Tech Briefs ( 16 - 22 December 2013)

Directly on Instagram

Instagram has introduced Instagram Direct, where users can send photo and video messages to friends. The new feature comes close on the heels of a similar feature introduced by Twitter. A new icon on the top right corner of the home feed in the Instagram apps for Android and iOS will take the user to the inbox where pictures and videos sent by people to the user will be displayed.

 

Spotify Announces Free Mobile Streaming

In a long-awaited announcement, Spotify expanded its free streaming option for mobile devices on Wednesday. Until now, the music streaming company has provided a free streaming service for smartphones and tablets akin to Pandora , Rdio, and Apple’s iTunes Radio. But picking and choosing songs to stream for free was exclusively available to PCs running Microsoft  Windows or Apple Mac OS X. Mobile users were forced to pay $10 a month for a premium service in order to stream select music to their devices.

 

Google Opens First Data Centres in Asia

Google has opened its first ever data centres in Asia as it looks to boost its growth further in the region. The move comes as a growing number of people in Asia - which is home to more than half of the world’s population - are getting connected to the internet. Google said that having data centres in Asia will help it to provide faster and “more reliable” access to its tools and services to users in the region. The two new centres are based in Taiwan and Singapore.