Gemini Nano Will Be Coming To The Google Pixel 8, Contrary To Google’s Initial Claims
Earlier this month, Google announced that it would be releasing its lightweight Gemini Nano model for Android phones and that it would be coming to the Pixel 8 Pro. However, they claimed that it wouldn’t be coming to the regular Pixel 8 (despite the fact that they run on the same Tensor G3 chipset) because of “hardware limitations.”
We reported on Google’s former tune and are happy to tell all Pixel 8 owners that Google has backtracked on that initial claim. That’s right; after all, Gemini Nano will be coming to the vanilla Google Pixel 8. To be honest, it was hard to understand what hardware limitations would have stopped the Pixel 8 from adopting Gemini Nano. Sure, it has 8GB of RAM versus 12GB in the 8 Pro, but 8GB isn’t exactly small, especially since the vanilla Galaxy S24 has the same amount of RAM and supports Gemini Nano perfectly fine.
Either something else was going on, or Google devs went to work to figure out how to get Gemini Nano running on less RAM than they thought it could manage. Their official statement on the matter was:
We’ve seen a lot of excitement from users and developers since Pixel 8 Pro became the first smartphone to get Gemini Nano last year. Running large language models on phones with different memory specs can deliver different user experiences, so we have been testing and validating this on Pixel 8. We’re excited to provide the opportunity for more enthusiasts and developers to try out Gemini Nano, where we hope to get more feedback and see more innovation.
Either way, it’ll grace the Google Pixel 8 when Android 14 QPR3 (AKA the next Pixel Feature Drop) comes around, which is expected in June.
What Will Gemini Nano Bring To The Google Pixel 8?
As a Google Pixel 8 user (or the owner of any device that may get Gemini Nano in the future), you might be wondering exactly why you should be so hyped about this large-language model coming to a smartphone near you.
Well, AI can make life easier for you, and there are two major ways that Gemini Nano can currently do this. The first is that it will be able to provide you AI-generated summaries of voice recordings. So, if you record meetings, lectures, or interviews, you won’t need to scour through the entire voice recording to get the gist of it.
You’ll also get something called Gboard Smart Reply, which is great for people who use Google’s first-party keyboard (I’m more of a SwiftKey guy). What this can do is generate smart replies that align with conversational context. The Pixel 8 Pro has this feature in several messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Line.
