Microsoft on Friday will release a new version of its flagship Windows operating system tailored for a world shifting from personal computers to smartphones and tablets.

The software giant gambled by changing long familiar user interface features to make Windows 8 compatible with trends toward keeping programs and data in the Internet "cloud" and relying on mobile gadgets at work and at home.

The hacking movement known as Anonymous has made an unusual appeal to British police: "Stand with us."

Using email addresses apparently stolen from an online police forum, the cyber rebels sent a manifesto to several current and former British police officers.

Nintendo Co. trimmed its red ink for the fiscal first half to a 28 billion yen ($350 million) loss, but the Japanese game maker lowered its sales and profit forecasts for the full year ahead of the launch of its new Wii U home console.

Nintendo, which did not break down quarterly results, had reported a 70 billion yen loss for the April-September period last year.

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it expects 10 percent growth in PC sales by volume this year as it bets on new PCs that are hybrids of laptops and tablets to lift sluggish PC demand.

Samsung's PC team chief said the company hopes the ATIV series of laptops and tablets, which are powered by a new version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, would help lift its sales at a difficult time for the PC industry.

Online shopping giant Amazon said Wednesday that it will launch a Japanese-language version of its hugely popular Kindle next month as it looks to break into the largely untapped Japanese e-book market.

The retailer's long-awaited announcement comes a day after Apple unveiled its new iPad Mini, the latest volley in the battle for the multi-billion-dollar tablet sector.

In Facebook's second quarter as a publicly traded company, the world's largest social media site is juggling the challenge of growing its advertising revenue while maintaining the loyalty of more than 1 billion users.

Facebook is expected to report earnings of 11 cents per share on revenue of $1.23 billion after the market closes Tuesday, according to FactSet. The Menlo Park, Calif., company has not provided investors with any financial guidance.

Scores of smartphone applications are promoting a pro-smoking message, from brands to games, according to a study published on Monday in the health journal Tobacco Control.

Public-health researchers led by Nasser BinDihm at the University of Sydney in Australia say they found 107 tobacco-friendly apps in a trawl of the Apple App Store and Android Market.

Yahoo! chief Marissa Mayer on Monday revealed a revival strategy that includes making a priority of delivering the Internet firm's popular online services to smartphones and tablets.

Freshly returned from maternity leave after giving birth to a boy just a few weeks ago, Mayer used an upbeat quarterly earnings release conference call to lay out her vision for returning the faded Internet pioneer to glory.

Apple on Tuesday is expected to pull back the curtain on a "mini" version of its iPad to battle Amazon and Google in the hot, crowded arena of tablet computers with smaller screens.

As is its style, Apple has remained mute regarding what it plans to unveil at the media event, which will be held in the California city of San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The United Nations published Monday a report offering guidance and support to countries on tackling "terrorists" who use the Internet to plan attacks, recruit and disseminate propaganda.

"Just as Internet use among citizens has increased in the past few years, terrorist organizations also make extensive use of this indispensable global network," said Yury Fedotov, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).