subject of DirectX 12 is brought up, but at the ongoing SIGGRAPH conference in Vancouver, the company wants us to know that it's very much in the game. Making use of a...
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A lot has sure changed in the past year, especially since the time before Edward Snowden, who we talked about yesterday, came forth with his NSA revelations. Anyone who cared about hiding their identity pre-Snowden were generally...
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It took almost no time at all after Edward Snowden exposed some of the NSA's more questionable goings-on that a divide of public opinion could be seen. Some consider Snowden to be a national hero, while others consider him to be nothing...
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Apple's Siri might not be for everyone, but there's no denying that sometimes, it could prove to be a boon for finding out important, time-sensitive information fast. I must imagine, though, that there are some things Siri's...
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There was never any doubt that Bungie's Destiny was going to be anything other than a major hit, but some proof of that has trickled out today: The game has become GameStop's most pre-ordered new IP in history. To celebrate this milestone...
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When it comes to customer horror stories, Comcast is the gift that keeps on giving. Last month, we reported on a true nightmare of a call tech blogger Ryan Block had to deal with, with Comcast ultimately admitting that the customer service...
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We were given our first preview of Sledgehammer Games' second Call of Duty title, Advanced Warefare, back in May, so to say a multiplayer preview is a little overdue at this point would be a huge understatement. Well, that preview is here...
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A couple of weeks ago, reports hit the Web claiming that Chinese phone maker Xiaomi was sending user info back to home base. At the time, the company's head of global expansion, ex-Googler Hugo Barra, claimed that no such thing was going...
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As the owner of two cats that have been indoor pets their entire lives, I couldn't imagine letting them wander outdoors. If that wasn't the case, though, I know exactly what I'd do: I'd make their adventure, my adventure. That's just what security researcher Gene Bransfield did with the...
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Apple's Siri virtual assistant has been a well-used iOS feature since its introduction in 2011, and it's seemed inevitable that at some point, the company would port it (ahem - her) on over to Mac OS X. Well, according to a patent filed on...
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Even as a rabid Android fan, there's one aspect of Apple's iOS that attracts me: The aesthetics. This is especially true since the release of iOS 7; yes, that particular release became the butt of many jokes thanks to its heavy use of...
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Facebook has long been under fire for its seemingly lackluster care to user privacy, something that became a hot topic this past week as the company forced its mobile users to transition to its Messenger app in order to have messaging...
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Emulating the behavior of a human brain is one of the toughest challenges scientists and engineers have ever faced. A major reason for that is the sheer amount of computational power our brains possess. Feel dumb because you turned the...
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Facebook Users Revolt After Forced Messenger Transition, Give App 1-star Rating at Apple's App Store
Just over a week ago, we warned of the pending deadline for the forced transition to Facebook's Messenger app for those who wanted to continue having messaging capabilities. In that post, I wrote, "I personally believe that Facebook...
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It might be called the HTC Volantis, but what it's set to become is the next tablet in Google's Nexus line. Dubbed Nexus 9, this 8.9-inch tablet is expected to feature a 2048x1440 resolution (281 ppi), 2GB of RAM, 16 and 32GB storage...
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Where mobile devices are concerned, thin is in - something that applies just as well to our notebooks as it does our smartphones. If we're a bit more specific and are talking about gaming notebooks, thin is a word very rarely associated...
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One of the necessary evils of website ownership is understanding at least a little bit about search engine optimization - SEO for short. Poor practices could make your site fall into the virtual abyss, while good practices can have the...
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