Google+ Hangouts is a free video chat service from Google that enables both one-on-one chats and group chats with up to ten people at a time. While somewhat similar to Skype, FaceTime and Facebook Video Chat, Google Hangouts focuses more on “face-to-face-to-face” group interaction as opposed to one-on-one video chats, and utilizes sophisticated technology to seamlessly switch the focus to the person currently chatting.
Google Hangouts can be accessed via laptop and desktop computers as well as with Android mobile devices (Android “Gingerbread” v2.3 and later) and, in the near future, iOS-powered mobile devices. In addition to video chatting, Google Hangouts users can share documents, scratchpads, images and YouTube videos with other users. Google+ Hangouts also offers a “Hangouts on Air” feature for broadcasting live video conversations that are accessible to anyone with a web browser.