Google Plus is probably one of the most jam-packed product
in Google I/O’s keynote today. The search giant’s social network will come with
41 new features spread across three major areas and will start rolling out
today and over the next week. The new features were discussed today at the
company’s keynote in Google I/O by the company’s Senior Vice President Vic
Gundotra.
The first major new feature in Google Plus is the stream.
The company made a total overhaul of the user interface of the stream which now
features a set of tiles that to be honest looks pretty much like the ones you
see on Facebook’s timeline. Tiles are arranged in columns of 1-3 depending on
the screen size and orientation.
Google is also adding an automatic hash tag function to the
network. When this feature is turned on, Google Plus will automatically add
hash tags to a user’s post using an algorithm. Users can then click on the
related ‘#’ option and the post tile will flip to reveal related posts.
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The company has also improved the photos section of the
social network via a Hangouts app. First and foremost, Google+ users will have
the benefit of increased storage for all their photos. Photos uploaded to the
network are then filtered and will automatically select the best photo for the
user. The feature is called Auto Highlight and will exclude images that are
duplicates, blurry or poorly shot.
The Highlight feature will also use an algorithm to give more emphasis on images of people that are important to the user. The network will also feature something that’s called Auto Enhance, which will take into consideration “human taste” to automatically tweak photo characteristics such as noise reduction, white balance and tonal distribution to name a few.
Lastly, there’s this feature called Auto Awesome that uses
existing photos in a user’s profile to create new images such as collages,
panoramas and Gifs.
