Google is looking to improve a few of their services in the near future, and in this case: build a new one. Google+ has had a gaming center for a while now, whether or not it gets used as much as Google wants it to is another story. But now, rumor is that Google is looking to expand that into a full fledged Android Gaming hub.

Most likely taking a few cues from Apple’s Game Center, users will be able to read leaderboards with friend’s scores and battle against them to try and beat their numbers and times. Since it’s heading towards social it would be only obvious to use Google+ as a center of all this. Could we hear more about this when we learn about the Nexus tablet later this year? We’re gonna have to wait and keep a look out.

Via: Phandroid

Google+ for iOS users received a major overhaul today, but poor Android users won’t see the newest version for at least a few more weeks. With the new update, users will see a completely redone user experience and Google’s goal is to basically simplify and beautify Google+. They released a statement that sums it up best:

To be clear, we’re not interested in a mobile or social experience that’s just smaller. We’re embracing the sensor-rich smartphone (with its touchable screen and high-density display), and transforming Google+ into something more intimate, and more expressive.

Well, Android users are going to have to be patient and wait for their turn. Most likely realizing that this is a lot to ask of an Android owner, Google says there will be a few “extra surprises” in the Android version. Thanks, Google.

Via: Google+

Over the course of the coming week, Google+ is going to be turning on a new feature that will make commenting and “+1′ing” content a total breeze. When you receive an email notification about your friend’s activity, you can comment and share a laugh straight from your inbox in real time. No more dragging your eyes over to the Google+ site to see what’s happening.

We’re now making Google+ notification emails in Gmail completely interactive:

• You can view, comment on, and +1 posts from inside your inbox
• Your comments appear in the Google+ stream in real-time, and
• Responses from others instantly appear in Gmail, as part of the notification message
• Reply to notifications from your mobile device

This should definitely make using Google+ a bit more easy for folks still using it.

Via: Google+

Google is beginning to roll-out Hangouts on Air to all of their Google+ users over the upcoming weeks. With Hangouts on Air, you can live broadcast your Hangouts to as many people as you like through your blog with embeddable videos or even streaming from your YouTube channel. Once done streaming, your footage is then saved and uploaded to YouTube for later viewing by the masses.

Features:

• Broadcast publicly. By checking “Enable Hangouts On Air,” you can broadcast your live hangout—from the Google+ stream, your YouTube channel or your website—to the entire world.
• See how many viewers you’ve got. During your broadcast, you can look inside the hangout to see how many people are watching live.
• Record and re-share. Once you’re off the air, we’ll upload a public recording to your YouTube channel, and to your original Google+ post. This way it’s easy to share and discuss your broadcast after it’s over.

You can plan on DL to start taking advantage of this and doing some live unboxings as soon as it’s made available for us.

Via: Google

Social media platforms have essentially taken over the world in the last few years. Almost everyone you know has probably been on Facebook at some point, but the reach of services like Twitter and Google+ seems to be growing by the second as well. They are a way for you to reconnect with long lost friends, get closer to your current group, share your life, find news (or deals or happenings), and more. While some still try their hardest to avoid them, we want to know which of them you use the most. Is it still Facebook? Are you a master of all things Twitter? Or have you shunned the old standards for something new?

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Google Drive – Google’s Dropbox-ish cloud storage service – made its first public appearance today through an Android developers Hangout on Google+. While showing off the sharing capabilities of an app in review, the option to share with “Drive” was included in the list. The triangular logo matches the one that we have seen leaked in the past, giving a bit of strength to the rumor that this service could launch next week. This isn’t a full confirmation of that, but it certainly helps back the idea that the app is working on phones and getting closer to prime time.

The video was live for only a few minutes and has since been pulled. We posted it for you below in case it goes live again. 

Google+ is still at it, with more than 170 million users, there appears to be no slowing on the innovation and change fronts. Late last night, a new UI started to rollout to users, bringing with it a more fluid layout with an application ribbon, bigger and more beautiful photo and sharing experiences, easier to find activities and content, a better home for Hangouts, and more. I will say for the first time since the service launched, that this new UI actually makes sense and has me itching to try to include it in my ever-increasing list of social services.

The preview video below gives you a nice look at what’s new, but we suggest you head over to G+ yourself and decide if this new layout works for you.