It’s been circling that Google aimed to rebrand Google Bard to a new name, eventually becoming Google Gemini. The new direction would properly encompass the company’s overall service with a more dramatic name and deeper AI experience.
Google Gemini includes what the company calls an entire ecosystem of AI solutions. With it comes a new app for mobile devices that allows the user to replace Google Assistant with Google Gemini as their digital assistant (currently optional). Something the company has been pushing for since last year (something you will see happen with other services like Amazon Alexa as other companies follow suit with their own AI solutions).
The company has also introduced Gemini Advanced with its Ultra 1.0 model. With it comes a much deeper AI interaction that feels more personable and can even remember past conversations. It can act as your tutor, assist with advanced coding scenarios, and even analyze recent trends to help with brainstorming for projects. Unlike basic Gemini, though, it does require a subscription via the “Google One AI Premium plan” ($20/mo).
Google is pushing hard to keep pace with Microsoft’s Copilot for both consumers and professional users alike. Giving users options beyond what Copilot has been offering thus far.
It will be interesting to see how well Gemini performs in place of Google Assistant. How simple conversations will be compared to chatting with Google Bard via text (which can be overwhelming with information vs the simple responses you get from talking to a digital assistant). It will also be interesting to see how long it takes to make its way to Google Nest/Home speakers.
Android users will be downloading the Google Gemini app to check out the new AI experience, while iOS users will see the features built into the main Google app as a consolidated solution.
