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Astronauts on ISS to shoot the breeze in Google+ Hangout, answer your questions
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station and right here on terra firma are clearing their schedules for a Google+ Hangout on February 22nd, which will be the first NASA-coordinated Hangout with the ISS. Between 11 AM and noon ET, astronauts will answer questions previously submitted via video clips and those streaming in from the space agency's Facebook page, Google+ and through Tweets tagged with #askAstro. NASA isn't saying who'll snag live face-time with the spacefarers during the Hangout, but it is asking folks to upload unique and original questions in clips of 30 seconds or less to YouTube by February 12th. Yearning to have a query answered? Hit the jump for the full submission details.
Talkcast tonight: Splicing in a G+ Hangout with our bare hands
As fond as we are of Talkshoe round here, there are some challenges and limitations on the podcast platform. Listeners know we're casting about for some new solutions that will keep the fun and spontaneity of the Talkcast we know and love, while improving audio quality and reliability. Tonight, as we look ahead to Macworld | iWorld and Apple's upcoming earnings report, we're going to try something new. We'll be simulcasting the Talkcast as a Google+ Hangout, and hopefully also streaming it to our YouTube channel. There's a cap of 10 participants in the Hangout itself, but you'll be able to comment and contribute on the G+ page during the show as well as in the usual Talkshoe chat. It's a grand experiment, so bear with us if things go sideways -- that is, when things go sideways. I plan to start the Hangout at 9:30pm and get it solidified before we begin the regular audio side of things at 10pm ET. We may run into some audio looping issues, so if I have to mute the G+ side we'll do that and connect it in by phone. In any case, it's bound to be interesting; hope we'll hear and see you there. To participate live during the show (other than on the G+ side), you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, the best way to have your voice heard is to call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite or other SIP clients (aside from Skype or Google Voice), basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!
Google+ Hangouts On Air go full-screen, put hosts front and center
Even with tweaks for musicians, Google+ Hangouts On Air have had sub-par layouts for presentations and performances; one-way stream from a band or teacher crops the view to a smaller size. As of a quick update to the social network, common sense prevails. One-way performances now default to occupying the full available view; multi-participant chats can go a similar route by using the Cameraman app to push all but the primary speaker to the background. It's a simple change, but one that could make a big difference for those who just want to lean back and watch.
Google launches VetNet, uses Google+ to link veterans with civilian jobs (video)
As eager as Google has been to help veterans find work in the civilian world, most of its work has been parallel to what's already going on. It's hoping to use its social networking skills from Google+ as the linchpin for a larger effort. Enter VetNet: the portal aggregates job-finding resources from Hire Heroes USA, Hiring Our Heroes and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, using Google+ pages for program tracks that cover job hunting basics, career networking and entrepreneurial courses. Former soldiers will logically need to sign in, but they'll get access to video discussions through Hangouts, a Google Calendar for events and, naturally, a place to connect with fellow vets. The VetNet hub is already live; if transitioning to work outside the armed forces feels like too much of a solitary pursuit so far, the service could be a prime opportunity.
Google+ update lets iOS open links in Chrome, Android join Hangouts on Air
If you've been dutifully checking your mobile app updates (you do check, right?), you may have noticed a Google+ upgrade slip through largely unannounced. That revision might be bigger than you think -- although its exact value depends entirely on the platform you're running. If you're an iOS user, you now have the choice to open web links in Chrome for iOS instead of Safari; it's not the same as changing the default browser, but it will keep Google fans firmly ensconced in their preferred ecosystem while they're using Apple devices. On the Android side, it's now possible to watch live Hangouts On Air sessions if friends aren't ready and waiting for a chat. Both versions now let teens join any kind of Hangout, and there's a raft of tweaks on either side of the fence. If you've been waiting for either of the two major features to jump in, the app downloads are waiting at the source links.
Google+ appeases audiophiles with new Studio Mode for Hangouts on Air
Since May, Google+ users have been able to show the world just how exciting their lives are via the Hangouts On Air feature. That works perfectly well for broadcasting your e-cooking lessons and all, but Mountain View has higher standards when it comes to live-streaming music. The just-announced Studio Mode for Hangouts On Air optimizes audio for music rather than speech, resulting in richer, clearer sound than what you'll get with the standard Voice Mode. Musicians simply select Studio Mode under settings -- other members of the hangout don't have to do anything. Check out a demo of the new feature below the break.
