Google rivals Facebook with social networking suite

Google has announced a new social networking suite, dubbed Google+, which is set to compete with the likes of Facebook.

The trial application is currently available on the Android market and, at present, will only be accessible via an invite from Google.

"We'd like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests," Google explained in a blog.

The application will initially include the following features:

• +Circles – this allows users to create 'circles' of people that they would like to group together and share information with, such as friends, colleagues, family, etc.

• +Sparks – a feed of content will be streamed to Google+ on any topic the user selects, which then can be shared with your circles of friends.

• +Hangouts – live multi-person video has been enabled so that users can drop in and out of conferencing with circles of friends when they are available.

• +Mobile – to enhance the mobile experience, Google+ allows users to share their location in every post they send if they select to do so, and photos can also be instantly uploaded to private albums in the cloud.

Google claims that the application will be made available on Apple's App Store in the near future, and that users should be patient with the trial, as there are likely to be "some rough edges".