Google yesterday announced the first update to its Chrome iOS app. Now available in the App Store, the 21.0.1180.77 update brings a few tweaks for iPhone and iPad users.

The biggest change is the ability to share directly from Chrome through e-mail or on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter (see our How To for more information). That follows a Google+ update last week, which allowed users to open shared Web links directly in Chrome.

Also new are improved sign-in error messages, better language detection for the welcome tour, and fixes for Web pages that load blank in Incognito mode.

Google introduced Chrome apps for both Android and iOS last June at Google I/O in San Francisco. To download... [Read more]

Both Parallels and VMware have announced the availability of the next versions of their popular virtualization software for running Windows and other operating systems within OS X. VMware Fusion 5 is available for download today, and the next version of Parallels Desktop will be released very soon on September 4.

Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion are two of several available options for running guest operating systems within OS X so you can use applications and services supported for those operating systems along with your OS X applications without having to leave OS X and boot directly to them. This approach helps not only in integrating Windows applications and services, but also with testing programs in virtualized versions of OS X before you install them directly on your Mac.

Windows taking advantage of Mountain Lion's full-screen capabilities in Parallels Desktop.

Virtualization was made possible in OS X when Apple switched to using Intel-based chips and other PC hardware that was directly compatible with Windows. While Apple has offered its Boot Camp drivers and utilities for dual-booting OS X and Windows, often the speed benefits fro... [Read more]

While iOS users were today treated to a huge Facebook app update, Android users got a little something as well.

With the newest update to Facebook for Android, you can now easily create events from the app, share photos faster with a new upload process, and add photos and emoji to messages.

Sure, the Android update is nowhere near as big as the iOS update. But still, it's nice to see Facebook showing support for both platforms.

Related stories

• Facebook launches faster iOS app
• Facebook messages start looking more like e-mail
• Facebook cleared to acquire Instagram

The newest version of Facebook for Android is available now on Google Play.

Generally when Apple releases a major upgrade to OS X, it quickly follows with an update to tackle some of the immediate and outstanding bugs with the software. The time frame for this update has been between 13 days (for Snow Leopard) to 26 days (for Lion), and while Mountain Lion has gone for about a month so far in its initial release, the first update is now available and addresses pertinent problems with Thunderbolt audio noise and Mail accounts not working, among other issues.

One problem that people have reported with OS X 10.8 is an audio noise issue when using Thunderbolt-based devices. Over time the audio output on affected systems will become scratchy and filled with static, requiring the users to quit and relaunch the audio application, or otherwise reinitialize the audio driver to clear the problem. Additionally, some users have noticed issues with Apple's Mail program when using accounts administered through corporate Active Directory domains. Another issue is that some users with some configurations have noticed poor battery life.

The OS X 10.8.1 update is available in the Mac App Store, by choosing "Software Update..." in the Apple menu.

(Credi... [Read more]

Kaspersky's new Safe Money feature automatically detects when you go to a banking site -- no need to go through the program interface anymore.

A safer way to conduct online transactions and a new exploit blocker are the keystones to Kaspersky Lab's 2013 security suites, the company announced today.

The major new feature that's in both Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 (download exclusively from Download.com today) and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2013 (download) is the exploit blocking engine called Automatic Exploit Prevention. It's a response to the increase in the number of phishing attacks and includes an anti-phishing engine -- similar to the antivirus and anti-malware engines -- that updates daily.

Roel Schouwenberg, a senior antivirus researcher at Kaspersky and founding member of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, told CNET at a reviewer's conference earlier in the year that "online banking Trojans are huge profits for bad guys." Protecting yourself from them is best done with Kaspersky's new engine, he argued.

News reports of rec... [Read more]