You may soon be able to use Gemini instead of Google Assistant on your headphones
Since its launch/rebrand last week, Google's been steadily adding updates to its newest iteration of its chatbot, Gemini. First came the rebrand from "Bard" to "Gemini," attempting to keep the branding more in line with the name of the LLM that runs it. Next, a paid subscription version came about as well as a mobile version with a dedicated app on Android that can double as your phone's assistant.
Now, it appears that Google might be working on an even bigger update to Gemini that changes how we use smart headphones. This was spotted by the folks over at 9to5Google when digging into the code of the latest beta version of the Google app on Android (version 15.6). Right now, invoking the virtual assistant on smart headphones such as the Pixel Buds, still brings up the Google Assistant — even if Gemini is set up as your default assistant on your smartphone.
However, hidden in the code is a strong indication that this may change soon. Although this has not been officially announced or hinted at by Google, the presence of a string described as "Gemini mobile app is working on expanding availability to make it accessible on your headphones" really tells us everything we need to know, except how Google plans to handle the integration.
How will this benefit us?
We can speculate that, with Gemini built into headphones, the listening experience could go next-level. Think hands-free, supercharged control – change tracks, playback controls, getting summaries of articles read to you, and even solving complex formulas while on the go.
It's still early days, but this could open up a whole new world of AI-powered sound and capabilities, like an EQ specifically suited to your listening habits, or the specific song you are listening to at the time. The possibilities could be endless and very fun to try out. Let's hope we don't have to wait very long to find out.
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