Expectations high for next Xbox

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It's almost time for a new Xbox. Eight years have passed since Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360, double the amount of time between the original Xbox debut in 2001 and its high-definition successor's launch in 2005. With the next-generation Xbox expected to be revealed Tuesday,...

New Xbox more than a game console for Microsoft

By Malathi Nayak and Bill Rigby SAN FRANCISCO/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is set to make a splash this week with the eagerly awaited unveiling of its new Xbox game console, eight years after the last version, as it seeks a larger share of the $65 billion a year global computer gaming industry....

Jon Stewart's humor a hit with millions of envious Chinese

By Jane Lee SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders. A recent...

Google's wearable Glass gadget: cool or creepy?

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google staged four discussions expounding on the finer points of its "Glass" wearable computer during this week's developer conference. Missing from the agenda, however, was a session on etiquette when using the recording-capable gadget, which some...

Winning ticket for $590.5 million Powerball lottery sold in Florida

By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - A single winning ticket for a record Powerball lottery jackpot worth $590.5 million was sold in Florida, organizers said late on Saturday, but there was no immediate word about who won one of the largest jackpots in U.S. history. The winning numbers from Saturday...

Jury gets first glimpse of defense in Jackson case

LOS ANGELES (AP) A look at key moments this past week in the wrongful death trial in Los Angeles between Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, and concert giant AEG Live LLC, and what is expected at court in the week ahead: THE CASE Jackson's mother wants a jury to determine that the...

Penitent Romanian hacker aims to protect world's ATMs

By Radu Marinas VASLUI, Romania (Reuters) - Valentin Boanta, sitting in his jail cell, proudly explains the device he has invented which, he says, could make the world's ATMs impregnable even to tech-savvy criminals like himself. Boanta, 33, is six months into a five-year sentence for supplying...

Idaho man sentenced to seven years for killing zoo monkey

By Laura Zuckerman (Reuters) - An Idaho man who admitted to breaking into a Boise zoo last year and killing a monkey was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday, court records show. Michael Watkins, 22, of Weiser, Idaho, in March pleaded guilty to attempted grand theft, a felony, and...

At Cannes, Watson revels in post-'Potter' freedom

CANNES, France (AP) Emma Watson is reveling in her post-"Potter" freedom at the Cannes Film Festival, relishing a Valley Girl role far from her wise-beyond-her-years Hermione. The 23-year-old "Harry Potter" actress stars in Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring," which premiered Thursday at the French...

Coppola's 'Bling Ring' at home at decadent Cannes

CANNES, France (AP) Sofia Coppola was just 8 years old when she first came to the Cannes Film Festival. Her father, Francis Ford Coppola, was there to premiere a work-in-progress cut of a film he had spent years wrestling with: "Apocalypse Now." "I have nice memories of Cannes," Coppola said...