Technology Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) , The video game industry, blamed by some for fostering a culture of violence, defended its practices Friday at a White House meeting exploring how to prevent horrific shootings like the recent Connecticut elementary school massacre.

LAS VEGAS (AP) , Microsoft may have relinquished its starring role in America's gaudiest gadget show a year too early. After 13 straight years in the spotlight, Microsoft's decision to scale back...

WASHINGTON (AP) , The government stepped in Friday to assure the public that Boeing's new 787 "Dreamliner" is safe to fly, even as it launched a comprehensive review to find out what caused a fire, a fuel leak and other worrisome incidents this week.

LONDON (AP) , A British court sentenced two hackers to 100 hours of community service on Friday for stealing a treasure trove of unreleased music , including Michael Jackson tracks , from the U.S. servers of Sony Music Entertainment.

NEW YORK (AP) , Would you pay $100 to message Mark Zuckerberg? Facebook says it's testing some "extreme price points" to let users pay to have their messages seen by people who are not their friends. The tech blog Mashable reported early Friday that some users trying to message Zuckerberg are offered the option to pay $100 to ensure that their missive reaches the Facebook CEO's inbox.

LAS VEGAS (AP) , "Smart" watches that talk to cellphones have been around for some time, but they've been hampered by their high battery drain , usually needing recharging every few days. At this week's International CES electronics trade show in Las Vegas, a startup launched a smart watch, the Cookoo, that runs for a year on a standard button cell.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) , The European Union's police coordination agency opened a new cybercrime unit Friday to combat online offenses from banking fraud to peddling images of child sex abuse. ...

LAS VEGAS (AP) , It's not wise to Google the nearest gas station, compose email, or use your smartphone to check the latest sports scores while driving. But many Americans do. Drivers have grown so accustomed to their on-the-go tasks that automakers are increasingly trying to make those things easier to pull off with both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road.

NEW YORK (AP) , U.S. retail sales of video games and gaming systems fell 22 percent in December, capping a year of declining sales for the industry. Research firm NPD Group said Thursday that overall sales fell to $3.21 billion from $4.1 billion in December 2011.

BEIJING (AP) , The executive chairman of U.S.-based Google, one of the world's largest Internet companies, was traveling Monday to North Korea, a nation with notoriously restrictive online policies. Eric Schmidt, the most high profile U.S.

LAS VEGAS (AP) , Dismayed that family members are spread out over the house, each with a separate PC or tablet? Lenovo has something it believes will get them back together: a PC the size of a coffee table that works like a gigantic tablet and lets four people use it at once.

LAS VEGAS (AP) , "Ultra-HD" TVs are set to be the talk of International CES, the gadget show kicking off this week in Las Vegas. But the televisions aren't likely to account for much of the market even four years down the road.

A critical confrontation from World War II plays out on Apple's multifunctional computer tablet in the interactive history lesson Battle of the Bulge (Shenandoah Studio, rated: 9+, reviewed with iPad 2, $9.99).

NEW YORK (AP) , HBO has renewed its deal with Universal Pictures to be the exclusive pay-TV provider of the studio's movies for another decade, the companies said on Sunday. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. HBO, part of Time Warner Inc., and Universal Pictures, part of Comcast Corp., have had an agreement in place since 2003.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) , He doesn't like busy Interstate 5 or eating cattle, at least so far. He gets along with his distant cousins the coyotes, likes to swim and roams a lot , an awful lot , around the northernmost reaches of the Golden State.