Shawn Oliver
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Dell's Studio One 19, which officially broke out of its shell back in March, is now available to consumers in the United States and Europe. Starting today, folks in the market for a swank new all-in-one PC can look Dell's way, as this here system is certainly amongst the most stylish and well polished that we've seen.Aside from the totally...
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We know it's cliché, but really, what will they think up next? Just last month, researchers at IBM developed a supercomputer that could track some of the oldest English words to ever be uttered, and now another powerful machine will be tasked with taking on some of the quickest minds this planet has to offer... on one of America's most adored...
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Let's face it -- Microsoft has struggled with security, particularly on its operating systems and its Internet Explorer browser. Even as recently as this month, the Conficker virus was making its way around to Windows-powered machines as security experts scrambled to find a fix. Thus, it makes perfect sense to see Microsoft introducing a dedicated...
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It wasn't too long ago when we were expecting next generation GPUs to require external power bricks just to ensure that one's PSU didn't melt while trying to survive an hour-long Crysis session. Now, it seems that the all-encompassing 'green' initiative is pushing the power saving mantra all the way down to the smallest components known to...
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Rich Morin, co-author of an interesting new study in the world of consumer electronics, probably said it best when he concluded that there is "nothing like hard times to focus the minds of the public on what they need and don’t need." The aforementioned study polled one thousand Americans via landline and cellphone in early April regarding...
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Not sure if you've heard, but NFC is all the rage these days. At least it is in countries not named "USA." As America largely shuns the short-range communication technology, Nokia's looking to take advantage of NFC-friendly nations elsewhere with its new 6216 classic phone. The phone is Nokia's first SIM-based Near Field Communication device,...
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After a long, long wait, Ubuntu Linux fans have been testing out the latest flavor all weekend. Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop, which is more affectionately known as "Jaunty Jackalope," has just been made available. Also of note, the Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix -- which is obviously tweaked to work best on low-power netbooks -- can be downloaded today....
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We keep wondering when we'll finally stop seeing new SSD players on a near-weekly basis -- not that we're hoping that flow stops or anything, but it's definitely getting a little crazy. This week, we've got little-known Texas Memory Systems introducing the very enterprise RanSan-620. Explained as a complete, high-performance, reliable Flash...
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At this point, we're wondering if there is any nation in the world who won't get caught up in the race for complete bandwidth domination. Shortly after Britain, South Korea and Australia all publicly confessed to plans to expand broadband access (and speeds) in their respective nations, Estonia has come forward to do the same. Of course, the...
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Need a beefy power supply for your next DIY rig? No, we mean seriously beefy. If you're still adamant that you're fine with blasting your energy bill sky high for the sake of high frame rates, have a look at Asus' latest PSUs. The G Series lineup, which is currently comprised of a 1000-watt and 850-watt version, is obviously aimed at power-hungry...
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Tired of cards with serious cooling being reserved for the "hardcore crowd" willing to pay extra? If so, this tie-up should make your day. TUL Corporation (or PowerColor, as it were) has just landed a deal with Arctic Coling to bring the latter's heralded cooling solutions to the former's AMD-based graphics cards. Specifically, it's 92mm cooling...
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While most of the buzz surrounding AMD of late has focused on its all new Phenom II X4 955 processor and its plans for 12- and 16-core processors in 2011, the company celebrated Earth Day earlier this week with a less notable, less energy-intensive option. The newly introduced AMD Opteron EE processor includes the company's lowest x86 quad-core...
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Love TV? Love being on the road? Regardless of whether or not your answer to that second inquiry is "yes" or "no," Asus is looking to help avid travelers stay connected to their favorite over-the-air dramas with its all new Express TV Stick. This minuscule USB TV tuner enables notebooks and desktops alike to tune into any local OTA station...
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Hot on the heels of Asus' P30A introduction comes this, the K Series Domino Collection. Armed with a lengthy name and a knack for hitting the multimedia sweet spot, this new line contains the K40IJ and K40IN, both of which get powered by a Core 2 Duo T6400 or Core 2 Duo T4200 processor (or an AMD chip, if that's your thing) and come loaded...
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Intel's new Xeon 5500 series CPU launched earlier this year within Apple's Mac Pro (of all systems), and has since filtered out to other computer makers and the retail market. Despite an overall contraction in demand for microprocessors, demand for this particular one has evidently remained strong. So strong, in fact, that Samsung Electronics...
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Asus sure is firing on all cylinders of late, producing one of the largest gaming notebooks we've ever seen, one of the longest-lasting netbooks we've ever used and now, one of the most business-minded intermediate machines that we've ever come across. Regardless of your needs, it seems Asus is making a machine for you.Described as an everyday...
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Chi Youngcho, head of the recently created digital media and communications unit at Samsung Electronics, told us in January to expect a few new netbooks, and clearly, he's a man of his word. Today, the company has come forward with not one, but two new "mini notebooks," the N110 and N120.Checking in at 10.27'' (W) x 1.19'' (H) x 7.3'' (D)...
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History has shown that Advanced Micro Devices doesn't have the greatest track record for delivering chips as promised (at least right on schedule), but the company's looking to make a change for the better starting with its highly anticipated six-core Istanbul. Said CPU, which falls in the Opteron family, promises to provide up to 30 percent...
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Not much has changed about the Wind U100 PLUS compared to the U100 we burned in earlier this year, but when something's hot, you might as well strike (again), right? MSI's certainly agreeing with that mantra, pushing out a mildly refined version of its hit netbook that takes advantage of Intel's 1.66GHz Atom N280 and adds a few other small...
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Just a day after Netgear announced that its Digital Entertainer Elite media streamer was shipping worldwide, the company has issued a similar announcement for its MoCA Coax-Ethernet Adapter Kit. Said kit, which was launched to much fanfare earlier this year at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, enables high performance home networking (up...
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Can't say we've ever heard of Taica Corporation, but apparently that very company has developed a so-called shock absorber that somehow boosts LCD performance. Sounds crazy, we know. Reportedly, the outfit has crafted a resin material that is based on a soft gel made primarily from silicon. As the story goes, that very substances helps to...
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Anyone paying close attention to the computing industry would realize that a few trends are picking up steam. Netbooks, smartphones and cloud computing -- and that's just to name a few. Cisco Systems, which definitely isn't immune to security breaches, is keying in on the latter one with a new network security lineup engineered to "help protect...
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