Prime Minister Naoto Kan paid another visit to Japan's tsunami-devastated coast Sunday, promising officials in a fishing-dependent city that his government will do whatever it can to help.

Kan visited Ishinomaki, a coastal city of 163,000 people in Miyagi, one of the prefectures (states) hardest-hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that killed as many as 25,000 people, destroyed miles of coastline and left tens of thousands homeless.

Google has added a Latitude feature that lets people using iPhones or Android-powered smartphones get rewarded for loyalty to shops or restaurants.

The feature that Google rolled out across the United States late Thursday lets people unlock discounts by regularly using location-sharing Latitude applications to check in at a select set of establishments.

Microsoft has tailored a version of Internet search service Bing for Apple's hot-selling iPad tablet computer.

A free Bing program for iPads available Friday at Apple's online App Store was designed "from the ground up" for touch controls so tablet users can browse online offerings with finger taps or swipes, according to Microsoft.

Eric Clapton fulfilled his childhood fantasy as he took a turn on the jazz side, collaborating with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for a little bit of swing at the orchestra's annual gala benefit.

"I've never done anything like this in my life before," said Clapton during Thursday's concert, which saw the Rock and Hall of Famer use his guitar skills to play jazz classics like "Joe Turner's Blues," "Corrine, Corrina" and "Ice Cream."

A new, ultra-fast wireless Internet network is threatening to overpower GPS signals across the U.S. and interfere with everything from airplanes to police cars to consumer navigation devices.

The problem stems from a recent government decision to let a Virginia company called LightSquared build a nationwide broadband network using airwaves next to those used for GPS. Manufacturers of GPS equipment warn that strong signals from the planned network could jam existing navigation systems.

Can a robot pitch a tent? If so, a Boy Scout who builds one might be able to earn two merit badges at once.

The Boy Scouts of America, which offers more than 120 badges ranging from archery to wilderness survival, next week will unveil a robotics merit badge meant to promote science, technology, engineering and math, fields collectively known as STEM. In doing so, the 101-year-old Texas-based organization is trying to remain relevant and better reflect boys' interests, said Matt Myers, who oversees the Boy Scouts' STEM initiative.

Oil prices hovered above $108 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a U.S. crude supply report showed mixed signals about demand.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 20 cents at $108.54 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 13 cents to settle at $108.34 on Tuesday.

A sculpted guitar memorial to Kurt Cobain has been unveiled in a park in the Nirvana frontman's Washington state hometown.

The dedication in Aberdeen on Tuesday marked the 17th anniversary of Cobain's suicide in Seattle. A diverse group of fans and Aberdeen residents, many born after Cobain's 1994 death, attended the ceremony.

Lebanese security officials said on Tuesday a hand grenade has exploded in an apartment in a southern Beirut suburb, killing a man and his wife.

The officials said they believe the grenade went off by mistake as the man, Ali Jaber, was playing with it at his home in Beirut's Chiyah neighborhood.

A Palestinian art academy is preparing to spruce itself up for a famous guest: a $7 million Pablo Picasso masterpiece that would be the first displayed in the West Bank. But simply arranging the painting's journey remains a far more difficult work in progress over complications such as finding reliable transport and clearing Israeli checkpoints.

The more than yearlong negotiations and planning — drawing in the Israeli military, Palestinian curators and Dutch museum officials — highlight the obstacles for even ordinary commerce or movement within the West Bank or through the few openings in the separation barrier with Israel.