Google+ Hangouts API

A couple months ago, Google launched face-to-face-to-face communication in Google+ hangouts. The new component has been adopted for so many uses--from game shows to teaching seminars. Such real-time applications are gaining traction in the social media realm, and we expect to see more resources dedicated to real-time and face-to-face-to-face communication applications within social websites.

Google may fuel their growth with a recent launch of Developer Preview of the Hangouts API. This new element of the Google+ platform allows web developers to build real-time applications on top of the platform. The Developer Preview allows you to control your application's usage--for example you can control who on your team can load the application in their hangout. Another exciting feature is the "shared state" component of the tool, which allows for overview of all instances of your application. This early version of the API shows a lot of promise--looking forward to future rollouts.