Microsoft's next-generation operating system will be available in October as the software giant strives to stay relevant in a blossoming mobile era centered on tablets and smartphones.

"This will be the biggest product and services launch year in our company's history," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said at an annual gathering of gadget makers and other partners in the Canada city of Toronto.

The so-called Internet doomsday virus with the potential to black out tens of thousands of computers worldwide appeared to pose no major problems Monday after a temporary fix expired.

Security firms reported no significant outages linked to the DNS Changer virus, as many Internet service providers have either implemented a fix or contacted customers with steps to clean their computers.

AT&T said Monday it was implementing a system to block the use of stolen mobile phones, as part of an effort by U.S. carriers to crack down on theft of smartphones.

"As announced in April, AT&T is creating a stolen phone database to prevent devices reported stolen from accessing wireless networks," carrier spokesman Mark Siegel said.

Intel Corporation on Monday announced that it will pump billions of dollars into ASML Holding during the next five years to speed up advances in tools for making computer chips.

Intel said it would spend approximately $4.1 billion (3.3 billion euros) investing in research at and buying an equity stake in the Dutch firm to speed development of technology for chips made on 450-millimeter diameter wafers.

Japanese seeking information on radiation levels in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster are turning to a volunteer group founded in the U.S. that has created a detailed and constantly updated visual database online.

Sean Bonner, a Los Angeles resident, computer expert and one of the founders of the group called Safecast, said nothing could have been more natural than to jump in and fill the need for information after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant in northeastern Japan.

Having trouble getting online? Some may find their smartphones working overtime because their computers couldn't seem to connect to the Internet on Monday morning.

Thousands waited too long or simply didn't believe the warnings of malware that took over computers around the world more than a year ago. At 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT), the FBI turned off the Internet servers that were functioning as a temporary safety net to keep infected computers online for the past eight months. The court order the agency had gotten to keep the servers running expired, and it was not renewed.

Facebook and Yahoo! announced Friday a new advertising partnership as the two tech giants settled a court dispute over patents.

The deal includes "a patent portfolio cross-license" and will allow the two firms to "work together to bring consumers and advertisers premium media experiences promoted and distributed across both Yahoo! and Facebook," a statement by the companies said.

Twitter said Friday it was upgrading its search functions to include "autocomplete" and spelling correction features.

The new Twitter search will also anticipate when users are looking for posts by people they follow, and offer related suggestions.

A U.S. civil rights advocacy group has launched a free mobile phone application that allows users to record police activity discreetly, saying it will help boost police force accountability.

The New Jersey branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) explains that "Police Tape," available to the public since Tuesday, "allows people to securely and discreetly record and store interactions with police."

A U.S. appeals court gave Samsung a temporary reprieve Friday on the sale of its Galaxy Nexus 7 smartphones while leaving intact a court ban on U.S. sales of its tablet computers in a patent battle with Apple.

In two rulings in the bitter patent dispute, the U.S. Court of Appeals in the capital Washington gave one to Apple and one to Samsung, but only temporarily.