Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 Build 9879 to the members of the Windows Insider Program back in November, and it turned out to be the last build for the year 2014. The next build (9926) arrived just a few days ago, which means after a gap of more than two months.

While that particular delay between could be attributed to the holiday season, the company has said that it won’t be the case from now on. While answering a user question, a Windows team member has confirmed that the Redmond, Washington-based company will be releasing new Windows 10 builds faster from now on – at least one per month. Read more »

Cortana’s location-based reminders, that trigger notifications when you arrive at specific geographic locations, have now started working even in unsupported regions – they are now available in Jordan, as well as Russia.

According to a Geeks on Gadgets report, the feature now works perfectly in Jordan. “Navigation commands also work, bringing a list of nearby locations and approximate distances (in miles however), with the option to navigate to the through HERE drive,” the report notes. Read more »

Just over a couple of months after the company entered into a new partnership with Microsoft, Dropbox has announced that its cloud storage app is now available for Windows phones and tablets.

The company is claiming that the new apps will offer all the standard features, which means that you can use them to automatically back up your photos to the cloud storage service, mark files as favorites so you can access them even while offline, as well as access both your personal and work accounts at once. Read more »

Just a day after updating Chrome for iOS, Google has announced the release of Chrome 40 for Android, bringing in an updated page info and content settings UI, as well as several bug fixes and performance improvements.

Although the release doesn’t bring along any groundbreaking feature, there are, however, some useful additions, including a new bookmarks manager, larger address bar with overflow button for devices running Android Lollipop, close all tabs shortcut for tablets, as well as a new zoom and view/copy URL behavior. Read more »

Ride-sharing startup Lyft, whose cars are identified by a large pink moustache attached to the front, is getting rid of its signature Carstache, and replacing it with the Glowstache – a much smaller, plastic mustache (about the size of a banana), that glows during night, and is designed to float on Lyft drivers’ dashboards using magnets.

“It was this big giant fuzzy thing,” said Lyft President John Zimmer, referring to the Carstache. “If you were going to an important business meeting, it might not be the best way to roll up.” Read more »

In an effort to clamp down on false news appearing in your News Feed, Facebook is rolling out a new feature that’ll allow you to flag scams or false stories as hoaxes, although the company is stopping short of removing such posts, and has made it clear that it will not be reviewing content and making a determination on its accuracy.

To report a story as false, all you’ve to do is to select the relevant option (see image above) from a list that appears when you choose to hide the story. If too many people flag a post as false or choose to delete it, it will get reduced distribution in News Feed, the company says, adding that posts that receive lots of reports will be annotated with a warning that many others on Facebook have reported it. Read more »

Instagram has started a beta program for Android users wanting to test out the photo sharing network’s upcoming features before they hit the mainstream. As with every beta program, the goal here is to collect a wide variety of feedback on the new features and their funtionality.

If you’re interested in becoming a tester, join the Instagram Beta Group and opt into the beta program. Read more »

In an effort to expand its presence in India, Twitter has made it first acquisition in the country, gobbling up a Bengaluru-based startup ZipDial, which offers services like missed calls for user verification and alerts to its customers. Although the financial details of the deal were not revealed, a TechCrunch report pegs the monetary value at around $30-$40 million.

Founded in 2010, ZipDial assigns companies special phone numbers that they associate with their brands and use in their print or TV commercials. Users just have to make a missed call, one that disconnects before the other party answers, to these phone numbers following which they begin receiving inbound content and further engagement on their phone in real-time through voice, SMS or an app notification. Read more »

Humble Bundle, the company that offers large bundles of games for whatever price you want to pay, has released a new bundle for Android, bringing a nice assortment of games to the table. Dubbed Humble Mobile Bundle 10, the latest bundle offers three pay-what-you-want titles: Buddy & Me, LYNE, and Doodle Kingdom, which are normally priced at $2, $2.50, and $3, respectively.

However, if you’re willing to pay higher than the average, which as of writing sits at $3.90, you’ll also be able to access Sorcery 2, King of Dragon Pass, and OTTTD, normally priced at $5, $10, and $5, respectively. Read more »

The deepening dispute between the US and Russia over Crimea has started affecting the tech world, as Apple has begun sending notices of termination to Registered Apple Developers (RAD) residing in the disputed region, a move that will prevent them from publishing apps in the App Store.

“The new sanctions on the Crimea Region announced by the US Government on December 19, 2014 and announced by the European Commission on December 18, 2014 prohibit the continuation of the RAD Agreement between you and Apple,” the Cupertino-based company said in the notice. “For more information, please review Executive Order 13685 and the European Commission Notice.” Read more »

Hutchison Whampoa, which owns British carrier Three UK, is considering a purchase of Telefonica’s O2 UK for around 9 billion pounds ($13.6 billion), according to a report from The Sunday Times, which also notes that talks are at an early stage, and nothing is yet confirmed.

A deal makes sense for both companies given that Hutchison is looking to expand in Europe, while Telefonica is in need of cash to help pay down its debts. The latter even came close to selling O2 UK to BT last year, but the deal didn’t go through as the telecommunications giant eventually agreed to acquire EE. Read more »

Sony has announced that it is closing all 14 of its brick-and-mortar retail stores in Canada, including three in Alberta and the Greater Vancouver area each, five in the Greater Toronto Area, and one in Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City each. The move will reportedly affect around 90 jobs and is likely be completed within the next six to eight weeks.

The Japanese company is encouraging its Canadian customers to purchase its products either from third-party retailers, its online store, or by telephone. Read more »

A few days ago, there were reports that four Silicon Valley companies, including Apple and Google, have agreed to a new settlement aimed at resolving an antitrust class action lawsuit alleging they conspired to avoid poaching each anothers’ employees. Although there was no word on the settlement amount at that time, it is now being reported that the companies, which also include Adobe and Intel, have agreed to pay a total of $415 million to settle the dispute.

The proposed settlement, which is $90.5 million more than a previous deal that was rejected by a US judge, was revealed in a motion filed by the firms yesterday in US District Court in San Jose, California. Read more »

Xbox One already became the top-selling gaming console in the US for the month of November 2014, outselling Sony’s PlayStation 4 which was consistently topping the sales charts in the country since January last year, and now Microsoft has revealed that the device did it again for the month of December.

“Xbox One ended 2014 with an unprecedented holiday season, becoming the best-selling console in the U.S. in November and December,” the Redmond, Washington-based company said in a blog post, adding that weekly average sales during these two months topped Xbox 360 by 50% at the same point in its life-cycle. Read more »

Just over a month after the city of Portland, Oregon issued Uber a cease-and-desist order, the company has been slapped with a similar order in South Carolina. The Public Service Commission of South Carolina has ordered the company to stop operating until it gets a certificate of public convenience and necessity, which is required by law for any motor vehicle carrier, including taxi cab services.

“Consumers benefit from, and deserve choices in, the marketplace. However, those choices must be consistent with state law intended to protect the public,” said the Commission in a legal filing which names Rasier LLC, a wholly-owned Uber subsidiary that operates the company’s UberX service. Read more »