The latest company to hop onto the smartwatch bandwagon is Scania – yes, the truck making company from Sweden. It has unveiled the Scania Watch, its very first offering in this space, which is targeted at truck drivers, as you might expect.

The device is in fact a rebranded Sony SmartWatch 3, but it does feature some interesting software additions (as well as promises for much more to come in the future). This might make it more appealing to truck drivers than any other smartwatch out there. Read more »

Asus’ first Android Wear-based smartwatch is going to finally make it to the UK later this month, after it became available in the US in November. The ZenWatch will be yours to grab starting on December 23, so it could make for a very last minute present for someone (or yourself).

If you want to buy one, you’ll initially only be able to do so from Currys and PC World, since apparently these two retailers have nabbed an exclusive on the watch. The price you’ll need to pay for it will be £200. Read more »

Many months after it launched for iOS and Android, Angry Birds Stella has today become available for Windows Phone. As you may have expected, it’s a free download, but does feature in-app purchases.

The game is an “all-new physics-based slingshot adventure”, and it comes with over 120 levels. “The fierce flock” contains six fun birds, each with its own personality. Read more »

Pushbullet has been pretty great even before today’s update, letting you see your Android notifications on your PC, Mac, or Chrome OS device. But it’s now added what has to have been one of the most requested features – the ability to quickly act on those notifications.

Sure, you’ve been able to dismiss a notification from your computer – and it would disappear from your Android device. Now though, on your computer, you can see and use those ‘quick actions’ that show up underneath Android notifications on your phone or tablet. Read more »

Today is a big day for fans of Instagram, as it has received its first new filters in two years. The app now boasts five additional filters you can choose from, and it’s also gotten a couple of usability improvements as well.

The new functions are to be found inside Instagram version 6.4.0 for iOS, and version 6.12.0 for Android. These are already out in the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store. Read more »

BBM for Windows Phone has been updated to version 2.0 today, and there is a lot of new functionality inside. The Timed Messages and Message Retraction features that made their debut on the other mobile platforms back in October have finally landed on Windows Phone on this occasion.

The app also got the BBM Shop with stickers, which are the new cool and trendy thing for messaging apps as you may know. Read more »

Skype’s wonderful Translator functionality has finally become reality. The feature was first demoed by Microsoft back in May, and now it’s available as a preview on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

At the moment, it only works between English and Spanish speakers. But it does do on-the-fly translation of voice calls. So you speak in one of these two languages, and the person at the other end of the ‘line’ will hear the other one. There is a slight delay, of course, but it’s perhaps smaller than one might have expected. Read more »

Aside from the Glance Screen update we just reported on, Microsoft has something else for Windows Phone fans today. It is, in fact, a new app, currently in Beta. It’s called Gestures, and it automates some tasks based on how you hold or move your phone.

It lets you control some of your phone’s functions without needing to touch the display. The first release, the one which is now available to download from the Windows Phone store, focuses on calls. Read more »

The Glance Screen functionality for Windows Phones lets you see some information while your phone is in standby. The time, weather, alarms, calendar events all show up there along with info about missed calls and received messages. And today, the Glance Screen app itself has seen an update.

The new version is already available to grab from the Windows Phone app store. The main new thing that you’ll find inside it is that you can now have a background image for the Glance Screen. Read more »

On both iOS and Android, the Google Maps app has today received support for lane guidance for highways in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Ireland.

Lane guidance does what you’d expect it to, given the name. It ensures you’re always on the right lane, when you’re in turn-by-turn navigation mode. Read more »

Since the Nexus 9 tablet was announced, we’ve been expecting its two cover accessories to become available. They have both been up for pre-order for quite a while, but only the keyboard folio has so far actually started shipping. Until today, that is, when the Magic Cover for the Nexus 9 is finally in stock at HTC’s US-based online store.

The cover costs $39.99, like previously unveiled, but there is a huge caveat you need to take into account: only the ‘Coral Amethyst’ color is available right now (the one pictured above). Read more »

BlackBerry’s well known messaging app, BBM, has today been updated to version 2.6 on iOS, Android, and the company’s own smartphones.

The update adds one of the most requested features, which apparently was the support for sending stickers in group chats. Read more »

YouTube is apparently testing a new feature to be added to the Share menu which you can find underneath each video on the site. Alongside sharing via social networks, emailing someone a link to the video, and embedding it on your website, on certain channels a GIF option has magically appeared.

And yes, this is exactly what you think it is – an extremely easy way to create animated GIFs. For now, the feature only seems to have surfaced next to videos uploaded by PBS’ Idea Channel. Since Google hasn’t officially announced the automated GIF maker, this may be just a test – or an extremely slow rollout. Read more »

After we’ve seen it update all of its Android apps to use the Material Design that it’s so proud of, Google has now apparently moved on to iOS. So the Google search app for Apple’s mobile OS is today getting an update to version 5.0.0, and one of the biggest new things is the addition of the Material Design language.

Additionally, there are a few new features in tow too. The Recents view shows you the pages you recently visited, the Google button lets you start a search with just one tap (wherever you are in the app), and Google Maps allows you to explore interactive maps, nearby places, and Street View right inside the search app (though only on iPhone for now). Read more »

Microsoft will hold a Windows 10-related event on Wednesday, January 21, 2015. Terry Myerson, Joe Belfiore, and Phil Spencer from the Operating Systems Group will all be speaking, as will CEO Satya Nadella.

The company has only published its official invite for now (which you can see above), choosing not to specifically say what the event will be about. However, a rumor from last month said we’d hear all about the consumer-facing features of Windows 10 for PCs “towards the end of January”. So this seems to be that. If so, then on this occasion Microsoft will also talk about Windows 10 on phones and tablets for the first time. Read more »