Things you may have missed this week while celebrating my birthday:

• Twitter Launches Group Direct Messages - Twitter has finally added group direct messages (DMs) to its service. If you use the service as a way to privately communicate with friends, family and random celebrities, you will soon be able to communicate with more than one person (or brand) at a time.
• Snapchat Breaks into Media with Discover - Snapchat's highly anticipated media play is here, and it's called Discover. The messaging app rolled out the new feature Tuesday, which will allow media companies to publish content to the app for users to consume. In addition to having outside companies put content on the app, Snapchat is also introducing its own publishing arm.
• Facebook Quietly Rolled Out a Bare-Bones App in Emerging Markets - While 1.6 billion people around the world take the latest and greatest smartphones for granted, many in emerging markets remain tethered to older devices. That's likely why Facebook quietly rolled out Facebook Lite, a lightweight Android version of the full app, to eight countries last week. It isn't nearly as sleek, but it's not intended to be; on Google Play, Facebook plugs the app as being "efficient with data" and "designed for 3G networks and areas with limited network connectivity."
• Twitter Will Let You Shoot 30-Second Videos From The App - Users will be able to access their phone's camera by pushing a button, record clips up to 30 seconds long, edit them, and upload them. Those who have an iPhone will also be able to upload and edit videos from camera roll. Twitter says that feature will be coming to Android devices soon.
• iOS 8.1.3 Shrinks Free Space Needed For iPhone Updates - The latest release of its iOS mobile software, version 8.1.3 shrinks that storage requirement, which can vary depending on the specific iPhone or iPad model. Previous versions of iOS 8 forced many users—particularly those with 8GB or 16GB devices—to either delete apps, media or other data to make room, or connect their cables to perform a “tethered” iTunes sync. 
• Twitter Acquired More Social Media Companies in the Last 4 Years Than Anyone Else - There were over 53 social media acquisitions in 2014, the most active year yet. This is the 4th year we have done this breakdown so we wanted to take a look back and see what companies have been the most active in acquiring over that time period. Twitter and Facebook lead the way. Twitter making smaller (tweet sized?) acquisitions and Facebook larger ones. The rest of the chart has some interesting trends as well, from Yahoo to Hootsuite and back. 
• Uber Is Running In New Delhi Under A “No-Profit” Model - A few days after Uber restarted its business and said that it would be applying for a taxi license so that it could operate legitimately in the city, the company has spelled out some of the details behind what it is doing to stay on the road. Perhaps the important of these is that Uber says it will operate as “a not-for-profit platform that takes no commissions or fees for its marketplace services,” pending approval of a license.
• Connected-Car Test Track to Open at University of Michigan - The University of Michigan is opening the country’s first closed test track for connected cars, dubbed “M City,” to test vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications in safe, realistic scenarios. 
• Ford, Nest, the Internet of Things: Can mobility merge with smart energy? - The potential to reduce carbon emissions is massive for each technology: Big Data analytics could be employed to disincentivize driving at peak times; ridesharing could be leveraged to decrease solo driver trips; new "last-mile" solutions could be implemented to bridge the enduring gaps between cars and public transit. Still, huge obstacles remain to realize any of that potential at scale. Data privacy and security, evolving regulatory frameworks and safety when employing technology on the road are all moving targets. The common denominator to help connect the dots between all of these disparate developments: Data.
• The Case That Turns Your Phone Into A Polaroid Camera Is Now On Kickstarter - The Prynt case, which lets you print photos directly from your phone, is now available for pre-order on Kickstarter. While the startup still plans for its case to retail for $99, early backers can get it for $49.