Google is working to incorporate its impressive NotebookLM technology into its Gemini app on Android. This would allow you to turn PDFs into podcasts at the click of a button, giving you a new way to interact with your content.
Android Authority spotted the update in the latest beta of the Gemini app. It includes strings that suggest generating audio and labeling it as a podcast prompt.
NotebookLM was launched in July last year, but its most popular feature, audio overviews, was only added in October this year. It lets users create a podcast with two human-like hosts discussing the notebook's content.
The beta version doesn't currently create a podcast from a PDF, but the code suggests it is coming soon. Android Authority managed to get a hint of it working, but only in a text preview, not an audio overview.
How will NotebookLM work in Gemini?
𝙂𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙋𝘿𝙁𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨NotebookLM's Audio Overviews are coming to Gemini on your phone.✅ Details - https://t.co/obKPPwXW4s#AI #Google #Android #NotebookLM pic.twitter.com/QqmUF6L4IKDecember 3, 2024
The exact details aren't clear as the details come from three lines of code in the beta release of the Gemini app, but it suggests that it will be a simple prompt with an attached PDF. This simply adds audio to the existing PDF description capability.
Once fully implemented it is likely Gemini will offer up the option to create an Audio Overview if you submit the right type of content — such as a PDF report or research paper.
It will process the data and produce a podcast. It could also be a voice-based analysis rather than a two-person discussion.
This is a logical addition to Gemini given the success of NotebookLM's podcasting feature and the increasing competition in the space. ElevenLabs announced its own podcast feature GenFM in the Reader app last week.
I could see something along the lines of NotebookLM being incorporated more widely into the Gemini Gems feature. This is where you can create customized versions of Gemini on your data and for a specific use-case. Having an audio overview, regularly updated on your Gems discussion would be a useful add-on.
