Google for India 2024: Gemini Live now in Hindi, weather alerts on Google Maps, and more

Today, the company announced several new features and updates for Indian users at the Google for India 2024 event. Its AI voice assistant, Gemini Live, was recently rolled out to Android users free of charge. Google has added Hindi support to Gemini Live and promises to add more languages soon. Google Maps has also added real-time weather alerts. More announcements include gold loans on Gpay, a new AI Skills House, and more.

Let’s look at the top announcements made by Google India.

Gemini Live in Hindi

You can now get hands on with Gemini Live in Hindi, which is a new addition to AI voice assistants. You will have to first download the app from Google Play Store. Soon, Google will support eight more Indian languages: Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, and Urdu.

Weather alerts on Google Maps

Now, you can get real-time weather updates in Google Maps. Users will be able to report weather conditions like fog and flooding caused by heavy rains on Maps. The data collection will be based on user reports. Google will also start showing quick summaries of restaurants, hotels, and other places on Maps.

Gold loans on Google Pay

Google will be launching gold-backed loans on Gpay in collaboration with Muthoot Finance. These loans are said to be available at competitive interest rates, flexible, and most importantly securing for the lender. Google is also collaborating with Aditya Birla Finance Limited to help the users avail of services of personal loan on Gpay. And there is the Gemini-powered support guide explaining everything about loan-taking, process, and how the repayment scheme will eventually work out.

New Features in Google Play Protect: Enhanced Fraud Protection

Google announced a new feature called ‘Enhanced Fraud Protection’ for the Indian market. It would first be released here and would be a part of Google Play Protect. This is to prevent the sideloaded apps on android apps. Enhanced fraud protection will alert about the detected app installations which belong to third-party sources that often request access to permissions commonly exploited by fraudsters in financial frauds.

Google also said that it is launching the Safety Engineering Centre in India, which will be operational in 2025. It will work towards protecting users against dangers of Internet scams and frauds; support enterprise and government security; and continue to drive safety engineering capabilities globally. This year, it also plans to offer flagship AI courses to individuals in India through ‘AI Skills House’. Free, in English, as well as seven Indian languages, people taking courses get a badge once they finish a course.