Google Plus' Hangouts On Air is now available publicly (Image: via blog.hubze.com)

Google Plus opens Hangouts On Air to the public. Now anyone that owns a webcam can stream live video broadcasts to the Internet.

Hangouts On Air was already out as early as September of last year, but that time only a few Google Plus users were allowed to use it, most of them celebrities. Now available to the public, Hangouts On Air may be the most innovative and unique feature in Google Plus.

On your Google Plus profile, click on Start a Hangout, invite people to join, give your hangout a name, and click Enable Hangouts On Air. First-time users need to agree to legal terms and conditions and connect their YouTube accounts.

After clicking Hangout, you can adjust your camera angle and lighting before broadcasting. Once your video starts, it streams live in your Google Plus account, YouTube account, or even in your blog if you choose to embed it there.

Viewers can see the Hangout, but they can only watch and listen. That keeps everything in order, since it gets confusing when everyone gets to mic out their opinions. However, at most nine other video chatters you invited to your hangout can be heard, and you can even make the main screen stay on either one of them by clicking on their video thumbnails below the Hangout page.

When your broadcasting session ends, a recording of your video is saved and publicly posted. For now, Hangouts On Air is a desktop product.

With Google Plus’ Hangouts On Air, all you need is a microphone, webcam, and a good internet connection to start your own broadcast.

About Neal Alfie Lasta

I enjoy learning and writing about social media and the latest in mobile updates.