Gemini adds notebooks

Google is folding NotebookLM-style notebooks into Gemini, giving the app a persistent place for files, chats and instructions instead of one-off conversations. (blog.google) Google said on April 8 that notebooks in Gemini are “personal knowledge bases” shared with NotebookLM, and that users can move old chats into a notebook, add PDFs and other files, and set custom instructions for how Gemini should respond. (blog.google) The first rollout is limited: Google AI Ultra, Pro and Plus subscribers on the web get access first, while mobile, more European countries and free users are slated to follow in the coming weeks. (blog.google) (9to5google.com) A notebook works like a project folder with memory. Gemini can answer from the sources inside it, while NotebookLM can use the same material for features such as Video Overviews and infographics because the sources sync both ways. (blog.google) That changes what Gemini is for inside Google’s product lineup. NotebookLM had already been added as a source in Gemini late last year, and this update moves the two closer to a shared workspace rather than separate tools. (blog.google) (9to5google.com) Google is also pushing Gemini deeper into creation work through Canvas, where the app can generate slide presentations from a prompt or uploaded source and then export them to Google Slides for editing and collaboration. (workspaceupdates.googleblog.com) (support.google.com) For developers, Google’s current Gemini API setup starts new accounts on a free tier, with API keys available through Google AI Studio and no billing account required unless users want higher limits, advanced models or prompts excluded from product improvement. (ai.google.dev 1) (ai.google.dev 2) (ai.google.dev 3) Google has also widened Gemini’s music tools. Lyria 3 Pro, announced March 25, can generate songs up to three minutes long with structures such as intros, verses, choruses and bridges, and Google says it is available in the Gemini app, the Gemini application programming interface, Google AI Studio and Google Vids. (blog.google) Google said Lyria 3 Pro outputs are watermarked and designed to avoid mimicking existing artists, part of a broader effort to ship media-generation tools with built-in provenance and guardrails. (blog.google) (deepmind.google) Taken together, the April updates make Gemini look less like a chatbot tab and more like a lightweight workspace that stores research, builds presentations, exposes developer tools and now produces full-length songs inside the same product family. (blog.google) (workspaceupdates.googleblog.com) (ai.google.dev) (blog.google)