u.s

Last month, the European Space Agency abruptly declared its Earth observation satellite, Envisat, dead. After more than 10 years of successfully monitoring the planet's natural behaviors from space, the once valuable tool is now considered junk that could endanger active space assets for as much as 150 years.

Situations like this are what has led the U.S. Air Force and partners around the globe to move forward with the construction of a system designed to closely track as many as 200,000 piece of space debris. And now, the Air Force is considering which of two contractors' proposals … Read more

U.S. Cellular is launching three new voice, text, and data plans today for a prepaid lineup that includes both Android smartphones and feature phones.

Both of the two new data plans include unlimited nationwide voice and messaging. Smartphone owners will get 2GB data for $65 per month, and feature phone users will get 1GB data for $50 per month. The third plan, which excludes data, offers 400 voice minutes, 400 text messages, and 400 picture messages for $35 a month.

Eligible Android smartphones include the Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola Electrify, HTC Merge, Samsung Mesmerize, Huawei Ascend II, HTC Wildfire S, … Read more

President Barack Obama has been fighting a clandestine cyberwar against foreign governments and al-Qaeda, and his efforts in that arena have far exceeded those of his predecessors, according to a new report.

The New York Times today published a wide-ranging report, adapted from an upcoming book, "Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power," by Times reporter David Sanger, on the Obama administration's use of cyberwarfare to take on Iran and potentially other countries or entities it views as a threat. Chief among the administration's targets was Iran's nuclear plants, … Read more

Regional wireless provider U.S. Cellular has become the first carrier to offer its customers a list of curated apps from the Amazon Appstore. Announced today, these Android users will find a new menu greeting them when they launch the Amazon application. … Read more

First thing to know about the case involving acknowledged music pirate Joel Tenenbaum is that it will likely go on...and on.

Much is being made about a decision today by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear Tenenbaum's challenge to a jury ruling against him, one that left him with a $675,000 penalty hanging over his head.

In 2007, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the trade group of the top four record companies, filed a copyright infringement suit against Tenenbaum, a then-college student from Boston who was accused of illegally downloading 31 songs from … Read more

If you are a fan of Samsung's tiny mobile router, the SCH-LC11 mobile hot spot and for some reason don't want to use Verizon, there's now another choice.

U.S. Cellular today announced the launch of the same device on its own network. The company said that for a limited time, the device is slated to cost $50, after a $50 mail-in rebate, in cities that currently have U.S. Cellular's 4G LTE coverage and those that will by the end of the year.

For now, U.S. Cellular offers 4G LTE service in select cities … Read more

People lucky enough to be in Southeast Asia and the western U.S. this weekend will have the chance to view the first annular solar eclipse of its kind since 1994, according to NASA. Rather than a complete blocking out of the sun, as seen in a total eclipse, a "ring of fire" will radiate from behind the moon as it passes in front of the fiery globe.

The transformation will begin on Sunday as the moon makes its voyage across the sun; at one point, as much as 94 percent of the sun will be covered, according … Read more

U.S. Cellular launched the Pantech Verse yesterday, a messaging phone with a vertical slide-up QWERTY keyboard.

Phone like the Verse may seem a dying breed when you consider all the smartphones making a splash at shows like CTIA and on store shelves, but there's an audience for those looking for simple and cheap.… Read more

China and the U.S. are facing guerrilla cyberwar and must work to avoid crises between the two countries, their top defense officials said yesterday after meeting in Washington.

"Because the United States and China have developed the technological capabilities in this arena, it's extremely important that we work together to develop ways to avoid any miscalculation or misperception that could lead to a crisis in this area," U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said at a joint press conference with Chinese Minister of National Defense Gen. Liang Guanglie.

It's no secret that the U.… Read more