Google+ gets some tablet love and a bit of Event gloss

Google+ just got a makeover. It wasn’t the most dramatic one in history, but it did make the internet giant’s social effort seem a whole lot more appealing.

Like most makeovers, it was probably a long time in the making and the big reveal happened all at once. Unlike most makeover reveals though, the locations was a developers’ conference: Google I/O to be precise.

Stop! Tablet time!

Google+ has been available on smartphones for some time, but it’s never had a dedicated tablet app. Until today that it is.

Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra calls it “the best version of Google+ we’ve ever launched”.

Unlike your web-based Google+ stream, the one on the tablet app streams sideways.

Gondutra reckons that Hangouts on tablets, always one of Google+’s most high-profile features, comes with “a kind of intimacy you just don’t get on other devices”.

The Google+ app is available now for download on Android tablets.

iPad users though will have to wait a while. Google claims it will soon be available on the new iPad with retina content, but didn’t give a specific date.

Real-life sharing

The internet giant also announced an update to the whole Google+ experience, called Events.

According to Gundotra, the impetus for the new feature is the fact that “the substance of a real-world event is lost online” and that “today’s online tools bail when you need them the most”.

Events works on a before, during and after.

Before:

When you decide to create an event it will integrate with your own calendar and those of everyone you invite. You can also theme the invitation with a cinemagraphic. If you’re unsure what a cinemagraph is, think animated gifs but better.

If you get invited to event, it’ll appear on your stream. Hover over it when it’s there and the event unfolds, allowing you to check your schedule as well as a Google Maps image showing where the event is happening.

During:

This is cool and slightly disturbing all at once. During an event, people can engage “Party mode” on their phones (oh man, that name makes me cringe). Anyway, engage ‘party mode'(urgh) and the events landing page will allow you to see photos as they stream in real-time.

After:

Once you’ve disengaged “party mode” (sorry, I couldn’t help it) Google will put all the photos in one place in chronological order. When you hover over the photo, you get a picture of the guest who uploaded the photo.

You can also get an indication which photos were shared and commented on the most.