Google is taking another stab at the world of social networking to challenge Facebook, with its Google+ project in field trial mode globally.
Google+ marks another attempt by the company to wade into social media, with previous attempts Wave and Buzz failing.
In a post on the official Google blog, senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said: "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."
Google+ is centred around three main features - Circles, Sparks and Hangouts. Circles allows a user to group their connections into different groups, so they can choose what they share with whom. Sparks is based around a community of shared interests and Hangout will allow users to participate in multi-person video calls.
Google+ also has a mobile aspect, with users able to add their location to every post, as well as instant photo uploading and instant group messaging.
The project is in field trial globally, including users in Australia. The trial was by invitation only. Timelines for an official rollout has not yet been released.
Meanwhile, Google globally has unveiled a new look homepage, with a rejigged tool bar across the top of the page.
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