Google Plus has an Indian face behind it

Vic Gundotra is the man behind Google's new social networking project

You might have noticed your friends' mugshots popping up on your Gmail page of late and a black strip over the Google search page. These are subtle signs of Google rolling out a new social networking product, the search giant's answer to Facebook at last.

Google+, which the company released selectively on Tuesday, is meant to be more private, smarter, and at the same time more pervasive than other social networking sites. It could also be integrated with your mail, search and news functions.