Shawn Oliver
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
It's the talk that every parent hates to even consider having. No, we're not referring to "that talk," referring to "this talk." It's the talk that goes something like this: "Son, did you utilize your cellphone's data connection to download gobs of data from Internet last month?" "Yeah, um, I think I did dad--I thought no one would notice...
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OLPC tried its best to come out with a $100 (or so) notebook, but after all was said and done, it failed. Cherrypal is known for producing low-cost wares, and now it's claiming that it has just launched the planet's first $99 laptop. Sure, you can pick up small notebooks overseas for less than $100, but no mainstream US-based machine has hit...
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What's better than a WLAN router? Why, a WWAN router, of course! D-Link has just introduced its newest 3.5G router in the DIR-412, which is a compact wireless access point that essentially enables multiple users with Wi-Fi devices to share a single cellular data connection. The portable router ships with 802.11n...
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It's time we, as a nation, came to grips with something. No, we're not about to go on some rant about healthcare, and we aren't talking about the Federal Interest Rate, we're talking about something far, far more endearing to the US public. Yes folks, we're talking about texting. Hold your gasps, please. But feel free to send your immediate...
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The proliferation of NVIDIA's Ion GPU has been a long time coming. We've been talking about its merits for the better part of this year, but only recently has it been able to find its way into more than a handful of mainstream, shipping netbooks. We recently had a look at HP's Mini 311 with Windows 7 Home Premium, and while the Ion definitely...
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You know those huge, rugged cases that musicians generally carry their amplifiers and speakers around in? Yeah, those ones that are made to take years of abuse from touring and the like. Turns out there's a need for those kind of cases, but for desktop computers. Crazy as that may sound, CaseCruzer has just introduced...
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Who knows if this whole "end of an ordeal" has anything to do with the current season, but it looks like the European Union is in the giving mood. Today, the EU announced that it would be dropping the pending charges against Microsoft regarding its decision to force Internet Explorer upon poor, lost European Windows 7...
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If Apple holds the crown for best looking laptops, we're pretty confident LaCie holds the crown for best looking hard drives. The company made famous for taking standard storage drives and converting them into objects of desire has just pushed out their latest device, and yes, it's a looker. The LaCie Rikiki is a real tongue-twister, and furthermore,...
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Can't say we've ever heard of Agama, but it's not like the world doesn't need yet another peripherals and accessories provider, right? Just before the kick-off of CES 2010, Agama has decided to make a pre-Christmas splash in the market with the launch of new mice that feature high-precision sensors tailored for gamers and professionals. The...
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KVM switches are one of the most underrated PC accessories on the market, hands-down. Not too many average consumers need one, but they are a miracle-worker for those with multiple machines and screens. Gefen is looking to step up the tried-and-true KVM with the introduction of the next generation 4x1 KVM DVI DL Switcher, which is actually...
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On the hunt for more RAM, are you? If you weren't swayed by any of our options in the 2009 Gift Guide, Corsair has yet another round of Dominator memory coming your way. This time it's the 24GB triple-channel kit, which packs more memory than some low-end SSDs. Naturally, the kit is designed for high-end workstations...
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You know those hardware accessories that you never think about needing, but when you need them, you really need them? Addonics tends to make a lot of devices that fall into that category, and we're pretty certain their latest two devices fit that same bill. Today, the company has introduced new multi-Flash readers with a high-speed SATA interface,...
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Sony Ericsson may be going through some serious restructuring right now, but that's not to say it's not plugging along with its handset business all the while. The XPERIA X2 and the Android-based X10 are undoubtedly garnering the most attention right now, with the latter being SE's first-ever Google-powered...
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We've already learned that Wi-Fi is a vital part of being stuck in an airport, and without it, one just might keel over for good. Well, maybe that's not entirely accurate, but surveys that we seen certainly point out just how important having Internet everywhere is to modern consumers. Even in cars, apparently.Chevrolet is doing its best to...
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HP's Mini range of netbooks have been well respected in the industry, and while they were never as instrumental as Asus in the explosion of the netbook as a whole, they've really managed to nail their niche. From the start, the HP Mini was one of the most fashionable netbook lines out there, boasting subtle curves, a uniform keyboard,...
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Uh, this is weird. If you're a judge and/or lawyer in Florida, you should probably go through and clean house on your Facebook account. If you're a judge, you're now disallowed from "friending" lawyers for fear of having some sort of bias when or if that lawyer steps into your courtroom. No, we aren't kidding.The...
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Home Theater PCs are a dying breed, but they won't vanish completely. We think there will always be a niche market of individuals who want to hook up full-featured PCs to their TVs, and with TV tuners and the explosion of web content (Hulu and Boxee, anyone?), it's no surprise to see more and more boutique companies coming out with more interesting...
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We know the whole "There's An App For That!" campaign is getting stale, but you know what? It's pretty accurate. For almost any scenario you can dream up, the App Store has an app for what you need to accomplish. It may not be free or full-featured, but you can get almost any kind of web-based action you need from...
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Earlier this month, we heard that storage mainstay Seagate would be introducing a new, ultra-thin notebook hard drive at CES. Evidently the company has decided not to wait, and it has today spoiled its own surprise by serving up the official details that were missing in the teaser release. Essentially, the Momentus...
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Wow, talk about reviving something from the dead. Years back, when Google was just beginning their quest to dominate the world in every imaginable aspect, rumors were swirling about a "Googlephone" that no one could prove was actually real. Amazingly, it seems that such a device may have actually been talked about back in the day, as some...
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My, oh, my. What a difference a few years makes in the smartphone market. Nokia has long since been the dominant cellphone provider the world over, holding well over 40% of the overall market share in terms of mobile phone sales. But with companies such as RIM (who makes the BlackBerry), HTC (responsible for the Hero...
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Well, well--we sure thought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was hot stuff, but frankly, it has nothing on this. Microvision, the company responsible for a PicoP-based pico projection technology, has just released a video of what we're calling its "killer app." Seriously--even if you have no interest in putting a...
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