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There's a reason why Google Gemini's feeling a lot more responsive
- Google says that Gemini 1.5 Flash has gotten 50% faster in the past few weeks.
- Gemini’s Google Tasks Extension is being spotted on Pixel 8 phones, after debuting with the Pixel 9.
- Expect the Tasks Extension to keep spreading to more Android devices.
Earlier this year, Google announced the next step for its Gemini generative AI system, with plans for Gemini 1.5 Flash, promising to not just be faster, but able to support more complex queries. And then a little over a month ago, Google started deploying Gemini 1.5 Flash to users around the globe, all for free. Even with that landmark release out, Google’s continued to enhance performance behind the scenes, and just shared an update on how blazingly fast Gemini is getting.
Google claims that over the last several weeks, it’s been able to improve the performance of Gemini 1.5 Flash responses to the point where they’re now up to 50% faster than before. The company doesn’t go into a ton of detail about specific changes that have led to that achievement, but does mention its efforts to reduce latency. While that sort of enhancement isn’t really necessary for Gemini to be successful, it can help with the illusion behind it a bit, making interactions feel more natural.
Another way that Gemini’s getting better is by its growing support for extensions. We’ve been looking forward to these improvements that will let Gemini work with a number of different Google apps and services, including Tasks. While the Pixel 9 arrived with the Tasks Extension right out of the box, we’d been wondering when we’d see it spread to additional devices. Over on Reddit, user Oldest_Rookie7 has spotted that deployment seems to now be underway, getting access on their Pixel 8. 9to5Google confirmed seeing it on the Pixel 8, as well, so while we’re not sure how wide or fast this expansion is going, it’s definitely underway.
Once you’ve got it on your phone, Google offers some tips on how to get the most out of Gemini’s Tasks Extension. Beyond just creating new reminders and tasks, you’ve got the full ability to modify existing tasks, and Gemini will use contextual cues from your conversation to make this all feel as natural as possible.
Let us know in the comments if you’ve had the opportunity to give Gemini’s Tasks integration a swing.