NFL adds Google+ Hangouts to fantasy football leagues for extra-personal trash talking
So your fantasy football team just clinched its spot in the virtual Super Bowl. There's now a better way to rub it in everyone's noses than snarky message board posts: Google has just teamed with the NFL to integrate Google+ Hangouts across the league's fantasy football pages. The multi-person video chat is now just a step away, whether you're trading players or checking the latest results. Google is even bending the rules slightly to allow for a full league's dozen players in one session, instead of the usual 10, and will help host talks between commentators and league participants. Hangouts at the NFL pages are already up and running -- that gives us just enough weeks to hem and haw over linebacker choices before the real NFL's schedule gets going.
Maker Camp brings DIY fun to teens via Google+ Hangouts
Summer camp doesn't have to mean poorly ventilated cabins, boring activities and terrible food. In fact, put the concept in the hands of Google and Make, and there's not even a need to leave the comfort of your own home. The two have teamed up to deliver Maker Camp on Google+, a six week summer program designed to encourage kids to embrace their inner maker. The sessions will run every weekday starting July 16th. On Mondays through Thursdays a new set of instructions for the teen participants to tackle will be posted on Google+, then, in the afternoon, a counselor (often one of Make's own editors) will hold a Hangout to discuss the project and let the campers share their photos, videos and thoughts. Every Friday Make will host "field trips" via Hangouts. There's no need to register and no fee, the only requirements are that you be between the ages of 13 and 18, and have a Google+ account. Check out the videos after the break and the source links for more info.
Google+ for iPad hits the App Store, invites you to Hangout with your Apple slate
As promised way back in late-June at I/O, Google+ now has has its very own fully iPad-supported app. Available now via iTunes, the app offers up some tablet-centric features, like the ability to drag posts from your stream for sharing, streaming Hangouts to a TV via AirPlay and expanding posts with a pinch to add comments. The updated Google+ iPhone app, meanwhile, lets users create and manage Google+ Events. The app can be downloaded now in the source link below.
Google+ adds YouTube party app, lets you inflict cat videos on everyone
Someone at Google must like Airtime as much as we do, because it just added a roughly equivalent YouTube party mode to Google+ Hangouts. As long as everyone has the web app running, they can share individual videos or whole playlists that run in sync. Any set of videos is shareable through Google+ or YouTube proper. Voice chat, mercifully, flips to a push-to-talk requirement to prevent friends from talking over your favorite clip. While there's no accounting for taste in what you play, Google can at least promise immediate, worldwide support for your group cat video sessions.
Google+ Events leaks out through Google Calendar, will let your knitting circle schedule a Hangout
Google has been on another one of its Google+ feature addition streaks lately, and it's so eager to please that it's spoiling other features early. More than a few people visiting Google Calendar have been given an introduction to "Events in Google+" in recent hours despite the extra component (and its splash page) being absent. From what we know, Events will provide the obvious Facebook-like option to create and track events among Google+ circles, but it will also let organizers slot in a Hangout video chat in advance as well as pool together photos and videos associated with an event. The Google+ app for Android has even been showing an empty button that's speculated to be a dedicated Events section. Google hasn't sent any official word as to when Events will go live, although we suspect it won't be long before everyone from photographers through to grandmothers knitting scarves can use Google+ to coalesce.
Google+ on Android gets its turn at a UI remake, extra Hangout and photo features in the bargain
Did you see the Google+ 2.0 update for iPhone and wonder if Google's attention had drifted away from its own baby? Don't fret, as the Android app has just been given similarly loving treatment. The interface shares the reworked stream look that we saw on iOS while keeping the swipe-to-switch category filters that Google+ has used from the start. There's even small rewards for having to watch your iPhone friends go first: you can now start a Hangout video chat from the main menu, get ringing Hangout notifications, download photos directly from conversations and edit your posts after the fact. The new look has already proved polarizing, but if you're the sort who revels in the purity of a Google social network running on a Google platform, you can now try the overhaul for yourself.
Google+ lets you broadcast your Hangouts
You've gotten so good at hanging out ever since Google+ launched last year, isn't about time you started broadcasting your act? After a good deal of time in a limited rollout, the social network is offering up its Hangouts On Air feature to everyone. Now you can broadcast yourself on Google+ or YouTube. On Air lets you monitor views and record and re-share the content after the fact. Get down with the explanatory video after the break.
