Google confirms plans for social features

 Google will begin the introduction of "layers" of social-networking features later this year, the company's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, has said.

Speaking at the Zeitgeist conference yesterday evening, Schmidt suggested that plans for a social network to rival the likes of Facebook – and now Apple's Ping – are further away than previously thought.

Schmidt told reporters: "We're trying to take Google's core products and add a social component."