Google+ Opens to the Public

After Google Wave and Google Buzz, Google's really, REALLY hoping the third time's a charm.

Google+ is now open to anyone who didn't have any friends, relatives, or even casual acquaintances who could have invited them to the beta version of the new social network. Google's latest foray into the social media world has already garnered somewhere in the neighbourhood of 25 million users, and some analysts predict it could surpass Twitter and LinkedIn as far as users go by the end of the year. (Not Facebook, though, as Google+ is still 725 million or so users short of their audience.) In addition to taking Google+ public, Google has integrated their search engine into the site and has made the "Hangouts" feature, in which up to nine people can chat via text or video, available on mobile phones.