Google+ Unveils Auto Awesome Movies & New Hangouts, Video & Photo Features

Google+ updates and enhancements announced today will make interactive media fans happy. The social network unveiled Auto Awesome Movies, upgrades to Google+ Hangouts and more.

This morning in a San Francisco warehouse Google had rented out for the occasion, the search and social giant unveiled new and upgraded features for Google+, their social networking platform. A blog post released to coincide with the event reveals details of the upgrade, which brought 18 more Google+ features.

Google+ Video Enhancements: Auto Awesome Movies

This announcement means a slew of photo and video upgrades, most available this week.

Google+ appears to be taking a run at the iMovies with improvements to Auto Awesome, which they promise “can help bring your story to life in many ways.” Auto Awesome Movies gives users the ability to have movies complete with effects, transitions and a soundtrack created automatically, using the photos from an album.

Other Auto Awesome Movies features include different styles and filters users can apply over the video with a swipe and finer controls for video length, soundtrack, etc.

Google+ Photo Enhancements

Some of the changes apply to Google+ photo editing and storage on the network, while others are within the Auto Awesome tool. On photos, Google+ upgrades include:

  • Full size backups and background sync for Google+ for iOS, to automatically upload photos as they’re taken.
  • Over 1000 new search terms to improve Google+ photo search, expanding upon the deep learning photo surfacing search unveiled at Google I/O.
  • The ability to dial auto enhancements up or down, or to exempt an album entirely.
  • HDR Scrape, a new setting as part of SnapSeed to allow users to control filters strength.
  • A new filter called Analog Efex Pro for the Nik collection (premium service, $149) of pro photo editing tools.

Auto Awesome upgrades for photos include:

Action- Create a strobe effect, animated GIF by recognizing a moving subject (like an athlete) and superimposing them over one background.

googleautoaction
Eraser- Take a series of images and Google+ will erase moving objects to give a cleaner image.

googleautoeraser

Google+ Hangout Upgrades & Features

One major improvement to Hangouts is the ability for broadcasters to schedule Hangouts on Air and promote them with a dedicated watch page. This is welcome news for marketers and other Hangout hosts everywhere. A Control Room now allows hosts to moderate the conversation on air with mute and eject buttons.

Hangouts for Android now supports location sharing and SMS, allowing users to send a map of their current location and send/receive texts without switching between apps. Animated GIFs will now play inline within Hangouts.

light-hangouts

Video calling controls enhancements mean they’ll appear full-screen across desktop and mobile, with automatic lighting and webcam adjustments. On Air improvements will roll out over the next few weeks, according to Google.

Google+ is Growing

In the presentation opening, Vic Gundotra, SVP at Google, shared recent Google+ statistics, including:

  • 1.5 billion photos are uploaded to Google+ each week.
  • Google+ has more than 300 million members.
  • 540 million people are active on the Google+ network each month; 300 million actively visit the Google+ social stream.

In closing, Gundotra wrote, “…the Google+ community is growing faster than we ever could have imagined. Today’s updates are our way of saying ‘thank you’ -we hope they save you time, and help you share your story.”

Watch the full A Morning with Google+ livestream recording below:

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior
Whitepaper | Mobile

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups
Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
Whitepaper | Digital Marketing

Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its peopl...

2y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

1m

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource