At its first Unpacked event of the year, Samsung talked extensively about the Gemini-driven AI capabilities on their phones. And for a moment, I was excited, until I came across a Google press release.
Of the two major features discussed on stage, one of them is already coming to Pixels, and the other one will be available on iPhones, Androids, and the desktop web.
Google just announced a host of changes for its Gemini assistant that truly push it in the agentic AI era. Let’s start with extensions, which essentially require an “@“ system (a la Workspace) in the chats to get a task done in the target app.
So, let’s say I tell Gemini “Say hi to Christina @WhatsApp,” it would send a text in the messaging app. For Google apps, you can even skip the extensions, as the AI will contextually default to the appropriate services such as Messages or Map.
Now, Gemini will be able to use multiple extensions in a single prompt. So, a command like “find me the nearest kebab house and send it to Drew” will get the job done across Maps and Messages.
This capability is already rolling across the Pixel 9 series smartphones. If you own a Samsung Galaxy S25 series phone, Gemini will dip into the data stored across Samsung’s own services, such as Calendar and Notes, as well.
Multi-extension support will eventually make its way to iOS, Android, and the web version of Gemini, as well.
Gemini Live, the conversational side of Gemini is also getting a major overhaul. So far, it has only been able to engage in audio conversations with users.
Now, users can also add images, YouTube videos, and local files to their conversations with Gemini Live. So far, this capability has been limited to text interactions with Gemini, or within the experimental NotebookLM tool.
This feature will appear on the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S25, and Google Pixel 9 series phones starting today.
In the coming weeks, screen sharing and live streaming capabilities will also make their way to Gemini. This is finally going to bring Google’s ambitious Project Astra system to smartphones.
Another fantastic update is the arrival of Deep Research in the Gemini mobile. Deep Research is the most practically rewarding Gemini product by a far margin, as it reimagines the entire internet search experience and presents information only from specified sources.
There are no risks of hallucinations, or the added stress of fact-checking, as long as you trust the sources of your information. But do keep in mind that you need a Gemini Advanced subscription to access it.
