Shawn Oliver
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
We've seen plenty of innovation this autumn already, but it seems that increased speed is the next bandwagon to hop on. With USB 3.0 about to take over where USB 2.0 left off, Seagate is saying goodbye, for at least one of their hard drives, to that "sluggish" 3Gbit/sec transfer technology.Today, the company...
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SteelSeries may not be a household name or anything, but it's still a respectable outfit when it comes to PC accessories. Particularly for PC accessories used by hardcore gamers who demand the best. Have a look at the company's newest offering: the Siberia v2 headset. In essence, it's merely an updated version of the company's Siberia headset,...
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Um, okay? Just when we thought the digital photo frame market was hitting rock bottom in terms of innovation, Seiko Epson (of all companies!) swoops in to show us why we're wrong. For years now, the digital photo frame has become a low-rate item used to gift strangers at Christmas when you don't know what else to get. It was once a cutting-edge...
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USB 3.0 is here. Or, it might as well be, as Point Grey is already announcing that it'll have a finalized product on display at this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. Officially, the USB-IF has yet to announce that any USB 3.0 products are on the chopping block, but considering just how long the protocol has been in the...
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Landline phones are dead. Done. Over with. Old hat. So last year. In effect, that's exactly how Verizon Communications chief Ivan Seidenberg feels, and you know when Verizon's head honcho says landlines are done, they're done. But really, everyone knew this day was coming. People have been shutting off their landlines...
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Ah, the videophone. Is it a dying breed, or simply a wonderful gadget being introduced too far ahead of its time. After seeing Verizon's Hub launch and then fall flat shortly thereafter, we're guessing it's the former. Frankly, hardly anyone has time these days to sit down and take a call at home, so we definitely don't have time to sit down,...
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The dedicated GPS landscape continues to grow, despite the fact that integrated GPS applications on smartphones could be looking to steal away some of that precious market share. Magellan, a smaller player in the grand scheme of things, has just introduced the RoadMate 1700, and without a doubt the standout feature is...
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While healthcare may be the hottest topic of all right now, it's hard to argue that net neutrality isn't one of the hottest, longest lasting topics as related to the Internet. Ever since this series of tubes was first put into place, pundits and supporters alike have debated about how much regulation was needed. Some argued that ISPs knew...
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In our 2009 Notebook Buyer's Guide, we discussed the merits and perils of CULV based notebooks. This suddenly popular and quickly growing sector looks to bridge the gap between the bargain basement netbook and the full-size notebook. It makes sense to think that a swath of 13.3" to 14" machines would be needed for those who find 10.1"...
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We've already seen a mouse made that can do its thing on pure glass, but thin air? As the breakthroughs continue to mount, Movea is introducing a mouse that can literally "mouse on air." The Gyration Air Mouse Elite doesn't need a surface of any kind to make the cursor move, requiring just a simple wrist twist in...
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We had to do a double take to ensure this was real, but sure enough, the video card shown here is no joke. Though, it does have something in common with The Joker. In what we believe is a first for any company, MSI has just released a Batman video card. Let that sink in: a Batman-themed GPU. In fact, the company is...
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You know, the holiday season may be fast approaching, but we're pretty sure the engineers over at MSI never take a break. It seems like the company always has something new to check out from week to week, with the X410 being the most recent development.Joining the heralded X-Slim notebook lineup, the X410 utilizes AMD's Athlon Neo CPU and...
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Docking Stations. What comes to mind when you hear the phrase? If you're anything like us, you're thinking of that device your corporate owner gave you on your first day in the cube, and you're probably thankful it's there. But for those that try to use docking stations at home, having to connect your machine to the...
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Seeing an LG HDTV or an LG notebook won't turn any eyes up in curiosity, but an LG NAS? Yeah, LG is evidently in the Network Attached Storage business now, and it's entering in a big way. The new N2R1 is a rather robust device--clearly LG thought long and hard before jumping in a market already saturated with entries from QNAP and the like.The...
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With a name like WIDEBOOK, you can get a good grasp of what to expect from LG's newest notebook family. Comprised of five models--the R580/R560, R480/R460 and R380--these machines all feature 16:9 HD LED-backlit displays and Core 2 Duo processors, and obviously they're perfect for watching a movie or Hulu show while munching popcorn on the...
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Archos has had a tough time gaining ground in North America. Frankly, so has every other portable media player manufacturer not named Apple, but Archos' problem is that they typically market their wares solely in France, the company's home nation. Now, however, it seems that the firm is finally ready to make a big push here in America, and...
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Windows 7 is still over a month away from shipping, but already Hercules is preparing to ship its next netbook with that very OS loaded on. Rather than introducing a new machine with Windows XP at this point, the company is instead introducing a new one with Windows 7 Starter for shipment next month. Believe it or not, this isn't the first...
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While the Belkin name is most commonly associated with overpriced mice and a cadre of networking products, the company has been branching out of late. Take, for example, it's newest box: the Home Base. At first, it looks like a four-port USB 2.0 hub with an Ethernet jack, but in reality it's so much more.This companion box, which yearns to...
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We know it's an easy joke, but really, could Verbatim not think of any other name for its new family of mice? We're no experts on product labeling, but "Easy Riser" probably wouldn't have been our top choice for a number of politically incorrect reasons. At any rate, the news here is that Verbatim has issued a new...
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Ah, the pico projector. About a year ago, you couldn't look over your shoulder without seeing yet another company come forward with a 640x480 projector that could be shoved in the average pocket, but now that the novelty has worn off, just a few outfits are sticking with it. One of those determined companies is none other than Microvision,...
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"Bose" and "budget" just don't go in the same sentence together, and that fact has never been more true with the introduction of the company's latest iPod music system. As families across the world look for ways to cut back, Bose is helping you find new ways to splurge, as the SoundDock 10 is right up there with the...
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Asus is probably best known today for its help in sparking the netbook revolution. The Eee PC is often considered the original netbook, and judging by the dozens of models available, we'd say they've been quite a hit for the PC maker. But netbooks aren't all that Asus offers, and we have to confess that the Eee Keyboard is one of the most...
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