u.s

U.S. Cellular is stuffing its pockets with more Gingerbread.

Next week it starts stocking the Huawei Ascend II, an Android 2.3 smartphone that first debuted for Cricket. The rather modest touch-screen phone has a 3.5-inch display, a 5GB camera, and Swype preloaded on the virtual keyboard.

The carrier will offer it for free--after a $100 mail-in rebate--on its Web site next week. Alternatively, you can swoop by a store beginning in early January to pick it up in the flesh.… Read more

The United States Chamber of Commerce, the country's largest business-lobbying organization, was hacked by Chinese hackers, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing sources.

Although details are scant, it appears that the hackers had access to the Chamber's network for over a year before they were cleared out in May 2010, the Journal's sources say. The hackers stole six weeks of e-mail from four Chamber employees who were focusing their time on Asia, and could have gained access to all the information the Chamber has on its 3 million members. Although officials are unsure exactly what was … Read more

Rewind to E3, June 2011: we saw the PlayStation Vita. We marveled at its capabilities and its price. For $250--at the time, the same price as a Nintendo 3DS--Sony offered a far superior piece of hardware. We looked forward to its release at the end of the year.

Of course, that was then, and this is now. The Nintendo 3DS dropped its price to $170, still expensive but more sensible. The Vita will release in Japan on December 17, but in the U.S. the release has been delayed until February 22, 2012. Sony has been keen to make a comeback and make a new handheld game system to revive the flailing world of the PSP. Can it succeed?

Regardless of the hype and demand the Vita is able generate in the U.S., there's still a general sentiment of disappointment sweeping through the gaming community on this side of the world. As the Vita misses the 2011 holiday season, a huge loss of momentum follows. Instead of cashing in on becoming what would likely be the toy to get this year, the Vita will see a late February release, just in time to coincide with paying off bank-breaking gift-giving expenditures from a few weeks prior.

It's easy to make lofty accusations about missing golden opportunities and of course we don't know what truly influenced this decision made by Sony, but it's impossible to ignore the potential impact the Vita could have had in the U.S. before 2012 sets in.… Read more

General Motors isn't just interested in building energy-efficient vehicles; the company now says its Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant is the company's first U.S. facility to become Energy Star certified. This means the plant has met strict energy performance levels set by the EPA from 2010 to 2011.

The Michigan plant, which builds the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Chevrolet Traverse, was designed to meet the optimum energy efficiency in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning without using steam, the company said in a press release.

The plant, which opened in 2006, has energy and water conservation features … Read more

There is no more influential business lobby group in the world than the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which boasts that its "core purpose is to fight for free enterprise" and "individual freedom."

Which is why the Chamber's unflagging--even unyielding--support of a controversial copyright bill loathed by Silicon Valley might come as something of a surprise. Not only do critics view the Stop Online Piracy Act as antithetical to the individual freedom the Chamber applauds, but the technology industry has contributed more to economic growth and free enterprise in the last decade than Hollywood has. … Read more

The U.S. Navy said today it has demonstrated the successful integration of two of its key next-generation sea-based strike programs--the carrier version of the Joint Strike Fighter, and the all-new electromagnetic aircraft launch system.

Both the F-35C fighter and the EMALS launch technology are expected to see service eventually aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier, as well as other Ford-class carriers.

The F-35C is the carrier variant of the controversial Joint Strike Fighter, a $1 trillion military program that has been the subject of cost overruns and a wide range of other problems. … Read more

The HTC Wildfire S for U.S. Cellular certainly packs a punch for such a small device. But it's not for everyone.

The Wildfire S has a 3.2-inch touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, and it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread with HTC's Sense interface. As with other entry-level smartphones, it doesn't break any new ground, and its specs are far from top of the line. Still, if you're looking for a bargain and your hands aren't too big, this phone (free after a rebate) holds some appeal. The phone is ideal for first-time users … Read more

You may not be a Lego master model builder, but if you're in San Francisco this weekend, you could help one make a giant Santa Yoda.

Starting Friday, the public is invited to visit San Francisco's Union Square and lend a hand as Lego's master model builders take thousands of the iconic bricks and shape them into a 12-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide Santa Yoda.

The event, which is partly a fundraiser for the Bay Area Boys & Girls Club, is also partly about promoting the Monday launch of the new Santa Yoda Web site (which will have no content … Read more

Just over a year after enthusiastically telling CNET that U.S. Cellular wanted the iPhone, the carrier's CEO has changed her mind.

During the company's third-quarter earnings call today, Mary Dillon said that U.S. Cellular considered adding the iPhone to its lineup, but that Apple's "terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint." Dillon didn't offer specifics, Fierce Wireless reported, but she added that the potential strain on the carrier's data network was not a factor.

Though U.S. Cellular's decision may come as surprising following the arrival of the … Read more