Apple CEO Tim Cook announces plans to manufacture Mac computers in USA  —  In an exclusive interview with Brian Williams airing tonight at 10pm/9c on NBC's “Rock Center,” Apple CEO Tim Cook announced one of the existing Mac lines will be manufactured exclusively in the United States next year.

Apple, Samsung Back in Court  —  Companies Battle Over $1.05 Billion Damages From Patent Trial's August Verdict  —  Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. return to a Silicon Valley courtroom Thursday, as Samsung fights to get a federal judge to throw out or soften a $1.05 billion patent judgment against the Korean company.

Meet Google+ Communities: Google's answer to Facebook Groups aimed at helping you meet new people  —  Google has launched a new feature to its social network, Google+, that will aid in meeting new people.  It's called Google+ Communities and it's Google's attempt of competing against Facebook Groups.

Apple's ranking in China smartphone market falls to No.6: IDC  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc's rank in China's smartphone market, which is set to become the world's largest this year, fell to No.6 in the third quarter as it faced tough competition from Chinese brands, research firm IDC said on Thursday.

Snapseed for Android available now, iOS version drops from $4.99 to free  —  As Instagram explodes in size, Google focuses on high-end mobile photos  —  Back in September, The Verge was the first to report that Google had acquired Nik Software, the German startup behind Snapseed …

Lack of Distribution Is “Killing” Surface  —  If Microsoft is being coy about revealing Surface sales data, it may be for good reason.  Early demand for the company's first tablet is lousy.  How lousy?  Put it this way: If Microsoft really did manufacture three million to five million Surface tablets …

Patriot Act can “obtain” data in Europe, researchers say  —  European data stored in the “cloud” could be acquired and inspected by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, despite Europe's strong data protection laws, university researchers have suggested.

Lenovo exec: We didn't realize how big touch would be  —  Gerry Smith, Lenovo's recently named president of the North America region, tells CNET that the industry underestimated demand for touch on computers.  He also says Lenovo will eventually become the top PC vendor in the U.S., not just worldwide.

They Screwed Us.  Right Before They Screwed Us Again. #poohead  —  We just got screwed.  More on this below.  —  Nobody says “Web 2.0” anymore.  The term just didn't stand the test of time, long ago it became cliched.  —  But a handful of years ago it had real meaning to a lot of us.

Guatemala detains software guru McAfee, to expel him to Belize  —  (Reuters) - Guatemalan police arrested U.S. software guru John McAfee on Wednesday for illegally entering the country and said it would expel him to neighboring Belize, which he fled after being sought for questioning over his neighbor's murder.

Nationwide Mutual hack leaves 1.1 million Americans' information exposed  —  More details are coming out about a massive October 3rd data breach at Nationwide Mutual Insurance.  The company reported to the North Carolina Attorney General that as many as 1.1 million Americans' personal information …

The More Pandora Sells, the More It Loses  —  A tenth of a cent might not sound like a lot of money.  But Pandora Media Inc.'s 18% stock drop Wednesday is a sobering reminder that those fractions add up—especially when advertising sales don't keep pace.  —  Pandora's music royalty costs …

Rhapsody tries to steal thunder from Shazam with free SongMatch app  —  Music subscription service Rhapsody launched a free Android app dubbed SongMatch Wednesday that aims to compete with Shazam's music recognition app.  The app, which can be downloaded from Google Play …

Sophisticated botnet steals more than $47M by infecting PCs and phones  —  Behold—the Eurograbber, visualized.  —  Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock  —  A new version of the Zeus trojan—a longtime favorite of criminals conducting online financial fraud—has been used in attacks …

Building a better map of Europe  —  More than a billion people use Google Maps each month to find their way around town and around the world.  To help these people get exactly the information they need, the Google Maps team works constantly to ensure that the geographic data behind our maps is comprehensive and accurate.

Blockbuster Is Said to Begin Selling Phones  —  Dish Network Corp. (DISH)'s Blockbuster will begin selling mobile phones in its movie-rental stores as a test for Dish's planned entry into the wireless business, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Gestures as a New Dimension in Mobile Design  —  Something clicked in my head while writing my most recent article.  While looking at the various paradigms that have grown from Twitter's UI, I noticed an aspect of design that is oft overlooked.  That aspect is gestures.

Twitterrific 5 review: terrific new interface, some old flaws  —  Back in the summer of 2008, when I first joined Twitter, there weren't very many good Twitter apps around.  I had a Mac and an iPod touch, and I wanted a way to keep up with the few people I was following on those devices.