Search engine giant Google has just announced its Google+ social networking platform that's set to rival Facebook. Well, that's the plan anyway. Google doesn't have a particularly strong history when it comes to social networking services with both Google Wave and Google Buzz failing to catch on, but if the demo is anything to go by, it's investing a lot of time and money into making its latest venture a potential Facebook killer. Should Mark Zuckerberg and Co be worried? We took an in-depth look at Google+ to see what it brings to the table.
What is it?
Developed under the codename Emerald Sea, Google+ is basically Google's latest attempt at creating a social network. Google is cannily calling it a "project", rather than a "product" - perhaps to avoid comparison with its less successful social products. Google reckons that current online networks (no names mentioned) simply don't cut the mustard and that's why it's launching its own version. According to Google's official blog:
"Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools.
"In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it."
The idea is to topple Facebook from its throne by making every existing Google product socially compatible. The company certainly has a lot to work with, including Picasa, Gmail and Google Maps and information and functions from all of these will be integrated into the Google+ experience so that you don't have to sign into different services to share your photos and let your mates know what you're up to.
Each Google+ profile will centre around the Stream, which is essentially the same thing as Facebook's news feed - where all of your info and updates from your chums are rounded up and constantly updated. The Stream will be joined by four core elements - Circles, Hangouts, Huddle and Sparks - with Google hinting that these are the starting block for future developments.
Circles
Google wants to make sharing online more like sharing in real life - different things with different people. For example, you might want to catch up with your pals about your drunken Saturday night out, but you don't necessarily want your parents in your chat. You can keep your conversations separate by putting your contacts into 'circles' such as 'Work crew', 'Uni mates' and 'Parents'.
Hangouts
As the name suggests, this feature is all about hanging out with your buddies, virtually, or couse. You can choose specific friends, or circles, to invite for a face-to-face video chat and anyone in the Hangout can invite others to join as well. According to Google's demo: "Until teleportation arrives, it's the next best thing". We're not sure about that - it's basically just video calling.
Huddle
You know when you're trying to arrange a night out by having several different text conversations with a number of friends? If so, you'll know how long-winded and confusing it can become. The idea behind Huddle is that you can turn all these exchanges into one big group chat to save you time.
Sparks
Tell Sparks what sort of stuff you're into and it'll send you things that you might be interested in that you can then watch, read or share. For example, you could type 'Films' into the seach box and see what comes up. If you like the results, then you can click the 'Add Interest' button to add Films to your list of important subjects.
When can I get it?
Google+ can currently only be accessed with a special Field Trial invitation, which Google has been sending out at random to Gmail users. There's no set date for a full launch, but we would guess that it won't be too long before Google+ goes live to everyone. In the meantime, you can check out the demo, as long as you have a Google ID.
QR CODE Google+ Invite for Android
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