What features can we expect from Google Plus?

You may of heard that Google launched Google+ this week in a bid to try and take over from Facebook and Twitter in terms of social networking.  So what features can we expect from Google Plus?

The Stream is very much like the Facebook News Feed where you can share content and see what friends are sharing.

Circles is a way of dropping and dragging friends into different circles, ie for friend family or co-workers.

Mulitmedia will be effortless to share with a tagging system on photos and an app that allows you to edit photos and add effects. Naturaly it comes with privacy options and sharing features.

Video chat looks impressive. There is a “hangouts” feature which means users can click to start a hangout. You will be taken to an empty room and then your friends will be told you are “hanging out” which temps friends to join you, according to their testing and research. There will be one chat box rather than multiple and ut changes chat screen to whoever is currently talking. The maximum members in any one video hangout are just 10, but users can get on a waiting list and wait for someone to leave.

Sparks is a part of Google+ where people who use social media to consume news will be able to pull stories, videos and other cool content relating to your specific interest. Interesting according to Google, the actual content in the Sparks stream is completely different from the results you'd get if you put the same term into the Google search engine.

Very soon there will be mobile apps for of course the Android which will include access to the Stream, Circles, Sparks and tall the shared multimedia. One feature will see every photo taken on your phone through Google+ will automatically be uploaded to your computer, ready to share. Any images will not be instantly public, you will have to log in and allow sharing. If you don’t do this after eight hours the images will not be available to share. Google+ does have plans to launch mobile apps for other platforms in the near future.

Apart from their search engine Googles successful social product is YouTube, but they just bought this which proved to be the most expensive acquisition in the company’s history.

Whether Google + takes off depends on its usability and its power to draw users and keep them engaged. To beat the popularity of Facebook and twitter is a seriously tall order, but if there was one company that defines the word innovative - its google.

Ancoris are an authorised Google Apps Reseller and a Google Enterprise partner, certified to deploy, support and train organisations and enterprises of any size on Google Docs, Google Email, Google Sites and more.