Diane Alter

No invite? No problem.

Google has opened its Google Plus social network to everyone after testing it with a limited audience for 12 weeks.

The biggest drawback for Google Plus following the 12-week launch was the limited number of users, unlike the millions on Facebook, which dominates the social networking arena.

Now that Google has opened up Google Plus to everyone, things are sure to change. There is no longer any waiting and no invitation is necessary.

When people visit Google's search page, they will notice a huge blue arrow in the upper left hand corner that points to where you can join.

Google also announced new features for its live video chats. Google Plus Hangouts can now be used to chat live, on video, from a mobile phone. It is part of the new Google Plus app rolling out Wednesday.

This new feature only works on Android 2.3 devices or higher.