New: Know When Your Sent Emails Are Read!

Used to facilitate group video chat (with a maximum of 10 people participating in a single Hangout at any point of time). However, anyone on the web could potentially join the 'Hangout' if they happen to possess the unique URL of the Hangout.

To find Hangouts in your Circles. right now, the best way to do this is to hit the “Start a hangout” link. Clicking it opens up a chat window where you can check your mic and choose who will be able to join the hangout (either by inviting individuals or sharing it with your circles). Once the hangout is live, your friends will see the hangout prompt in their stream. They can then join the hangout until a maximum of ten people have joined. (If there are any live hangouts that have been announced to you, it'll show there, and give you a way to jump over to them.)

Once you’re in a hangout, you will notice a couple of things. First, you will notice that the video switches from person to person based on who is talking into the microphone. You can hover over a person’s video feed and either report them for abuse or “mute” them. Muting someone will mute them for everybody in the hangout, at least until he or she unmutes his or her mic. Users can also mute their video if they wish.

Google+ Hangouts also comes with a group text chat feature (similar to Google Talk).The settings lets you adjust the mic, camera and other video settings.

Hangouts mimic the decision to walk over and “hangout” with friends and family online. Unlike standard video conference applications where all participants are shown in different windows, Hangouts displays the video of the person speaking and will alternate the video as different people join the conversation.