Artificial intelligence fans, you’d better sit down for this because Google just gave its AI product a big rebrand, all centered around Gemini. After all, Google Gemini is Google’s best answer to ChatGPT, so it’s not a surprise to see Google want to forget all about Bard and Duet AI. These brands are going to be replaced by Google Gemini across the board, including on desktop and mobile devices. Google SGE is not going to be part of the Gemini rebrand, however.
On that note, Google will have a Gemini app ready for Android, though the iPhone isn’t getting one just yet. But Gemini will be available in iOS via the Google app, and you can of course use it in Safari.
More importantly, Google is bringing its best Gemini experience to users who are ready to pay for premium features. And it’s happening in the best way possible: a Gemini Advanced subscription will be bundled with Google One. That’s certainly a better deal than ChatGPT Plus.
These seem like the kind of announcements Google would make at I/O. But Google clearly doesn’t want to wait until May for this big Bard upgrade.
The Gemini Advanced experience
If you’ve been using Bard for your ChatGPT-type experiences, nothing will change for you but the name. Google will call it Gemini everywhere. The Pro 1.0 model will power the experience in 40 languages and more than 230 countries.
Meanwhile, Gemini Advanced is a new premium Google AI experience that runs on Google’s “largest and most capable state-of-the-art AI model.” Google says that Gemini Advanced is “the most preferred chatbot compared to leading alternatives.” That’s according to blind tests involving unnamed third-party testers.
Here are some of the things Gemini Advanced can do, in addition to holding longer, more detailed conversations and understanding context better:
Gemini Advanced can be your personal tutor — creating step-by-step instructions, sample quizzes or back-and-forth discussions tailored to your learning style.
It can help you with more advanced coding scenarios, serving as a sounding board for ideas and helping you evaluate different coding approaches.
It can help digital creators go from idea to creation by generating fresh content, analyzing recent trends, and brainstorming improved ways to grow their audiences.
Gemini Advanced also supports multimodal input, “more interactive coding features,” and “deeper data analysis capabilities.” The new AI app will be available in more than 150 countries and territories in English. More languages will be available in time. The EU is part of the rollout.
Gemini Advanced will not be free to use, of course. It’ll be available as part of Google’s new One AI Premium plan that costs $19.99 per month. The price matches ChatGPT Plus, but you get 2TB of storage in addition to Google’s best possible ChatGPT rival. There’s also a free two-month trial, which is more than enough time to see if it’s worthwhile for you.
Back to the rebrand, the current Duet AI features you might encounter in Google apps (Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and others) will also be known as Gemini. According to Google’s blog post, they’ll be part of the Gemini Advanced experience.
The new Google Gemini app
Google decided to give Gemini a new home on Android via a new app. Google says Gemini is a “new kind of assistant” that relies on generative AI to “collaborate with you” and help you get things done.
You can use Gemini via this new app or directly through Google Assistant. That is, Gemini will become your new Google Assistant if you opt in.
Gemini will respond to “Hey Google” prompts or when you invoke the assistant via the phone’s buttons. Here’s how Google describes the new Gemini-powered experience:
This will enable a new overlay experience that offers easy access to Gemini as well as contextual help right on your screen — so you can, for instance, generate a caption for a picture you’ve just taken or ask questions about an article you’re reading. Many Google Assistant voice features will be available through the Gemini app — including setting timers, making calls and controlling your smart home devices — and we’re working to support more in the future.
iPhone users have no such luck, however. Gemini will be available via the Google app in the coming weeks. That’s where you’ll be able to chat with Gemini on iPhone.
Google will start rolling out the Gemini mobile experience on Thursday, with English being the main language. Support for Japanese, Korean, and other languages will follow.
