Google+ for iOS has just been updated, and fortunately it's now a bit more like its Android cousin.

The biggest part of the update? Instant Upload. Long a favorite feature of many Google+ for Android (download) users, Instant Upload has finally made its way to the iOS app.

When enabled, it automatically backs up photos to a private album on your Google+ account in the cloud. It's convenient, and makes it easy to share multiple photos with your Circles later. Unfortunately, unlike the feature on the Android platform, Instant Upload for iOS only works "while the Google+ iOS app is open, and for a brief period after you close it." The next time you reopen it, though, it will resume any pending uploads.

Meanwhile, the update also comes with a number of bug fixes and performance improvements, the ability to see who +1d a post, and the brand-new What's Hot stream, which Android users got only last week. The What's Hot stream takes a page out Twitter's book and shows you what posts are trending and garnering the most social activity.

And, finally, iOS also gets a nifty little shake-to-send-feedback feature, which pulls up a contact form for the Google+ team with a few flicks of the wrist. ... [Read more]

OneShar.es can make anyone feel like a spy.

Using the Web site, you can send-self destructing messages to friends, colleagues, or anyone else you may be sending personal information to. The messages are only accessible through a unique URL, and as soon as the URL is viewed once, it is no longer valid.

Using a service like this may seem a bit gimmicky at first, and it is to an extent, but it can come in extremely handy when you want to send personal information and don't like the thought of that information sitting in some e-mail account forever. A good example would be sending a loan banker your Social Security number and other personal financial information. Or, maybe you just want to vent about your boss to a co-worker and don't trust that your e-mail is completely private (odds are, it isn't).

1. To get started, point your browser to OneShar.es.
2. Click on the button to create a message, and then enter your message. You have up to 1,000 characters.
3. After entering your message and creating a link, you will be presented with a secure URL to copy and send to the recipient. Keep in mind, if you were to visit the link yourself, no one else will be able to view the message. It literally is one view and then gone.

What does it look like on the recipient's end?

• The recipient will be able to view your message and nothing more. If that person wants to re... [Read more]

Startup Unity Technologies released version 3.5 of its video game engine that now includes support for Google's Native Client browser-boosting software.

Unity's software is a cross-platform tool that lets game programmers reach a wide range of devices--everything from iPhones to Windows to browsers. Cross-platform tools are only worth it if they reach a broad number of platforms, though, so it's important to expand, and the company has been working on Unity 3.5 for months.

Native Client is Google software built into Chrome that lets programmers run lightly modified C or C++ software directly in the browser. Ordinarily running such native software, compiled by programmers and downloaded over the Internet, would be a security nightmare. But Native Client, aka NaCl, comes with security protections--it only lets permitted instructions run, and it executes software in a protective sandbox.

So far other browser makers have treated Native Client with reactions ranging from indifference to disapproval. But Google's browser is gaining in popularity, and Google has its Chrome Web Store to distribute NaCl apps. If a significant number of programmers embrace NaCl in favor of JavaScript, WebGL, CSS, and other Web-app programming technologi... [Read more]

Advanced SystemCare 5 Pro is free, but only through Valentine's Day.

Nothing says "I love you" like free software.

In honor of Valentine's Day, IObit is offering Advanced SystemCare 5 Pro (Win) free of charge. It normally sells for $19.95.

Update: IObit is currently returning a "server overloaded" message when you enter your e-mail address. Hopefully they'll work out the kinks and deliver the promised license to everyone who requests it.

Take note, however: this offer is good today and today only. After the clock strikes midnight, you'll either have to pony up $20 or settle for Advanced SystemCare 5 Free (which is pretty good in its own right).

So, just what is Advanced SystemCare (ASC for short) and why would you want it, free or otherwise? It's a system-optimization tool designed to improve performance, root out problems, and even add an extra layer of security.

There are any number of similar tools out there (some free, some not), but I will profess to liking ASC. I recently ran it on a year-old Windows 7 system, and it not only found and fixed a bunch of Registry errors and the ... [Read more]