Google+ gives you a few more reasons to Hangout, put mustaches on things
So you've started a Hangout on Google+ with some pals. Now what? Are you just going to sit around and talk? Thanks to some new additions to the social network, you don't have to rely solely on your conversational skills anymore. The software company announced today the addition of a number of apps to the Facebook competitor, which should make your Hangout time all the more riveting. Now you and a few close friends can play poker and pop culture trivia, add mustaches and glasses to one another, collaboratively doodle and share presentations on the service. Google+ also announced today that it has taken its Hangouts API out of preview, letting developers share the fruit of their work with the rest of the site's fake facial hair-sporting community.
CERN crew takes to Google+ for live Hangout
Got questions for CERN crew? We know we do. For instance, if a Higgs boson falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it still create a miniature black hole that swallows the Earth and destroys us all? Well if you've got queries for the folks working the LHC, attempting to unlock the secrets of the universe then hit up the source link for a live Hangout at that most nerdy of social networks Google+. The conversation starts at 1 pm eastern time.
Android Developers ready to hangout on Google+
The mobile ninjas over at Android Developers have announced a new medium for advice, collaboration and training: Google+. The collective will use the social networking site to help developers "meet, share, and connect with the people behind the Android developer experience." Programming tips, SDK announcements and training offerings are all on the menu, and the group is promising to hold weekly "broadcast office hours" for live Q&A using the Hangouts feature built-in to Google+. Hit the source link to invite the coding co-op into your virtual circle of choice.
Obama to host first Google+ Hangout tonight at 5:30PM
Barack Obama is no stranger to social networks, but Google+ is still relatively new territory for him (and everyone else for that matter). The president doesn't seem afraid of mixing it up with the online riffraff, though, and will be hosting his very first Hangout tonight at 5:30pm ET. He'll be answering questions submitted via YouTube and selected by Google based on viewer rating. Sadly (or, perhaps, mercifully) this won't be a public free-for-all. Obama will be joined by five of his fellow Americans, but there won't be a rotating cast of random folks popping in and out of the group video chat queueing up clips of Maru. Hit up the source link to watch it live later this afternoon.
With new privacy controls onboard, Google+ opens up to teens
The world's teenage population can pontificate from a new digital platform, now that Google+ has decided to open its doors to high schoolers. Google+ VP Bradley Horowitz made the announcement yesterday, confirming that anyone old enough to own a Google account can now join the social network. In most countries, that applies to anyone older than 13 (previously, Google+ had been restricted to the 18-and-over crowd). This expansion also introduces a new set of privacy controls for younger users, who will be warned every time they try to publish a public post, and can only be contacted by those in their immediate circles. If a teen joins a Hangout, moreover, he or she will only be able to receive audio and video from those in his or her circles. Find more at the link below.
The White House joins Google+, invites you to Hangout
President Obama may have been on Google+ since November, but the administration is now stepping up its presence on the social network even further in anticipation of next week's State of the Union address and the forthcoming presidential campaign. It now has an official White House Google+ page, where it plans to post the usual news, photos and videos, and also host regular Hangout video chats. There's no promises yet that the President himself will take part, but the White House says it will regularly have administration officials and policy experts take part in the conversations, which will also be streamed on YouTube and WhiteHouse.gov. Those interested can click the link below to add the page to their Circles.
Google+ app for iPhone updated to launch hangouts from Messenger
Do you use the video hangout feature of Google+ on a regular basis? If so, you might be happy to hear that you can now use your iPhone to join those video hangouts from the Google Messenger IM app. There's an update now available for the Google+ app that will give you the video love you crave. I was interested in the hangout capability, which arrived back in September, because there's a meeting I need to join into every week or so. That meeting takes place in a Google+ hangout, and up until this time I've been tied to either a desktop or laptop. Now if I'm out doing my daily exercise walk or lounging on a cruise ship, I can pull out my iPhone or iPad and join into the meetings. If nothing else, it should be fun to see if I can videoconference and walk at the same time. To join a hangout, you tap the Hang Out button while in a Messenger chat with others (see below -- and no, I am talking with Erica Sadun, that's not my name). You can do the same for hangouts announced in the Google+ stream. I tapped a large green Join The Hangout button and was talking to fellow blogger Kelly Hodgkin and her baby in seconds (see picture at right). We didn't try the hangout feature over 3G, but if any TUAW readers give it a try we'd like to hear how it works ... or doesn't.
