usa

Miss Alabama's beautiful confusion about NSA surveillance

Everyone has an opinion about the revelations that government agencies may be tracking us.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that America is becoming like Russia.

Some, though, feel comfortable with the idea that government may be offering surveillance for own own good. Or do they?

An answer given by Miss Alabama during the Miss USA pageant on Sunday night fully expressed how pretzel-ish the thinking has to be around our personal safety and security.

Asked by actress Wendie Malick whether NSA surveillance is an invasion of privacy or a necessity, Mary Margaret McCord offered a sure-minded reply.

She said: "… Read more

T-Mobile, MetroPCS are now one

T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS have made it official and joined forces as one company.

Known as T-Mobile US as of Wednesday, the new combined company will bring together the networks, subscribers, and other assets. The newly united carriers together hold around 43 million subscribers as of March 31.

T-Mobile US's total coverage reaches around 301 million people. A full 228 million have access to 4G, while 200 million are expected to be covered by 4G LTE by the end of the year.

Had they united last year, the combined company's revenues would have reached $24.8 billion. Management … Read more

Low Latency No. 47: Thinking outside the box

Low Latency is a weekly comic on CNET's Crave blog written by CNET editor and podcast host Jeff Bakalar and illustrated by Blake Stevenson. Be sure to check Crave every Thursday at 8 a.m. PT for new panels! Want more? Here's every Low Latency comic so far.… Read more

HP to Apple: Hey, we already make PCs in the U.S.

If Made In USA is a feature, Hewlett-Packard's got Apple beat.

In effect, that's what HP said today. "Lots of noise...about Apple moving Mac production back to the U.S.... [We] wanted to offer HP's story," said an HP representative via e-mail Friday.

Part of that story was provided by way of a blog post.

"HP PCs have been assembled in the U.S. since the beginning," the post begins. "HP workstations and commercial desktop PCs are manufactured in Indianapolis, and HP servers are manufactured in Houston. These manufacturing facilities employ … Read more

Apple uses U.S.-made 'engine' for iPhone, iPad

Key chips for the iPhone and iPad are being made in the U.S. -- future U.S.-made Macs, as disclosed today, notwithstanding.

This year, CEO Tim Cook has been talking about U.S. manufacturing more than usual. Partly to counter Apple's largely make-it-in-China strategy but also because of U.S. manufacturing strengths.

The same essential points he made in a Bloomberg interview today he made back in May.

To wit: "It's not known well that the engine for the iPhone and iPad is made in the U.S., and many of these are also exported.... … Read more

Apple, T-Mobile agree to bring products out in 2013

T-Mobile USA and Apple have agreed to sell products together next year.

That's according to T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom, which disclosed the agreement in an investor update sent via press release.

"In addition, T-Mobile USA has entered into an agreement with Apple to bring products to market together in 2013," the statement said.

It remains unclear whether the agreement actually means the iPhone -- which isn't mentioned in the release. The deal could be limited to selling the iPad or iPad Mini.

But a deal for Apple to sell the iPhone through T-Mobile would make sense … Read more

Apple returning to old stomping grounds for U.S.-made iMacs?

Evidence suggests that Apple could be assembling some of the new iMacs in Fremont, Calif.

Two U.S. models that 9to5Mac traced originated in the San Jose area.

"One tipster's origination pickup point was briefly visible as Fremont CA so it would appear that iMac assembly is happening in that general vicinity," the Mac enthusiast site said.

Another possible location for an assembly operation would be Elk Grove, Calif., where Apple still has operations. But, so far, there's no hard evidence that units are being assembled there.

This follows images posted last week by iFixit showing &… Read more

News Corp. cans The Daily

News Corp. axes The Daily.

The Daily, which was an ambitious tablet-only news publication backed by News Corp., is shutting its doors December 15. Launched back in February 2011, The Daily was an interactive newspaper stylized for consumption on the iPad. Best of all, a year's subscription went for only $40 and offered a wide variety of sections. While there will be no more issues of The Daily, its brand will live on other channels within News Corp.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the first text message. On December 3, 1992, SMS pioneer Matti Makkonen successfully sent … Read more

Massive worm hits Tumblr, spams big blogs like USA Today

A massive bug swept Tumblr today and infected some of the biggest blogs -- including USA Today, Reuters, The Verge, and CNET -- until Tumblr resolved the issue shortly before 10:30 a.m. PT.

GNAA, a hacker group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group's Twitter profile earlier today said 8,600 unique Tumblr users were affected.

Tumblr didn't explain what happened but said in a blog post that no accounts were compromised, and users didn't need to take any further action.

"Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience," the company said. "As always, … Read more

Some iMacs labeled 'Assembled in USA,' teardown shows

Could Apple be assembling some new iMacs in the U.S.? A teardown of a new model introduced on Thursday shows an iMac with this marking.

A teardown by iFixit revealed markings on the back of an iMac that say, "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in USA."

What isn't clear at this point is whether this is a new Apple policy to assemble new products in the U.S. or imprecise Apple labeling.

Refurbished products and some custom-ordered Apple products are modified in the U.S. -- but that's different than assembling a standard product … Read more