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Tim Cook: 'I want there to be' Apple products made in America
Apple CEO Tim Cook is currently being interviewed by AllThingsD's Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, and took time to answer the question of whether or not Apple is interested in manufacturing any of its products domestically. While pointing out that it does source components locally, including glass for the iPhone made in Kentucky as well as CPUs for the iPhone and iPad made in Austin, Texas by Samsung, Cook indicated he "hopes" final assembly could be done in the US. Initially repeating "I want there to be [manufacturing in America]," he closed with "we will do as many of these things as we can do [in America], and you can bet that we'll use our influence to do it." Check out our liveblog for all the quotes on this and more, unless of course you're already planning a trip through the rolling hills of Kentucky to stock up on back glass for your iPhone.
T-Mobile to debut unlimited mobile-to-mobile plan next month?
Here's a juicy little rumor that's sure to excite the T-Mobile faithful. Retail training materials, acquired by TmoNews, indicate that the nation's fourth largest wireless provider may launch an "Unlimited Any Mobile" add-on early next month. The feature can be tacked on to existing T-Mo plans (with some exceptions) for a paltry $10 a month. Once added, you're free to call any US mobile without having to think about minutes, and there's no contractual commitments to the package. Sprint patrons have enjoyed this luxury for quite some time, and AT&T users can get the same, with the adoption of an unlimited text messaging plan. If this does materialize, maybe it'll help woo some of those customers back.
Google gives the gift of gab, extends free domestic calling in Gmail
Just in time to thank Grandma for that polyester blend sweater, comes more free domestic calling in Gmail for the US and Canada. In the spirit of holiday giving, Mountain View has decided to extend its gratis VoIP program for another year of free chatter. Of course, we're not sure if the holiday cheer will last forever, which may once again give us a valid excuse to avoid Uncle Lester's calls.
RoboDynamics Luna: the 5-foot tall personal robotic platform (update: video)
It's a new era for personal robotics. Meet Luna, the fully-programmable robot companion platform that will ship this year. As a platform, RoboDynamics -- a Santa Monica-based company previously grounded in telepresence -- is trying to position Luna as the 5-foot tall "beige box" of modern robotics. She comes with her own one-click Luna App Store, eight "Luna Expansion Ports" (think 12/5 volt USB for robots), and Luna CloudNet where third-parties can sell additional functionality like face recognition to app developers. The robot ships with a number of personality packs and features an 8-inch touchscreen, two cameras, wireless connectivity, a three-mic array, and a variety of sensors. Oh, and she's portable. Remember, Luna's not a prototype, but a real working robot that you can actually take home for the price of an entry-level fully-loaded laptop. Update: While $1,000 is the ultimate target price, the initial batch of limited edition Luna robots will ship in Q4 for $3,000. General availability will begin in the second half of 2012 with final pricing coming later this year. %Gallery-123302%
EI-E: Now robots hope to put dogs out of work too
Nothing fulfills the need for companionship like the cold hard steel of a robot. The gentle whooshing of gears and servos floats misty lavender doughnuts of joy into the hearts of even the most severely disabled farmers. So we're stoked to see that researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have taken the best attributes of our canine helpers and applied them to the EI-E helper robot. Like a service dog trained to grab hold of a towel to manipulate doors and drawers, the domestic robot can navigate the complexities of your home decor and respond to laser pointed or voice-commands such as push, pull, and a variety of hot tugging actions. Drape that thing in a plush, doughboy suit and we'll be singing Ee i Ee i Oh! all the way home.Read -- VideoRead -- Article
