Google rebrands Bard AI to Gemini & Started rolling out the changes

Google has now rebranded Bard AI chatbot app to Gemini. The fun didn’t stop there, Google also went ahead and released plenty of features to make Gemini or formerly known as Bard more stronger and reliable for people.

This article will feed you everything you need to know about the new Gemini app and how its new resurrection will help you and your work in the future.

A little bit of history behind “The Gemini era”

Bard got released to the public eye in the month of February 2023 after seeing ChatGPT blowing up the internet. 

The popularity of ChatGPT made Bard possible to come to the surface. In the March of 2023, we finally got to see the Bard coming alive for the first time. It was just a web application that had a text box with a disclaimer that states ‘May display inaccurate or offensive information that doesn’t represent Google’s views’.

After the launch, we saw google using the team behind Google Assistant and Virtual Assistant to put more work into improving Bard. In the last few months we saw Bard receiving a handful of updates such as adoption of Palm 2, implementation of other google products, supporting more languages, expanding to 180 countries, and more.

 This was new, as bard was never mentioned in any of the previous events, updating bard ensured people that google is putting their faith behind the product.

Google rebrands Bard AI to Gemini

Just a few hours ago, Google changed the name of their AI chatbot to Gemini. During the fourth quarter of 2023, Google did make an announcement of releasing Gemini, as they made it clear that this new AI bot will have a more powerful LLM than on Bard and a statement – “Largest and most capable AI model”.

Google also went ahead and packed all the Duet AI features in Google Workspace into the new, freshly created Gemini brand. The new brand is active and now can be seen in the cover photo of Google.

What is new with Gemini?

Google has a history of coming with different names for their product that might have nothing in common with the basic purpose of the app. Gemini is not just a name changer for the sake of being different in the competitive space of AI market, Google has released a lot of features to make the Gemini the best in the business. 

How can you use Gemini?

Everything here is automatic, you don’t have to manually do anything to activate Gemini on your phone. If you own an Android device, now you can change the assistant of your device to Gemini. Don’t worry, the Google Assistant will still be there for you, if you want to revert it back from Gemini. 

It seems like Google is not planning to remove the Assistant altogether from the phone. But with the release of Gemini, now we know where they are setting their new priorities. When you look at the report, it is clear, Gemini will get the most amount of attention from Google.

About the improvements to Gemini, Sissie Hsaio has this to say –

“I think it’s a super improvement first step towards building a true AI assistant. One that is conversational. It’s multimodal, and it’s more helpful than ever before.”

Sissie Hsaio

What is new with the Gemini App for android?

Just download the Gemini app on your phone, and you will see a new overlay that will offer more convenient access to Gemini. Not to worry, any of the google assistants that you are probably used to will still be available on Gemini. 

You might miss out on some Google Assistant features on Gemini, but google is working on implementing more features on Gemini moving forward.

Can you use Gemini on iOS?

Sad news to the apple fans, Google has not launched any dedicated app for Gemini on iOS devices. But it’s not all sad and gloomy here, the company is planning to roll out Gemini from the Google app within a few weeks. It’s now available for you to try it out but the full picture will get accessible in the next coming weeks. 

There is a road plan for Gemini going forward.

In the next week, every Gemini user will have more options in the languages (Japanese and Korean). Google also said to release more language support within the next few weeks for Gemini.

Price plan for Gemini

The rebranding of the Bard didn’t just stop with the name and features, we also got to see the pricing structure for Gemini. Google has announced different variations of the Gemini model. Now, users have the option to select between Gemini (Standard edition) and Gemini Ultra.

Gemini standard –

Basically a free version of Gemini, as it comes with Pro 1.0 model and it’s compatible with all the other google apps that you know to come and love.

Gemini Advanced –

A premium model that comes with a Ultra 1.0 model titled ‘Google’s most capable AI model’. Gemini advanced will soon get implemented in Gmail, Docs, and many of the used products in the Google family. You are also getting a huge 2 TB storage and a number of benefits for Google One.

What is the future for Gemini?

There is a road plan set up to further support and strengthen Gemini as one of the best chatbot apps in the world. 

Gemini feels like a game changer, as google has now moved away from the traditional google signature Search feature to Gemini. Which is a major change, as the Google Search has always been the iconic feature going back to its day of Google’s android infancy.

The move from Search to Gemini shows you the support Google has behind Gemini. They have laid out many plans for Gemini and we will see them when they come to fruition.

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