How to try out Gemini on your Nest Audio or Nest mini smart speakers

We’ve been talking for a bit about the arrival of Gemini’s conversational abilities finally coming to the Google Assistant on smart speakers, and that roll-out looks to be happening now. It still requires opting in to the Home App’s public preview and enabling some experimental features, but some users are now getting the option to vocally interact with a much better version of the Google Assistant on the 2nd-gen Nest Mini and Nest Audio.

Google recently added a new support document that confirms the AI infusion. Thanks to Gemini, Google Assistant on smart speakers is getting a serious brainpower boost, allowing it to tackle a wider range of questions and dish out more detailed, AI-powered answers on all sorts of topics. My hope is that it feels a lot like the Gemini Live experience you get on your phone, just on a speaker instead.

How to try it for yourself

To access this Gemini-powered goodness, you’ll need to be part of the Google Home Public Preview program. Once that is enabled (just go to the Home App > Settings > Public Preview and opt-in), you’ll need to enable a separate “Experimental AI features” setting that Google is still keeping under wraps for most users. This is the same setting that controls other AI goodies like AI camera search and the “Help me create” feature, and I don’t have that particular toggle just yet. You can try it out and see if it shows up for you, but it is rolling out over time.

For now, the Gemini upgrade is exclusively for Nest Audio and the 2nd-gen Nest Mini. Sadly, Nest Hubs are left out at least for the time being. Oh, and you’ll also need to have Voice Match enabled. And one more thing: this AI upgrade is currently limited to English, available only in the US, and restricted to users 18 and older.

What you can do with Gemini on smart speakers

With Gemini on board, Google Assistant can gets a substantial (and very much needed) upgrade. You’ll have the ability to:

• Dive Deeper into Topics: Ask something like, “How large is the sun in relation to our solar system?” and prepare to be amazed by the depth of information it can provide about the universe both close to home and far into the reaches of space.
• Handle Follow-up Questions: No need to keep repeating “Hey Google” for every question. Just keep the conversation flowing naturally like you can with Gemini Live.
• Deal with Interruptions: If Google Assistant starts rambling, just jump in with a “Hey Google” and redirect the conversation or ask for more details.

New Voices

Besides the smarts, Gemini also brings some fresh voices to the table. Head over to your Google Home Settings > Google Assistant > Assistant voice & sounds and you should find some more natural-sounding voices to choose from. And to make sure you know when you’re getting the updated AI interactions, Google has added a distinct chime that will play before Google Assistant delivers a Gemini-powered answer.

While not 100% rolled out, the time for Gemini officially on the Nest Mini and Audio is finally here. If you have enrolled in the Public Preview, be on the lookout for those AI Experiments to arrive at any point. If you are like me, as soon as they show up, it’ll be time to start using the Google Assistant around the house a lot more often.

VIA: 9to5 Google