Google upgraded Gemini to expand its global accessibility
Google recently upgraded the Gemini chatbot service. The mobile app and Google Assistant opt-in are available in over 100 countries and territories in nine major languages. Gemini can also be prompted from the Chrome address bar, and Extensions works for all the languages supported by the models.
After Google rebranded the Bard chatbot to Gemini, the company announced that, while access for iOS users was limited to the Google standalone app, Android users could access the chatbot by downloading the standalone app or opting in via Google Assistant. The latter strategy would make the chatbot accessible through the same channels as the Assistant: pressing the power button, corner-swiping, or saying 'Hey Google'. In both cases, Gemini became available for US English-speaking users, with Japanese and Korean availability upcoming.
Now, a little under three months later, Google has announced the availability of the Gemini chatbot experience in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. Most importantly, the global availability of the Gemini via the mobile app and Google Assistant has been expanded to over 100 countries and territories, with the notable exception of the UK and the European Union.
Another important upgrade to the Gemini chatbot is that it can now be prompted from the Chrome address bar. Users need only type '@gemini' to signal they are prompting the chatbot, followed by the prompt. Then upon pressing Enter, they can expect to be automatically redirected to their response on the Gemini web experience. Gemini's Extensions, the service that enables the Gemini apps to interact with other Google apps and services to provide more useful answers, also received an upgrade. The Extensions feature can now retrieve information from the Google apps and services in the 40+ languages supported by the Gemini models.
