The 10th edition of the tech giant Google’s annual meet “Google for India 2024” has recently concluded. In this meeting, Google has announced key updates for Gemini Live, AI Overview, Google Maps, and its UPI payment interface Google Pay targeting the world’s fastest-growing consumer market. Let’s take a look at what Google has to offer for India:
Gemini Live & AI Overview: Google has announced Hindi language support for Gemini Live and other 8 regional languages will be available in the near future. Presently, Gemini Live is available in English language only. As per Google India, 40 % of Indians use voice access Gemini Live, and the availability of regional language will offer ease of using Gemini Live through voice access. The search engine giant also announced expansion of AI Overview in Telegu, Tamil, Bengali and Marathi languages.
For Indian Businesses, Google announced AI updates enabling local artisans and merchant to use create videos of their product and provide description of their merchandise. Google India’s MD Roma Datta Chobey says “India’s AI fueled leap has the power to unlock economic value to the tune of 33 lakh crore by 2030. What’s more, it has the power to propel an entire generation of Indians towards escape velocity”.
Google India has determined three pillars for AI, progress of every individual, progress of India’s AI ecosystem and progress for the future. These pillars has become the main highlight of Google for India 2024.
Google Pay & Google Maps: Google announced that it has collaborated with the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to bring the UPI Circle feature to India. UPI Circle allows a primary bank account holder to add their family members to their circle on Google Pay, enabling them to facilitate transactions through the same bank account. Sharath Bulusu of Google Pay said “Google Pay has also collaborated with Muthoot Finance to provide Gold Loan to its users. He further stated, “People across India can now access this credit product, with affordable interest rate and exible usage options, delivering exibility to the borrower, and security to the lender”.
As per Google India, Google Maps has got an important update. Users will now get real-time weather updates through Google Maps and the facility to report and receive alerts on fog and road flooding. In addition, Google Maps is getting the highly anticipated AI summaries feature, which will display at the top a summary of all user ratings of any particular area.
Google Health: Senior director of Google’s global digital health and regulatory strategy, Bakul Patel takes the stage to talk about the company’s use of AI in health products. He claims “We want to marshall Google’s health solutions that will work for people in diverse settings and languages. Our most accurate heart rate sensor in the recently released Pixel Watch 3 uses AI to provide actionable insights for your fitness goals.”
Google Lens: It will allow users to do video searches and ask more sophisticated queries regarding moving objects. After analyzing the video, Google Search’s proprietary Gemini model will offer a useful AI Overview along with links to further information. With support for mobile English queries, this feature will soon be accessible to Search Labs users who are enrolled in the “AI Overviews and more” trial.
Google Play Protect: Google is upping the ante with a new pilot program that enhances Google Play Protect’s security features in an attempt to protect Android smartphones better. This campaign targets sideloaded apps or those downloaded from sources other than the official app stores, which are 95% of the time the ones committing financial fraud. Snighdha Bharadwaj, Director of Search & Generative AI Trust Strategy, Google stated “Google Play Protect to automatically scan and detect emerging threats. It has already identified 10 million malicious apps globally. We are soon piloting an enhanced fraud protection feature within Google Play Protect. If a user attempts to install an app from a file manager or messaging app or web browser that may access sensitive permissions, Google Play Protect will automatically block these apps.”
Other Key Announcements by Google:
- Google on 03 October 2024, in its 10th edition of Google for India program, has announced “AI Skill House” for AI literacy for 10 million Indians including students, civil officials, education instructors, job seekers and developers. The AI courses will be available on Youtube and the Google cloud skill boost program for free of cost.
- Google has announced partnership with the pioneer Adani Group and Clean Max to achieve its long term goal of sustainable green energy. These partnerships include the construction of three new power plants, a 61.4 MW hybrid solar-wind facility in Khavda, Gujarat, a 6 MW solar plant in Rajasthan, and a 59.4 MW wind plant in Karnataka.
- The choice to store customer data and perform machine learning processing for Gemini 1.5 Flash fully within India will be available to Indian organizations of all stripes. Bikram Bedi, Vice President & Country MD, Google Cloud India mentioned that certain tasks may be subject to legal restrictions to guarantee that sensitive information pertaining to Indian nationals remains within Indian borders.
- Google has announced that it will set up a Safety Engineering Centre in India.
- Six million people will be able to use ABHA ID cards using the Google Wallet app thanks to a cooperation with Eka Care. For ABHA ID holders to add or access their health ID in Google Wallet, they will need to authenticate themselves using a password or fingerprint.
Conclusion- India’s digital landscape has a bright future
As we end up our analysis of the big announcements from Google for India 2024, it’s apparent that the tech giant is strongly dedicated to upgrading the digital experience for millions of people across the country. We are seeing a revolutionary advance in AI with the introduction of multiple regional language support on Gemini Live and AI Overview, which will improve accessibility to information and streamline user interfaces. Meanwhile, several people and businesses should find life easier thanks to the enhancement like Gold Loan facility and UPI Circle on Google Pay and real-time weather updates & alert on Google Maps, which should simplify regular transactions and hassle free navigation.
Google is laying the groundwork for a more prosperous and connected future by emphasizing local languages, creating features specific to the Indian environment and concentrating on small enterprises.
It’s fascinating to consider how these developments may eventually impact our daily lives, propelling growth, encouraging innovation, and changing the digital economy as we look to the future. The dedication to local adaption and user-centric design implies that Google is a committed partner in India’s digital future, not merely a major participant on the international stage. Let’s see what happens next!
Call to Action: Lean Forward with Google for India 2024
Now is the ideal moment to interact with these tools announced by Google and see how they can benefit your everyday life as we enter this new era of innovation with Gemini Live, improved Google Pay features, enhanced Google Maps and many more.
- Dive into the world of real-time AI interactions with Gemini Live. Try out Gemini Live and discover how it may help you redefining the way you observe and obtain information. Contribute your thoughts and experiences to help define its future.
- Try and make the most of the enhanced features of the Google Pay app, whether you’re using it for regular transactions or money management. Remember to invite your loved ones to participate as well through the latest UPI Circle feature.
- Use Google Maps to navigate and take advantage of the most recent updates like real-time weather updates or alerts. Use these new features to make your navigation easier and more pleasurable, whether you’re traveling ,commuting to work, or finding hidden gems in your area.
- Learning is a continuous process. Participate in debates surrounding these developments and stay up to date with Google’s updates. Join community forums and post your thoughts on social media to keep the dialogue flowing.
- Become a Part of the Change by encouraging digital literacy in your neighborhood. To assist others in utilizing these technologies and enhancing their digital skills, provide information, advice and help other to get benefits of the digital changes.
