Google Unveils Google+

With cute names like "Circles," "Huddle," and "Sparks," Google hopes to go head-to-head with social networking giant Facebook.

Google Inc. unveiled another try at social networking on Wednesday with its new project, Google+. Google spent more than a year developing what it hopes to be a direct competitor with Facebook. A key difference with Google+ is a feature called "Circles," which allows users to share certain things with smaller groups of people - a nuance that Facebook has tried to address with its "Groups" feature. Another feature called "Sparks" will help make it easier for people to find and share content they like with friends. Google has been experimenting with social tools since 2009, devising, for instance, the troublesome Buzz and now-defunct Google Wave, but has had little success in such ventures. Currently, Google+ is an invitation-only "field trial," and the company declined to say when it will be made more widely available.