Gemini app finally expands to audio files

Google made three major updates to its Gemini-powered products on Monday: The Gemini app now accepts audio files; Search can handle five new languages; and NotebookLM creates reports in the form of blog posts, study guides, quizzes, and more. According to a Monday post on X by Josh Woodward, vice president of Google Labs and Gemini, audio file compatibility was the “#1 request” to the Gemini app. Free Gemini users max out at 10 minutes of audio, and five free prompts each day. AI Pro or AI Ultra users, meanwhile, can upload audio up to three hours in length. All Gemini prompts accommodate up to 10 files across various file formats, including within ZIP files. Additionally, Google Search’s AI Mode has rolled out five new language options: Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to the integration of Gemini 2.5 with Search, according to a company blog: “With this expansion, more people can now use AI Mode to ask complex questions in their preferred language, while exploring the web more deeply.” The Gemini-powered NotebookLM software is also getting an update in the form of new report styles in over 80 languages based on a user’s uploaded documents, files, and other media. (While the Gemini app is just now getting audio, NotebookLM already had that capability, positioning itself as a research tool that helps find patterns in files of different formats.) The standard report formats include study guides, briefing docs, and blog posts. Flashcards and quizzes are also included in the latest NotebookLM update. Users can choose the self-created format and adjust the structure, tone, and style of the report. The feature “should be 100%” available by the end of this week, according to a company comment to a post on X. Google has been on a dizzying spree of AI-related features in the past month. Gemini began automatically recalling user details and preferences from past conversations in August, the same month that free users gained access to Workspace’s video generation software Vids. In September, Photos upgraded to the latest video generation software Veo 3 and gave free users the ability to create silent 4-second long videos from their own personal, still pictures.