u.s

Why you can't sue your wireless carrier in a class action

When AT&T slowed down Matt Spaccarelli's unlimited data plan on his iPhone, the unemployed truck driver from Simi Valley, Calif. took the country's largest phone company to court. And as a surprise to all, he won.

But Spaccarelli's victory rings hollow. In fact, the route he was forced to take -- suing AT&T by himself as opposed to employing a more influential and wider ranging class-action lawsuit -- illustrates just how difficult it is to change a carrier's business practice through legal means. Rather than big changes and a return of his … Read more

U.S. Cellular jumps into LTE with the Galaxy Tab 10.1

U.S. Cellular makes good today on a February promise to launch its 4G LTE market with a tablet.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 marks U.S. Cellular's first LTE offering, making it the fourth U.S. carrier (behind MetroPCS, Verizon, and AT&T) to offer devices on the LTE, or Long Term Evolution, technology for 4G data speeds.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 slate, which has been available unlocked and with other carriers for months, features Android Honeycomb OS, a 10.1-inch WXGA touch screen (a 1280x800 HD resolution), a 1 GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 … Read more

MegaUpload's users may include U.S. government officials

When the file-swapping site MegaUpload was shuttered by the U.S. government--and consequentially its offices raided, $42 million of its assets frozen, and its leader Kim DotCom arrested--some officials might not have thought of unintended consequences, such as the loss of legitimate files.

They also might not have realized that they too might be outed as having used MegaUpload.

During an interview with TorrentFreak this week, DotCom said, "Guess what--we found a large number of Mega accounts from U.S. government officials, including the Department of Justice and the U.S. Senate."

Released on bail earlier this month, … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S II review (U.S. Cellular): It has staying power

When U.S. Cellular picked up the Samsung Galaxy S II, it gave me a chance to lay some fresh eyes on a familiar device long after it ceased being the de facto best Android Gingerbread phone around.

I'm happy to report that it's still a terrific phone, and one with components that can stand against most of the next wave of more advanced phones, with one major and one minor sticking point. The major caveat: it won't support LTE. The minor one: it's U.S. Cellular's priciest offering, at $230 after a $100 mail-in rebate (so you're out over $300 up front).

However, if you can afford the cost, and if 4G data speeds aren't your primary concern, then you're looking at the carrier's newest flagship phone.

Check out the video, the photos, and all the pros and cons in this full review of the Samsung Galaxy S II for U.S. Cellular.… Read more

How the Navy's super railgun works (animation)

If you want to know how the U.S. Navy's futuristic electromagnetic railgun works, you could hop on over to the information page on the Office of Naval Research's Web site. Or you could watch a monotone Taiwanese animation.

If you're not familiar with the railgun, it's a favorite Navy project that is intended to be able to launch a 5-inch projectile more than 100 miles without the use of traditional explosives. Using a complex system that forces the projectile out of a ship-bound gun at more than 4,500 miles, the Navy hopes to be … Read more

Navy tests railgun that can shoot up to 100 miles

The U.S. Navy says it has tested one of two prototypes of its futuristic electromagnetic railgun, a weapon that could fire a 5-inch projectile up to 100 miles, yet which requires no explosives to fire.

The Office of Naval Research is evaluating competing railguns--one from BAE Systems, and one from General Atomics. Yesterday, ONR announced it has completed a successful test of BAE's model, and the Navy is expected to test-fire General Atomics' offering sometime in April.

"The firing at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division...kicks off a two-month-ling test series by [ONR] to evaluate the … Read more

Pentagon: You know what's cool? A trillion-dollar fighter

The U.S. Air Force yesterday gave the go ahead to begin "introductory" flight tests of its version of the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, a major step forward for the trillion-dollar program that, Wired reports, is expected to succeed nearly all of the Pentagon's tactical jets over the next three decades.

If you think maybe you read that number wrong, let me repeat: a trillion dollars. According to Reuters, the F-35 program is seen as a fleet of 2,443 jets over the next 50 years, a flying armada that is expected to cost $1 trillion over … Read more

Samsung Galaxy S II lovefest expanding to U.S. Cellular

If there remained any doubt of the lasting mainstream appeal and marketing clout of the Samsung Galaxy S II Android Gingerbread smartphone, U.S. Cellular's plan to take on the handset erases it all.

The nation's sixth-largest carrier will join T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint in offering a version of the phone that's already sold more than 30 million units worldwide.… Read more

U.S. Cellular pushing ahead with 4G LTE plans

Smaller carrier U.S. Cellular has designs to serve up 4G LTE to an additional 14 states this year.

By the second half of 2012, the wireless provider has said it will roll out cutting-edge 4G data infrastructure to "select" cities in multiple parts of the country: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In addition to offering high-speed wireless access to these areas, the company will also hawk a Samsung 4G LTE mobile hot spot in the spring designed to spread its 4G signal to up … Read more

U.S. Cellular wooing new customers with $100 credit, cheaper phones

U.S. Cellular may not be able to offer double the data cap for free, but it is hoping that crediting new customers $100 bucks for a two-year agreement will attract customers tired of their current carrier.

Starting today, new post-paid customers will receive a $100 credit on their bill, plus the option to get another $50-to-$150 in cash for trading in a used smartphone.

To round out the offer, U.S. Cellular is also lowering prices on its smartphone portfolio, offering the Motorola Electrify and HTC 7 Pro for $129.99, the BlackBerry Curve 9350 for $49.99, … Read more