Google has announced the launch of Gemini Live, a new AI-powered conversational experience for Android devices. Unveiled at the Made by Google 2024 event, this update aims to make interactions with AI assistants feel more natural and human-like.

Key Features of Gemini Live

• Interruption and Topic Switching: Users can interrupt or change topics mid-conversation, simulating a more natural dialogue.
• Multitasking Capabilities: Gemini Live can talk and complete tasks simultaneously, currently available to Gemini Advanced subscribers on Android.
• Expanded Context Window: The AI has improved memory for longer conversations compared to competitors like ChatGPT's Voice Mode.
• Customizable Voices: Ten new voice options are available, offering varying styles and more emotionally expressive interactions.
• Hands-Free Operation: Gemini Live works in the background or when the phone is locked.

Gemini Live running on a Google Pixel 9, showcasing its user-friendly and modern interface

Integration with Google Ecosystem

Google is expanding Gemini's functionality across its suite of apps and services:

• Upcoming extensions for Google Keep, Tasks, and YouTube Music
• Calendar integration for event planning and reminders
• Ability to ask questions about YouTube videos and screen content
• Drag-and-drop functionality for AI-generated images into Gmail and Google Messages

AI Overview interface offering interactive elements within the Google ecosystem

Availability and Future Plans

Gemini Live is currently rolling out to Gemini Advanced subscribers in English on Android devices, with iOS support coming soon. Google plans to focus on speed and quality improvements in the coming months, along with deeper integrations for Google Home, Phone, and Messages.

While visual processing capabilities showcased at Google I/O 2024 are not yet available, they remain on the horizon, promising to further expand Gemini Live's utility by allowing it to interact with users' surroundings through photos and video.

As Google continues to integrate Gemini into various aspects of users' digital lives, the company's vision appears to be moving towards an ever-present AI assistant, ready for continuous conversation and task completion.

Update: Tuesday August 13 19:58

Gemini Live is currently available to English-speaking Android users subscribed to Gemini Advanced, which is part of the Google One AI Premium plan priced at $19.99 per month. The newly launched Pixel Buds Pro 2 offers deeper integration with Gemini Live, allowing users to activate the AI using the Hey Google wake word, even when their phone is locked and in their pocket. This feature requires a Pixel phone for full hands-free functionality. Early impressions of Gemini Live have been largely positive, with tech journalists noting its ability to engage in complex conversations and provide meaningful answers on a wide range of topics. However, some users have reported feeling awkward interrupting the AI due to its human-like conversational style.

Update: Wednesday August 14 13:20

Google has also announced 'Research with Gemini', an AI-powered research assistant feature set to launch in the coming months. This tool aims to streamline online research by creating multi-step research plans, scouring the web for information, and synthesizing findings into organized reports in Google Docs. While promising significant time-saving benefits, the feature will initially be limited to Gemini Advanced subscribers and may face challenges related to information accuracy and bias. This development further showcases Google's commitment to expanding AI capabilities across its ecosystem, potentially transforming how users interact with and process online information.

Update: Thursday August 15 11:20

Gemini Live's rollout will be gradual, taking place over several weeks. Even eligible users may not have immediate access to the feature. To try Gemini Live, users can sign up for a one-month free trial of the Google One AI Premium Plan, priced at $20 per month after the trial period. Alternatively, purchasing the new Pixel Pro 9 includes access to Gemini Advanced for the first year at no additional cost. At launch, Gemini Live offers audio-only functionality, with multimodal capabilities including AI view through the phone's camera planned for later this year. Unlike OpenAI's Advanced Voice feature, Gemini Live still requires speech-to-text conversion for processing user inputs.

Update: Thursday August 15 13:53

Google has launched its new Pixel 9 series, aiming to increase its global smartphone market share and challenge industry leaders. The lineup includes the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the innovative Pixel 9 Pro Fold, all featuring Gemini AI as the default assistant. This strategic move replaces the traditional Google Assistant and positions Gemini as a core feature of the Pixel experience. The Pixel 9 series will be released in 32 markets worldwide, targeting double-digit growth in market share. By launching ahead of Apple's iPhone 16 series, Google hopes to gain an advantage during the upcoming holiday shopping season. The success of this launch could be pivotal for Google's standing in the increasingly competitive global smartphone market, which saw a 7.6% year-over-year increase in Q2 2024.

Update: Thursday August 15 15:06

Google is expanding its AI-powered search feature, AI Overviews, to six new countries: the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil. The feature will support local languages in each country. Google is also redesigning how AI Overviews presents citations and source links, including a new right-side panel displaying relevant webpages and experimental inline links within AI-generated text. For users opted into Search Labs, Google is testing additional capabilities such as a save function and a simplify button. These updates aim to improve publisher visibility, drive more traffic to original content sources, and enhance the overall user experience of AI-generated search summaries on a global scale.

Update: Thursday August 15 19:11

Google has updated its Gemini AI app to support Google Assistant routines, addressing a major user complaint since the app's February launch. However, this feature comes with limitations. Users can activate routines by saying "start [routine name]" within the Gemini app, but not all routine starters and actions are supported. Typed commands, scheduled times, location-based activation, home screen shortcuts, and certain actions like playing music or sharing fitness data are currently unavailable. This update, despite its restrictions, represents Google's ongoing efforts to integrate AI more deeply into its ecosystem, potentially helping the company compete more effectively against rivals like Apple and Samsung in the AI-assisted task management space.

The Google Gemini Routine menu, highlighting its user-friendly design for managing daily tasks