Nokia will no longer be updating the HERE mapping and navigation apps on the Windows Phone platform. Although originally created by Nokia, the map data has now been licensed by Microsoft, who will now be updating the app instead.

On the other hand, Nokia has no plans of abandoning HERE maps but will instead be moving to greener pastures. Read more »

You will soon be able to control you Nest thermostat from Google Now. The functionality is already baked into the search giant’s virtual assistant, though it is yet to go live.

If you ask Google Now on your device to “set Nest to 70 degrees,” it will try and complete the task. 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 »

Hot on the heels of Android Wear’s firmware bump, Google Fit for Android received a major update as well. The latest version of the search giant’s health and fitness suite brings new features to the platform.

Google Fit now supports manual entry for over 100 new activities. Read more »

If you are using Microsoft’s Xbox Music streaming service, you can now download 100 popular albums for free. Microsoft is giving those away those albums to citizens in the USA only (damn licensing rights!), who are subscribers to its music app with Xbox Music Pass activated.

Some of the free albums include TRON: Legacy OST, Swedish House Mafia – Until Now, U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind, Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP2, Zedd – Clarity, Avicii – True, Lana Del Ray – Born to Die, Jessie J – Sweet Talker, Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III and Imagine Dragons – Night Visions. Read more »

Dropbox added new features to its Carousel gallery app for Android and iOS. Going forward users of the application will have automatic device storage management at their disposal.

The above mentioned new functionality will automatically delete images on a device if they have already been backed up in Dropbox. Read more »

The Here suite of apps for Windows Phone has been updated today. All of the apps have new versions waiting to be downloaded and installed, but perhaps the biggest changes are brought to the Here Drive+ app. It now supports voice-guided navigation in 18 more countries or territories.

These are Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nepal, Paraguay, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This brings the total number of countries and territories in which voice-guided directions are available to 118. Read more »

After initially only being available in the US, Cortana was enabled for China and the UK too this summer. And now Microsoft’s virtual assistant is making it to four more countries: France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Today, Microsoft has announced that it will start rolling out an update for the Windows Phone Developer Preview Program which will make Cortana available in these new places as an “alpha”. Read more »

Google is about to launch a redesigned Play store app for Android. Version 5.1 of the application features refreshed looks and layout changes.

The upcoming new Android Play store features full-height navigation drawer and real-time card shadows. Read more »

One of the many services that Samsung created a few years back is WatchON. It allows you to watch TV shows and movies, like so many other similar offerings out there. Apparently Samsung has finally realized how redundant WatchON is, and hence decided to shut it down, effective on December 31.

This will happen worldwide, except for two countries: the USA and South Korea. Over there WatchON will continue to exist even after this year ends. Read more »

Google News & Weather for Android received a major update. Version 2.0 of the application features new features and refreshed design.

Users of the stock Android app can now utilize a sleek-looking dark color theme. Read more »

I know there isn’t a shortage of messaging apps available on mobile devices but every once in a while something new comes up that manages to grab your attention. One such app is Wire.

Wire is a new messaging and calling app for Android, iOS (iPhone and iPad), and OS X, with a browser version arriving later. The app focuses on a simple, minimalist design with a gesture based interface for navigation. The UI features large, legible fonts with inline previews for images, YouTube, and SoundCloud links. Other than one to one chats Wire also supports group messaging. Read more »

Gmail users can now edit office documents straight from their inbox. The button for the new feature is available alongside the options to download a file or save it to Google Drive.

When a user selects the newly available option, Gmail saves the file to Google Drive and automatically converts it to Google’s own office format. Read more »

A couple of days ago a report surfaced in South Korean media claiming that Samsung was getting ready to shut down its ChatOn messaging service, which has failed to challenge WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger in terms of user base.

Now though, the Korean company has officially stated that the aforementioned information is false, and that ChatOn will live on. Read more »

Earlier this month, Dropbox and Microsoft announced a broad partnership that would see the two companies’ mobile apps working together – allowing you to edit Office files from the Dropbox app and access your Dropbox from Office. This integration is now live.

The latest version of the Dropbox app for iOS and Android lets you open any Office document, spreadsheet, or presentation. And the new Edit icon (seen in the image above) lets you start editing stuff in the latest Office apps. Read more »