Ray Willington
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
When it comes to raw horsepower within the devices that make our lives tick, it can get pretty nerdy... real fast. Take process technology, for example. Everyone loves speed, but it's companies like SanDisk who care about the nuts and bolts that make our gizmos tick. The company has just announced the commencement of customer sampling of flash...
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Of all the social networks that one might have expected to flop, Pinterest is probably in that list. But, what is lacks in convention it makes up for in uniqueness, and obviously the user base is just exploding. Now, those who use the service will find it to be even more useful. The company has today launched "more useful pins," and it's also...
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In some aspects, Sony's Xperia line is beginning to feel like BlackBerry's line of products a few years ago: we're seeing a new model number, but honestly, everything looks largely the same. Sony's design chops are certainly laudable, but the Xperia UL sure looks just like every other Xperia smartphone to ship in the past year or so. That...
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Remember than 1366x768 was "good enough," even for flagship notebooks? No longer, and we couldn't be more pleased about the raised expectations. Consumers far and wide are growing used to seeing high-res panels, with "Retina-level" quality becoming more of the norm and less of the exception. Toshiba's Kirabook is one...
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Is there a gaming company hotter than Valve right now? That's a debate that could last for hours, but here's something that's pretty universally understood: Steam has completely transformed the idea of game delivery, and now that it's spreading to other platforms, it's giving gamers even easier access to even more titles. One of those famed...
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These days, it's a spectrum turf war for carriers. The more spectrum they have, the more power and coverage they have... so they'll do anything to acquire it. It's a highly limited asset, and Sprint is a carrier that needs more spectrum in the worst way. So, they're acquiring certain bits of U.S. Cellular spectrum to...
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Google I/O has come and gone, and while the company certainly made waves, those waves were a lot calmer than in past years. Many were wondering in particular about the ill-fated Nexus Q. The glowing, spinning, streaming orb was a major part of last year's keynote, but it shortly went out of stock and hasn't been heard from since. Google didn't...
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Intel may have missed its chance to power Apple's iPhone range, but Lenovo's not going to let the chipmaker skip over yet another flagship device. The company's K900 smartphone, which was initially shown at CES 2013, is finally on sale this week. It's actually one of the most powerful smartphones on the planet...
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Some would argue that the modern day cellular phone killed the watch. After all, who needs a wristwatch when you can just glance at the time on a display that never leaves your side? But on the other side of the equation, the phone revolution has seemingly jump-started fitness. While a certain segment of the...
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Cha-ching! That's the sound of approval, and also the sound of impending purchases of even more Apple products. The Pentagon this week cleared Apple devices for use on its highly secured networks -- a move that follows similar approvals given to BlackBerry 10 and the latest Android-based Samsung products. The Defense...
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Archos has made a bit of a living out of producing low-end, super affordable gadgets. Namely, audio players and tablets. While they hardly ever impress anyone from a benchmarking standpoint, it's tough to overlook the latest. It's the Archos 80 Xenon, the company's latest and greatest 3G tablet in the Elements...
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Ah, the war on conventional television networks rages on. With Netflix scooping up exclusive, Internet-first programs on a regular basis now, Amazon is doing its best to keep pace. After all, it has to give users even more reason to spend $79 on an annual Prime membership, right? This week, Amazon's streaming video...
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Looking to get in a bit of Street Fighter action with your Xbox 360? Razer's got you covered. The accessory company has just launched the new Atrox Arcade Stick for Xbox 360. Razer's been beta testing thing quite a bit, and it's seemingly launching just days before Microsoft is set to reveal to next-generation of Xbox. The device features...
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At first, we had to double check our calendars to ensure that it wasn't the dawn of April. Nope -- this one's the real deal. Lenovo's Horizon Table PC is already a pretty unique take on the tablet + oversized sit-down desktop, but it's about to get even more so. Lenovo today introduced three new table concepts that are meant to house the Horizon...
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4K HDTVs are slowly but surely finding their way to production lines. While we've seen early price estimates ranging from outrageous to outrageously affordable (at least, comparatively), and Sony's newest sets land somewhere in the middle. The company has just gone official with pricing and release dates for the BRAVIA X9 4K HDTV range, with...
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Lots and lots of news coming out of San Francisco this week, mostly from Google. And in case you're hungry for more, there's yet another tidbit that could make waves. Google today announced that in the coming months, Android will include native support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices. Phones and...
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Google introduced a lot of new features and gear today at I/O, but one other thing snuck in outside of that: an update to Gmail. E-Mail is obviously vital to Google's core services, and today it's revealing a few new features that'll make using Gmail even better. The two newcomers are quick button actions, as well as...
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If you're living in the UK, and have been holding out for a Microsoft Surface, the wait is almost over. After launching months ago in the U.S. and Canada, the Surface Pro will make the journey across the pond starting May 23rd. The Windows 8-based unit will ship for £719 in the 64GB configuration, and £799 for the 128 GB configuration....
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Remember Polaroid? Yeah, that Polaroid. The brand that helped define an entire era of photography has had some ups and downs over the years, with more "downs" in recent years. But now, the company is staging a comeback by producing items that are far more germane in today's society. The latest is the XS80, a mountable HD action camera designed...
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When Roku introduced the Roku 3 range, it also brought a sleek new user interface. But to date, that UI has been reserved for use on the newest hardware only. For those still using an older Roku to stream media, there's a bit of good news on the UI front. Roku has started to roll out the new interface to prior units. You can pull it down manually...
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On one hand, this is huge news for BlackBerry. But on the other, it would've been far, far more monumental if this had happened five years ago. During BlackBerry's annual developer event in Florida today, the company announced that BBM (its proprietary messaging service, similar to iMessage for Apple devices) would...
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Square has taken the mobile payments world by storm in the U.S., and evidently there has been demand to help make Apple's iPad an actual cash register. As the conventional POS machine begins to see the end of the line, it's devices like the Square Stand that have a chance to take its place. The new device actually...
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