Technologies

Trump Mobile and its T1 Phone Don’t Make Any Sense, Even for Trump Fans

Commentary: If you make a splashy announcement and expect to be taken seriously, you need to have your specs accurately written.

The Trump Organization launched its own Trump Mobile phone service and a gold-colored $499 T1 Phone on June 16, and while we often see new whitelabeled phone services or phones themed after influential people, this announcement leaves a lot of unanswered questions that you normally should know the answers to before buying a phone plan and a new device.

Trump Mobile’s T1 Phone, and every way it’s misspelled

Starting with the T1 phone itself, the new device was announced with a specs list that didn’t make sense. While there has been a revision of the phone’s product page, there are still key details that are missing. A phone’s processor is one of its key selling points, but at launch under the «Processor & RAM» on the Trump Mobile site, a processor wasn’t listed at all. The processor remains unlisted, but the corresponding column on that page now uses it to state its gold color. After originally claiming 12GB of RAM, that spec has disappeared. But it will have 256GB of internal storage that is expandable with a microSD card slot. There’s no such thing as a «Punch-Hole AMOLED» display, but it appears that’s what Trump Mobile’s website refers to as the space for the front-facing camera. That display is apparently either 6.8 inches or 6.78 — who’s to say? And the «5,000mAh long life camera» originally listed — which probably should have referenced a battery — has since been corrected to reflect a 5,000-mAh battery with a 20-watt charging speed.

In terms of specs that were better spelled out at launch, the phone runs on Android 15, has an in-screen fingerprint sensor, and includes a headphone jack. It will have a 50-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, a 2-megapixel depth sensor and a single 16-megapixel selfie camera around the front.

There’s no reference to where the phone is assembled, although the main Trump Mobile site exclaims, «it’s proudly made right here in the USA.» That’s particularly eye-opening given that this type of phone — no manufacturer is named — is not currently manufactured anywhere in the US. If it does turn out to be a phone made outside the US, the constantly fluctuating US tariffs are expected to increase the cost of electronics. (Analyst Max Weinbach did some sleuthing and thinks the phone is actually the Chinese-made Wingtech REVVL 7 Pro 5G, which you can buy for $169.) For reference, the only other phone currently manufactured in the US appears to be the Liberty Phone, which is $1,999 and comes with 4GB of memory and 128GB of storage.

If you’re wondering when the release date is, good luck getting a straight answer. It’s either «Coming Soon» in August or September, depending on whether you’re looking at the press release or the website, respectively. And if you do buy it, hopefully you’ll love it, because, according to the terms, «All sales are final and non-refundable» unless otherwise determined on a case-by-case basis. To preorder a T1 Phone costs $100 (or less, if the ordering system is working).

I have to level with you: I wouldn’t give a company $500 if it can’t even list the most basic product information correctly on a page that was clearly thrown together hastily — much less without any sort of refund policy.

Trump Mobile’s phone service has many unanswered questions

While it is attention-grabbing, it’s not all that surprising to see the Trump Organization launch a mobile service. The organization itself has a history of running through lots of different businesses, and other politically bent digital services also have a long history. In 2014, for instance, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin launched her own streaming service at $10 a month following an initial stint of reality TV hosting and then shuttered it after a year.

Trump Mobile, however, appears to have launched with a plan that uses its namesake’s presidency as its selling point, as opposed to introducing it as a good deal for consumers. There’s one plan named The 47 Plan, which costs $47.45 simply to coincide with President Donald Trump’s status as the 45th and 47th president of the United States. We don’t know what carriers Trump Mobile runs on, but the website claims it’s «working on all three major carriers.» The plan includes «Device Protection» but adds an asterisk that the protection is not insurance, nor does it clarify what it will protect about your device. It also mentions roadside assistance provided by Drive America and telehealth services provided by Doctegrity, which offers «contactless blood pressure [and] heart rate monitoring» — services that Doctegrity may cover, but which likely are not directly tied to the phone. We’ve reached out to Trump Mobile for clarification on these features.

Like with the T1 Phone page, the 47 Plan page includes questionable references and misspellings. Specifically, after checking if your phone is compatible, «then all you need to purchase is a plan that best fits your needs,» but there’s only one plan. There are no other choices. And you can check that compatibility by «Go into Setting on your Phone» listing both «for Iphone» and the correctly spelled «for Android» steps.

One other step is a bit of a throwback: It asks for you to «Remove your phone’s battery» to look for the IMEI on a sticker. And trust me, I miss user-replaceable phone batteries too, but nowadays getting battery access requires a rather complicated self-service repair kit.

While we haven’t tested Trump Mobile, it’s again hard to argue that creating a business relationship like buying cellphone service might not be the best idea when the seller doesn’t appear to have their information organized for potential customers.

Better deals than Trump Mobile and the T1 Phone

There are many better phones that cost $500 or less, and cellphone providers are offering unlimited data plans for less than $47.45.

If you need a phone for $500, Google’s $499 Pixel 9A includes seven years of software support, comes in nice colors like Iris purple, works with nearly every carrier (likely including Trump Mobile) and is available for sale here and now. It runs on a Google Tensor G4 processor. Motorola’s Moto G and Samsung’s Galaxy A lines also provide lots of options for even less money.

On the mobile network side, the sky’s almost the limit when it comes to value-oriented carriers. Verizon’s Visible, T-Mobile’s Mint Mobile and AT&T’s Cricket offer plans that are as low as $25 a month for comparable unlimited benefits. And if you want to break away from the big three carriers, Dish’s Boost Mobile has been building out a new fourth network that’s using price to draw in new customers.

