Introducing Instagram Direct  —  Today, we're excited to bring you Instagram Direct, a new way to send photo and video messages to friends.  Over the past three years, the Instagram community has grown to over 150 million people capturing and sharing moments all around the globe.

Bitcoin's Biggest Bet: Andreessen Horowitz Leads $25 Million Investment in Coinbase  —  Coinbase co-founders Brian Armstrong (l) and Fred Ehrsam, sporting we-got-money grins.  —  If you're a bitcoin doubter, you might want to turn away.  The doors to venture funding in bitcoin startups are about to swing wide open.

Fleksy wants to become your new iOS keyboard, everywhere  —  Can a software keyboard startup succeed where others failed?  —  In 2007, early iPhone users had a problem.  They wanted to take a snippet of text from one place to another, and their phones wouldn't let them do it.

Gmail for desktop now automatically shows images in your messages, coming to Android and iOS 'in early 2014′  —  Google today announced a change to how Gmail handles images: on the desktop, the email service will show images in your messages automatically starting today.

Twitter for Mac 3.0 released with photo previews, updated design, more  —  Shortly after launching its new Twitter update for iPhone earlier this week, Twitter for Mac 3.0 is out on the Mac App Store with a refreshed design and a set of new features.  —  Twitter for Mac now supports Twitter photo previews inline with the timeline.

Yahoo Says Mail Functionality Is Returning, but Some Users Might Be Missing Up to Two Weeks of Email  —  Yahoo, which had been glacial in giving users information about problems with its high-profile Yahoo Mail product over the last several days, said last night that it had restored access …

Highlight Raises $4 Million From DFJ, Releases Version 2.0 Of Its Location-Based Social Networking App  —  Location-based social startup Highlight has just released a new version of its app, aimed at being smarter about the connections it shows, while also giving users more context about what those connections have been up to.

IFTTT Launches iOS Location Channel With Integrations For Foursquare, Twitter, Instagram And Facebook  —  Today, IFTTT announces the addition of an iOS Location channel to its ‘Internet glue’ service.  The channel will allow users to specify an ‘area’ that will allow them to trigger actions …

In-Flight Calling Ban Considered by U.S. Transportation  —  The U.S. Department of Transportation will consider whether to ban in-flight calls aboard airliners, the agency's leader said today.  —  The DOT, which oversees consumer protection of airline passengers, will seek public comment …

Wireless carriers, FCC agree on ‘unlocking’ cellphones  —  (Reuters) - U.S. wireless carriers will make it easier for consumers to “unlock” their mobile phones for use on a competitor's network, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said on Thursday.

Aereo to Broadcasters: Go Ahead, Take the Case to Supreme Court  —  Aereo on Thursday said that it would not oppose broadcasters' petition to the Supreme Court to review rulings in the startup streaming service's favor.  —  “We have decided to not oppose the broadcasters' petition for certiorari …

LifeLock Acquires Mobile Wallet Platform Lemon For $42.6 Million, Launches LifeLock Wallet  —  Lemon, a digital wallet platform which allows users to store their ID, payment, loyalty cards and more on their smartphone, has been acquired by identity theft protection service LifeLock …

Kik rides teen interest to 100M users  —  The company behind the mobile messaging app Kik announced Thursday that it now has more than 100 million registered users, which is more than triple the number it had just one year ago.  The app is signing on as many as 250,000 new people each day, CEO Ted Livingston told CNET.

Google Maps for iOS will now show you your flight, hotel and restaurant reservations  —  Google has bumped Google Maps for iOS up to version 2.5.0 and with it brought some neat new additions for folks in selected locations.  Maps will now pull information from your Gmail account and show you your flight …

Dell reveals new partnerships with Dropbox, Microsoft, Google, Red Hat  —  Dropbox for Business to be offered to Dell enterprise customers  —  Dell has announced a number of new partnerships it has formed with other companies at its Dell World event in Austin today.

Apple scores legal victory over Samsung in South Korea  —  (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday lost its bid to ban sales of Apple Inc's older iPhone and iPad in South Korea, as a court dismissed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. firm had infringed three of Samsung's mobile patents.

iPhone 5S makes rapid start in China and hits 10% of iPhones in use, data shows  —  CounterPoint Research report comes before China Mobile deal, while iOS 7 adoption running faster than last year, statistics show  —  Apple's iPhone 5S has been a dramatic hit in China, comprising 12% of sales …

Former Google executive to run U.S. patent office  —  (Reuters) - Former Google Inc executive Michelle Lee has been named deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and will run the agency until a new director is named, the agency said on Wednesday.

Twitter's MoPub Fires Up An In-Stream Native Ad Product, Launches On Tango  —  Twitter's recent acquisition of MoPub has fired up a native advertising business that will launch with in-stream ads on the Tango messaging platform and with other partners.  The product is obviously taking some cues …