Articles by Quinten Plummer
Teens Show Thumbs Up to Instagram but Thumbs Down to Facebook
Facebook's teen demographic continues to slide, though its site and messaging app still beat out rivals in number of users. WhatsApp and Instagram are proving to be effective safety nets for Facebook.
History of Bitcoin: Tenacious Cryptocurrency Navigates Big Hurdles to Reach Respectability
Bitcoin has persevered through a slew of bubbles, thefts and exploits. Though the road has been anything but easy, the cryptocurrency's track record of resiliency is starting to attract the heavyweights.
North Korea Internet Goes Dark in Wake of US Retaliation Promise
Slowing to a crawl and then reporting no network activity, North Korea's Internet access has been rocked Monday by what appears to be a massive distributed denial of service attack. The Internet blackout comes a day after President Barack Obama promised proportional retaliation for the attacks on Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Mobile Gaming Base Hits 1B, 30B-Plus Downloads a Year
Analysts project mobile game downloads will double from over 30 billion in 2014 to 60 billion by 2018. Free-to-play and MOBAs are helping mobile gaming grow, but there's still a strong contingent of gamers who want premium games.
'Star Citizen's' Chris Roberts Congratulates 'Elite: Dangerous' on Successful Launch
'Star Citizen' director Chris Roberts says he welcomes 'Elite: Dangerous' and 'No Man's Sky.' There is no rivalry, he says.
Amazon Eyeing Fire Phone 2 Release in 2016: Will It Be Another Misfire?
Roughly $170 million in charge backs last quarter for the Fire Phone has put out Amazon's flame. The e-commerce company is preparing the second generation of the Fire Phone, reports state.
Dish Network Gets Foxy with Fox News after Contract Negotiations Fail
Dish and Fox fall and point fingers at one another after talks fall apart. Fox News and Fox Business are blacked out of Dish's lineup.
Artsy Update for Amazon Fire Phone. But Does it Matter?
Amazon rolls out a massive update for the Fire phone, with updates to Firefly and the smartphone's camera headlining the package. If you're still unsure about the Fire phone, check out our video review at the bottom of the story.
Indiegogo Campaigns of the Week: Water from Air, Ice Rocks, Beer Projects Seek Support
Billions of people drink liquids every day, that's a fact. But there are some Indiegogo innovators who seek to improve the ways people obtain and consume liquids.
Geek Gift: It's a Water Bottle. It's a Charger. It's a Tunes Player
Still looking for that very unique holiday gift? This bottle provides water, mobile power and can carry a tune. The multifunction water bottle plays audio routed to it via Bluetooth or a 3.5-mm connection.
Best Free Curated Channels for Roku, Chromecast Sticks and Fire, Apple TVs
Life with scaled-back premium TV services is becoming easier, as more content providers package content in nonlinear fashion. These apps will make cord-cutting even more exciting.
Americans Will Trade Privacy for Digital Services, Study Reveals
By 2025, the definition of privacy will be almost unrecognizable by today's standards, according to Pew Research. What's driving the world to that point is today's trade-off of privacy in favor of convenience.
3 Free Apps for Securing Smartphones, Mobile Devices
Malware and spam no longer lurk solely on desktops and laptops. The mobile security tools listed here have the features to help keep smartphones and tablets protected from threats.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere Zings Competitors, Wireless Industry
During the lightly-scripted Uncarrier 8.0 presentation T-Mobile CEO John Legere praised his company's network and of course offered up some juicy opinions on the industry's top dogs. 'I detest the industry they set up,' Legere said. And that's just the start.
Top Indie xBox One, PC Games Arriving in 2015
Yes, the expected launches of 'Dying Light,' 'Project Cars' and other AAA games are right around the corner, but don't let them overshadow upcoming indie hits. Here is a look at some of the best indie games launching in the first quarter of 2015.
Crowd-Fueled Kickstarter Thursday: Tech Tapping Artificial Sunlight, Gloving as an Art Form
This week's Crowd-Fueled Kickstarter Thursday takes a look at campaigns that are innovating with artificial light. One promises to bring simulated sunrises and sunsets to living spaces, another seeks to transport stolen sunlight, and the last seeks to make gloving more expressive than waving around lighted fingertips.
Xbox Welcomes Khan Academy. Who Said Gaming Can't be Educational and Fun?
Xbox users can now put the frags down for a bit and enjoy lectures from a library of over 5,000 videos. The Khan Academy brings a wealth of education videos to Xboxes, all for free.
Laptop Review: Which Should Santa Buy? Get the Scoop, Specs on Latest Mobile PCs
Tech Times compares some of the best laptops in a range of categories starting from low-end Chromebooks and ending with mobile computers that roam the high end. We're focusing on those that arrived in the fall of 2014.
Geek Gift: Top 3 Free PC Antivirus, Internet Security Tools
Operating a PC without any third-party antivirus software puts digital life at risk and there's no need to kick off a new year doing that. The support and girth of premium antivirus tools are worth every cent, but these free tools can get the job done quick in the meantime.
Amazon Gifts Kindle iOS a Holiday Gift Basket of Updates
Goodreads integration headlines an update to the iOS version of the Kindle app. Apple users can now share their progress, quotes and reviews with friends.
LG TVs Aim to Cash in on 4K Wave
LG is readying a 4K television that will make use of quantum dot technology to elevate colors and drive down prices. The new TV will be shown off at CES 2015.
Samsung Mulling Wireless Payment Strategy à la Apple Pay
Samsung is rumored to be in talks with a mobile payments startup that could help the Korean tech company penetrate the market more widely than Apple Pay. The service would work with card readers, making it simpler for merchants to adopt the system.
Netflix Recommendations Hit Android Phones
Netflix recommendations finally roll out on Android devices, months after landing on several other platforms. The recommendations system also arrives on Android Wear.
T-Mobile Unleashes Rollover Data at Un-Carrier 8.0, Data Stash Banks Unused GBs
T-Mobile customers are gaining the ability to bank unused data for months when their allotments wane from GBs to MBs to zero. To celebrate the new Data Stash, T-Mobile is giving qualifying customers 10 GB to start off their stashes.
HBO GO Lands on the Fire TV, Stick, and Amazon Celebrates With $20 Price Cut
Just in time for some holiday binge watching, HBO Go arrives on Amazon's streaming hardware. The Fire TV set-top box gets a price cut to celebrate the arrival.
Windows 10 Leaks Reveal Xbox App, Cortana and Traditional Settings
Windows 10 Build 9901 shows off some of Cortana's progression, though there's still more work to be done. An Xbox app also appears in the leaked build, but it doesn't seem to add anything to Microsoft's conversation about gaming on Windows.
Skype Previewing Language Translation on Windows 8.1 Devices
Microsoft is prepping to get Skype Translator on Windows 8.1 devices. The language translator is using a machine-learning platform to get smarter about how it translates voice and text exchanges in real time.
Nokia, Baidu Powering up Maps, Location Services Outside China
Baidu's second-ranked search engine plops its mapping service on top of Nokia's Here. Baidu Maps' Here integration is now live in web form and is rolling out in mobile variants.
Samsung Ruling Smartphone Kingdom, Galaxy 6 Leaks Hit
Samsung's top grip on the mobile market continues but is getting a bit shakier as consumers seem to be losing interest in its high-end smartphones. Meanwhile, rumors of the imminent launch of the Galaxy S6 keep popping up around the Internet.
'Pirate Bay' Clones Under Sail at New Torrent Sites
Clones of The Pirate Bay emerge, though they're not as reliable as the original file-sharing site. Meanwhile, the hacker group Anonymous retaliates against Sweden for the raid on The Pirate Bay.