There are just so many options for buying a phone and mobile service that put a better foot forward. And with a selling point primarily based around Trump’s fans, it’s quite possible that someone’s going to sign up for a service and a phone for fandom rather than actually getting a good deal. And even worse, no refunds either.

Technologies

Google Discover Gains Follow Button and Expands Content Sources

Google’s personalized news feed will feature a wider variety of content in the coming weeks.

Google Discover, Google’s personalized news feed, has largely remained the same since its introduction in 2018, but it’s now receiving some new and helpful features.

On Wednesday, Google announced that Discover will soon expand the type of content found within the feed and allow you to follow publications and creators. You can find Google Discover in the Google app, and it will be built into the home screens of some Android phones.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Instead of just seeing a list of web pages to visit on your feed, you’ll soon see a mix of web articles, YouTube videos and social media posts from X and Instagram, effectively widening the net of content shown in Discover.

Along with expanding content from more sources, Google Discover is allowing users to follow specific publishers and content creators using a «follow» button at the top right of each content card.

Google says that tapping the publication’s or creator’s name will open a new page previewing the content that’s typically shared before you choose to follow the outlet. From our testing across multiple phones so far, it appears the feature is still rolling out.

Your Google Discover feed should now allow you to follow content creators. A more diversified mix of content will roll out over the coming weeks.

Technologies

New Bill Aims to Block Both Online Adult Content and VPNs: How Your VPN Could Be Affected

A proposed bill in Michigan has a broad reach that covers everything from adult AI content to manga and even depictions of transgender people. It includes a VPN ban to avoid workarounds.

If you live in Michigan, you might not be able to legally use a VPN soon if a new bill is passed into law. On Sept. 11, Michigan Republican representatives proposed far-reaching legislation banning adult internet content.

The bill, called the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act and advanced by six Republican representatives, would ban a wide variety of adult content online, ranging from ASMR and adult manga to AI content and any depiction of transgender people. It also seeks to ban all use of VPNs, foreign or US-produced.

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VPNs, or virtual private networks, are software suites often used as workarounds to avoid similar content bans that have passed in states like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and the UK. VPNs can be purchased with subscriptions or downloaded and are also built into some browsers and Wi-Fi routers.

But Michigan’s bill would charge internet service providers with detecting and blocking VPN use, as well as banning the sale of VPNs in the state. Associated fines would be up to $500,000.

What the ban could mean for VPNs

Unlike some laws banning access to adult content, this Michigan bill is comprehensive. It applies to all residents of Michigan, adults or children, targets an extensive range of content and includes language that could ban not only VPNs but any method of bypassing internet filters or restrictions.

That could spell trouble for VPN owners and other internet users who leverage these tools to improve their privacy, protect their identities online, prevent ISPs from gathering data about them or increase their device safety when browsing on public Wi-Fi.

Read more: CNET Survey: 47% of Americans Use VPNs for Privacy. That Number Could Rise. Here’s Why

Bills like these could have unintended side effects. John Perrino, Senior Policy and Advocacy Expert for the nonprofit Internet Society, mentioned to CNET that adult content laws like this could interfere with what kind of music people can stream, the sexual health forums and articles they can access and even important news involving sexual topics that they may want to read.

«Additionally, state age verification laws are difficult for smaller services to comply with, hurting competition and an open internet,» Perrino said.

The Anticorruption of Public Morals Act has not passed the Michigan House of Representatives committee or been voted on by the Michigan Senate, and it’s not clear how much support the bill has beyond the six Republican representatives who have proposed it. As we’ve seen with state legislation in the past, sometimes bills like these can serve as templates for other representatives who may want to propose similar laws in their own states.

Could VPNs still get around bans like these?

Could VPNs still get around this type of ban? That’s a complex question that this bill doesn’t really address.

«From a technical standpoint, ISPs can attempt to distinguish VPN traffic using deep packet inspection, or they can block known VPN IP addresses,» said NordVPN privacy advocate Laura Tyrylyte. «However, deploying them effectively requires big investments and ongoing maintenance, making large-scale VPN blocking both costly and complex.»

Also, VPNs have ways around deep packet inspection and other methods.

«Some VPNs offer obfuscation — which tries to disguise VPN traffic as standard web traffic — using dedicated servers or custom VPN protocols, like NordVPN’s NordWhisper or Proton VPN’s Stealth,» said CNET senior editor Moe Long. «But note that obfuscation isn’t foolproof.»

There are also no-log features offered by many VPNs to guarantee they don’t keep a record of your activity, and no-log audits from third parties like Deloitte that — well, try to guarantee the guarantee. VPNs can even use server tricks, such as RAM-only servers that automatically reboot to erase data after every browsing session.

If you’re seriously concerned about your data privacy, you can look for features like these in a VPN and see if they are right for you. Changes like these, even on the state level, are one reason we pay close attention to how specific VPNs work during our testing, and recommend the right VPNs for the job, from speedy browsing to privacy while traveling.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Sept. 19 #565

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Sept. 19, No. 565.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Do you drink your coffee black? If so, today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be a puzzler. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Pour it on.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Wow, no cow.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

NONE, CONE, RICER, SHEW, FAIR, FAIRY, DRAY, YARD, MILK, CASH, DONE, DRAM, MADAM

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: