Daniel A. Begun
Daniel A. Begun
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Road warriors who frequently need to set up temporary virtual offices will be happy to learn that Verizon is set to release a 3G-based mobile hotspot device, called the Verizon MiFi 2200, on May 17. The MiFi is a small, rechargeable-battery-powered CDMA (EV-DO Rev. A)-based device that permits up to five 802.11b/g wireless devices to simultaneously...
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Phoenix Technologies has just released a free application for Windows XP and Vista systems that uses the proximity of your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone to tell your computer when you are away from it and therefore when to lock access to your system. This new app is called Phoenix Freeze, and Phoenix is billing it as security, power-saving,...
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In what was very likely an "oops" moment, online retailer eCOST.com listed a brand-new version of Hewlett-Packard's MediaSmart Server line, the budget-minded LX195, before HP ever publicly acknowledged the product's existence. Rumors and unsubstantiated photos of the LX195 have been appearing online these last few weeks, but yesterday’s premature...
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One of the key messages that members of the American Cable Association (ACA) are trying to get out is that we will definitely see metered bandwidth pricing at some point in the near future. ACA members are meeting this week outside of Washington, D.C., and they want us all to know that consumption-based billing for broadband usage will be...
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In what some might consider the most visible Internet-based prank to date, frequenters of the 4chan image-based bulletin board site's "/b/ - Random" imageboard claim to have rigged Time Magazine's Top 100 online poll, so as to render 4chan's founder, "moot," the winner. And even though some fairly convincing circumstantial evidence points...
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By Daniel A. Begun My apologies to Robert Burns for butchering a line from his poem, To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough, but the line really does convey quite well the unexpected frustrations I frequently encounter as a reviewer of technology products. All too often, when I get a brand-new product in to test and review,...
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Small, point-and-shoot video cameras have become increasingly popular recently, not just for their small form-factor and ease of use, but also because of their relatively low price tag. Perhaps no line of products exudes the aesthetic of these palm-sized camcorders more than that of Pure Digital Technologies' Flip Video pocket camcorders....
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With the increased focus on managing energy costs and reducing human impact on the environment in the form of carbon emissions, we're being encouraged now more than ever to turn our PCs off or let them sleep when they are not in use. The problem is, our digital lives are increasingly dependent on maintaining active network connections for...
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The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a little late to the game, but it has just launched an official online video portal where users can watch streaming video from a wide selection of PBS shows. Not that PBS hasn't offered some of its shows online before this, such as NOVA, but this marks the first time that PBS has consolidated a significant...
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Early adopters get to sample new products and technologies long before everybody else. But the price they pay for the opportunity and the bragging rights is often spending a lot more money than if they had only waited longer, potentially problematic hardware that hasn't had all the bugs worked out yet, and (in a worst-case-scenario) sometimes...
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By Daniel A. Begun A dirty little secret for anyone who ever called me on my home phone or for anyone that I called from my home phone, is that my home phone is actually not a landline--nor has it been for a few years now. My home phone is actually VoIP-based--through AT&T CallVantage. I had the opportunity to test all of the major consumer...
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Digital designers and video editors will tell you that one display is often not enough. With so many different tool and palette windows, a single display can get crowded very quickly, leaving little room for the primary workspace. Add some other apps to the equation, such as e-mail and Web browsers, and you can wind up with a desktop...
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If you thought the Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds laptop was an impressive design win with its secondary, slide-out display, then you ain't seen nothing yet... Today, Sharp has announced the latest addition to its Mebius line of portables--the Mebius PC-NJ70A netbook--which features a trackpad that also happens to function as a 4-inch multi-touch-capable...
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It doesn't carry quite the same weight as the Warren Commission report and it might even contain more redactions than the Nixon tape transcripts, but recently-released FBI documents obtained by Wired News via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) prove that the FBI has been using its own version of spyware for years to catch cyber-criminals....
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We knew that spam e-mails drained our time, resources, and productivity, but apparently spam is also contributing to global warming. Security-technology company, McAfee, and the technology-research company, ICF International, have just released a joint study that claims that the 62 trillion spam e-mails sent in 2008 generated approximately...
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Microsoft has just announced its new SideWinder X3 gaming mouse, which marks Microsoft's first SideWinder mouse that can be used by both right and left-handed gamers. Not only is the mouse ambidextrous, but it also comes in at the relatively inexpensive price of $39.95, which should make gamers on a budget very happy. The SideWinder X3 shares...
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Just when you thought it was safe to tweet again, another Twitter worm has reared its ugly head. In case you were busy hunting for Easter eggs or biting the heads off chocolate bunnies this weekend, and didn't have a chance to tweet or read other folks' tweets on Twitter, the micro-blogging social-networking site was hit with no less than...
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If there is any doubt as to the popularity of iPhone Apps, then the fact that Apple is about to mark the one-billionth iPhone App download should put any potential skepticism to rest. At the moment, Apple estimates that over 929-million apps have been downloaded since the App Store first launched less than a year ago, on July 10, 2008. This...
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We had all been warned: April 1 was the day that the infamous DOWNAD/Conficker worm was supposed to activate and do its dastardly deeds, whatever they might be. The day came and went without a whimper of Conficker-initiated destruction, although that didn't stop countless media outlets from reporting on it (HotHardware included). Conficker...
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This last January, iriver made quite a splash when it showed off its 2009 lineup of portable multimedia players (PMPs) at CES. Tech journalists swamped the iriver booth like a fast-moving school of fish, trying to get a closer look at the prototype models that were on display--especially the P7, which is the flagship of the line. Pricing and...
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Just because General Motors (GM) might be hurting from the recession, does not mean that the company still can't invest in R&D and pursue future technologies. The company's latest endeavor, however, is a bit of a departure from its popular SUVs and other gas-guzzling vehicles. GM is partnering with none other than Segway to develop an...
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NETGEAR Expands Award-Winning ReadyNAS Storage for SMBs with ReadyNAS NVXNETGEAR’s 4-Bay Desktop Model Brings Double the NAS Performance, iSCSI Support and Support for Time Machine in Mac OS X SAN JOSE, Calif. -- April 6, 2009 -- NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically innovative, branded networking solutions,...
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