Instagram announced today a new feature called Direct, which enables you to share your videos and photos to a select friends or a group of friends.

The new feature was announced at a special Instagram event by the company’s CEO Kevin Systrom. He also shared that Instagram now boasts 150 million users, raising from 80 million in the beginning of the year. Read more »

You have probably heard of Google’s service dubbed Android Device Manager, which allows you to locate your misplaced Android device from the web and lock/erase it remotely should it get stolen. Initially the service was only accessible from the web interface, but now Google has officially launched an Android app that lets you use one of your droids to look up another.

Android Device Manager app allows you to locate your lost devices from another Android powered smartphone or tablet and helps you keep your personal data secured. Read more »

The latest Android Jelly Bean build has surfaced for the former Sony flagship, Xperia Z, and its softshell variant, the Xperia ZL.

The 4.3 build has recently leaked through xda-developers as a version which was destined for commercial outlets and members of the press. Read more »

EA/PopCap has pushed a major update for Plants vs. Zombies 2 for the holiday season. One of the changes is an upgrade to the map to make game progression quicker and easier. If you read our review of the game, you may remember we mentioned that although the game is fun, it makes you go back and play older levels (although with different gameplay) to earn stars to unlock the next world, which could get a bit tiresome. Thankfully, the new update fixes that.

Other changes include new Piñata Party levels, ability to invite friends and gift them in-game items and a new Turbo mode that makes the game faster by speeding up the planting but also the zombies, which is sure to make the game even more frantic. Lastly, there is also a new zombie, the Gargantuars. Read more »

Sony launched a dual USB flash drive, designed specifically for the needs of memory-deprived Android smartphone and tablet users. The gadget combines a full USB 2.0 port and a microUSB connector into a compact, sleek-looking body.

The new Sony flash drive offers USB on-the-go functionality (OTG) for devices running Android 4.0.3 and up. Read more »

Google pushed an update to Gmail for Android which brought several welcome new features to the table. They include vacation auto responders, enhanced attachment functionality, as well as the ability to print straight from your device’s email client.

The vacation auto responder in Gmail for Android works just as expected. Read more »

We have been teased by the concept of flexible displays for a long time now, but finally the time has come for us to witness what was once a cool tech demo in an actual product. Greetings, LG G Flex.

Featuring a 6.0″ 720p flexible OLED display, the G Flex pioneers LG’s lineup of curved smartphones. It’s an important product in a freshly introduced category of smartphones and the company hopes it lures adventurous customers with a plethora of cool features both on the hardware and software fronts. Read more »

Spotify has just announced that you can now access millions of songs across your smartphones and tablets for free.

Spotify allows you to shuffle play on your smartphones and tablets. Furthermore, you can now listen to your favorite music, or to your favorite artist without having to pay anything. Read more »

In its latest update to Play Books, Google added some enhancements to speed and smoothness but by far the most important gain is the option to upload from your Android device.

Now instead of using the Play website to add books to your account you can do it straight from your smartphone. Play Books supports ePub and PDF files and you can upload to Google Play books from any Android file manager. Read more »

Samsung US has a new video ad and it’s all about the Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Since the holiday season is upon us, the commercial is Christmas-themed and the lead presenter is … a Steve Ballmer-like Santa Claus.

The new ad will show you that the Galaxy Gear can make calls and snap pictures, but will do it with the passion of Steve Ballmer himself. Read more »

Yesterday Mozilla launched Firefox 26 for Android bringing the now stable features of the previous Beta release of the popular browser.

Some of the main features in the latest build of the mobile browser include a revamped about:home page with a streamlined view of the Top Sites list. Users can now also pin their favorite sites to the start screen as well. Read more »

After the Kickstarter buzz surrounding the Ouya died down, interest in Android-powered consoles seems to have waned. That doesn’t deter Mad Catz though, the company just started shipping its M.O.J.O. console.

Those who pre-ordered back in October should be getting theirs soon and even if you didn’t book yours, there’s still time to snag one before Christmas. Read more »

Rovio has finally released Angry Birds Go! internationally across all major mobile platforms. The game is now available for download for free on iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 devices.

The latest installment in the prolific Angry Birds series – Angry Birds Go! – takes a different approach from killing pigs to beating them in a go-kart race in a whole new dimension, making it the first 3D Angry Birds game. Read more »

Twitter has rolled out version 6.0 update for its iOS and Android mobile applications, which bring with it some big new changes. The most obvious one is the redesign on both versions, unique to their platform. The iPhone version gets a new white themed bar at the bottom unlike the black on the previous version. The ‘Connect’ tab has been replaced with ‘Notifications’ (essentially the same thing) and ‘Discover’ tab has been replaced by ‘Messages’.

Twitter is pushing their Activity and Discover section in a big way with the latest updates, that show you activity of the people you follow and other people on Twitter respectively. On the iPhone, you now swipe on your timeline to go to the new sections, indicated by the three dots at the top. Read more »

Google launched an official Folio case for the Nexus 7. The cover is now available to order alongside the freshly released, white color version of the slate at the Google Play Store in the United States for $49.99.

Available in black or red, the Nexus 7 folio features bumper-style design with a trifold magnetic cover. Read more »