Microsoft chief Satya Nadella on Thursday called on workers to rise to the challenges of a fast-changing technology world and ready themselves for changes at the company.

In a lengthy email sent to workers less than two weeks ahead of Microsoft releasing its quarterly earnings report, Nadella mixed encouraging words with a vow to shake-up the company and its culture.

Gaming developer Ubisoft said Thursday its action-adventure sensation "Watch Dogs" is helping propel revenues, which soared to 360 million euros ($490 million) in the first three months of its financial year starting April.

The French company, whose sales were boosted by the popularity of the new game on XBox, Playstation and PC, posted an increase of 374 percent between April and June, a statement said.

Amazon on Thursday launched an online service for collaborating on work projects in a challenge to tech titan Google.

Zocalo is being billed as a secure, managed venue for storing, sharing and amassing feedback on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, Web pages, and other digital tools typically used to get modern day jobs done.

The European Union's highest court says Apple's characteristic retail store layout may be registered as a trademark.

The Court of Justice on Thursday overturned a decision by German patent authorities which last year rejected an application to grant copyright protection to Apple's store design — parallel lines of big tables with electronic gadgets spread out on them under a high ceiling.

Five nonprofit groups got word Wednesday that Google will help them fulfill visions of using the technology titan's Internet-linked Glass eyewear to do good.

"Giving through Glass" program winners were selected from 1,300 proposals from US charities with ideas of how to use the eyewear to achieve their goals.

Sales of flat panel televisions across Southeast Asia rose sharply in May as demand soared in the football-crazy region ahead of the World Cup, a report said Thursday.

Nearly 957,000 units were sold across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, a 15 percent jump compared to the average sales volume in February-April, global market research firm GfK said.

A team of Japanese animators and engineers on Wednesday unveiled plans to build a moving 18-meter (60-foot) tall Gundam robot, in a nod to millions of science fiction fans.

The "Mobile Suit Gundam" anime series first aired in Japan in 1979, and spin-offs featuring robots locked in intergalactic battles have won legions of enthusiastic fans in Asia, Europe and elsewhere.

Brazil's record defeat at the hands of Germany in the World Cup semi-final sent Twitter into overdrive, with the social network beating all records of activity for a sporting event.

A total of 35.6 million tweets were sent during the match on Tuesday that saw the Germans thrash Brazil 7-1 -- the host nation's worst loss in its 100-year footballing history.

U.S. technology giant Apple has lost a lawsuit against a Chinese state regulator over patent rights to voice recognition software such as the iPhone's "Siri", a Beijing court said.

The legal battle begun in 2012 when Shanghai-based Zhizhen Network Technology pursued Apple for allegedly infringing its Chinese patent with Siri, its "intelligent personal assistant".

A beta version of hotly-anticipated "Destiny" video game will launch on Internet-linked PlayStation and Xbox consoles this month.

The new science fiction shooter title by the studio known for global hit "Halo" is set for official release in September, but the test run for those who pre-ordered the title promises "a diverse sampling of major activities featured in the full game."