Google+ iOS, Android apps see major updates

Google+ is getting a facelift.?

By Matthew Shaer / December 14, 2012

The Google+ mobile experience is getting a facelift. Here, a look at the ultra-low bandwidth mode of Hangouts, a group video chat feature.

Google

Enlarge

More than a year after it went into wide launch, the mobile version of Google+, Mountain View's Facebook-killer, is getting a handful of major upgrades.?

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

Among them: the ability to instantly upload large photos from Android devices; on-the-go photo editing; improved event planning functionalities; inline, streaming photo albums on the Google+ iOS app;?and a more democratic Hangouts experience.

"Today, we?re making it possible to connect with friends even in parts of the world with extremely low bandwidth," Google's Dave Besbris?wrote in a blog post. "Once enabled, you'll only need about 150 KB of bandwidth to be in a hangout."?

The iOS and Android versions of the new Google+ app will go live later this month, Besbris said.?

In related news, Google recently announced that 500 million people have signed up for Google+, and that 235 million of those users are "active." On the Google blog, the company called Google+?"the fastest-growing network thingy ever."?

Of course, as Chris Davies of SlashGear is careful to stress, it's worth taking that 235 million figure with a grain of salt.?

"In fact," he writes, the figure "includes anybody who +1?s an app in Google Play, who uses Hangouts in Gmail, or who connects with their friends in search. Around 135m are active in the Google+ stream itself, still an impressive number."

By comparison, Facebook has over a billion users.?

Google Maps user? Drop us a line in the comments section. And hey, why not follow us on?Twitter? Find us?@venturenaut.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ooU-Oz_aaD4/Google-iOS-Android-apps-see-major-updates

modesto st louis weather guinea bissau google stock google stock china gdp dont trust the b in apartment 23