Google+ Gets New Features, Comes to Google Apps

Google+ is now available to Google Apps users, the company announced Oct. 27, and several other new features are live, including the Creative Kit photo options. In addition to sharing publicly or with your circles, Google Apps users also have the option to share with everyone in their organization, even if all of those people haven't been added to a circle.

Hangouts with extras, which combines multi-person video chat with screen sharing and collaboration in Google Docs, lets you work together on projects even when people can't be in the same room.

They've even added a migration tool to move content from a personal Google account to a Google Apps account. With this tool, you don't have to rebuild your circles, and people who've already added you to their circles will automatically be connected to your new profile. It's not ready yet, but should be in a few weeks, Ronald Ho, Google Apps project manager said in a blog post.

Additionally, Google+ Creative Kit makes advanced edits to your photos. Add a vintage feel to your photos, a la Instagram. It allows sharpening, adding text and limited-edition Halloween effects. They've even started a photo competition for the Halloween effects. Through the end of October, share your Halloween edits publicly on Google+ with the hashtag #gplushalloween. Google will assemble a surprise panel of celebrities, and on Nov. 3, they'll announce their favorites.

Google alos added a unique visualization tool so people can see how their content gets shared. For that, find a public post that interests you, and select View Ripples. Ripples allow you to replay its activity, zoom in on certain events and identify top contributors among other things.

Finally, Google also unveiled What's Hot, a new area that appears just below your new posts in Google+ and a new menu item on the right side of the interface. The feature's designed to help Google+ users weed through the billions of posts added to the service each day. Google promised that What's Hot isn't just the same old faces, we do our best to provide a variety of posts.

Below is a video of the Ripple visualization. Tell us in the comments if you are into Google+ yet or if you're sticking with Facebook.