Google a technology and journalism conference Thursday where it new features for Fusion Tables that give users more ways to explore and visualize large data sets.

One new feature provides a checklist from which users can select different subsets, or facets, of the data to see how they'll look when added in different combinations to a map or a chart. It has also added tabs that let users compare the different views they create to decide which is best.

Fusion Tables also has some new formats for displaying data, including a network graph for showing relationships in a social network, and a zoomable line chart.

There's also a new Fusion Tables API, available to "trusted testers," that can return data in JSON, so it's easier to manipulate with Javascript, and that allows tables, templates and map styles to be modified using RESTful programming. Users can sign up to try out the API .

The features have been added to the Experimental version of Fusion Tables. Information about the Experimental and Classic versions is .