Latest news with #NotebookLM
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Hindustan Times
These are 4 must try NotebookLM alternatives for research and podcast generation
NotebookLM is an amazing tool for research, allowing you to work with any file, website or even a YouTube video. It brings together multiple AI research features in one platform. However, if you're interested in just one specific feature of NotebookLM, here are a few alternatives that I have personally tested. Turn your notes into podcasts with these top NotebookLM alternatives. If you are looking for a service that can replicate the NotebookLM feature to create an AI-powered chat with source files you upload, then try Slider. There are many services on the internet about chatting with PDF files, but this one caught my attention because of its isolated answers. This service only answers questions related to the PDF files you upload. It refuses to answer any other question unrelated to the PDF files. This is not only good for privacy but also ensures that the AI won't generate inaccurate or unrelated answers. Nouswise Next up is Nousewise. If you are after a complete NotebookLM-like experience, then this is the best service for you. You can upload your sources and Nousewise AI will generate summaries, answer questions and even generate a podcast-style audio overview related to the source files. The interface is clean and the AI chat responses are only grounded on the sources you provided. So it won't hallucinate and give inaccurate results related to other information from the internet or its dataset. GenFM by ElevenLabs If podcast is the only feature from NotebookLM you are after, then check out the GenFM app. This app is available for both Android and iOS and generates podcasts using the sources you provide. It generates professional and engaging podcasts with amazing audio quality that is easy to understand and sounds fantastic. NoteGPT If you want a long YouTube video to be summarised or want it to turn into an AI chat, then try NoteGPT. This tool quickly summarises long videos and gives you a synopsis of them. You can then use the AI chat box to ask questions about the video. This tool also grounds the answers on the video content only, which is again good for privacy and accuracy.
CNET
5 days ago
- CNET
NotebookLM Is Still the Best AI Tool You're Missing Out On
AI tools are everywhere, each promising to make your daily workflow easier in one way or another. More often than not, they overpromise, underdeliver or require a learning curve to get them to work for you reasonably well. NotebookLM is different. It's incredibly helpful at its most simple function and it just gets better from there. Plus, it's easy to navigate and see what else it can do with minimal poking around. I always appreciated the concept of what NotebookLM could do when it was first announced and enjoyed casually tinkering with it, but experiencing it in the real world -- and at a time when I needed a tool like it to exist -- solidified how awesome NotebookLM really is to me. It's now my favorite AI tool, ever, and I've never used an AI tool as much. Powered by Google's Gemini AI, NotebookLM breaks down complex subjects into an easy-to-understand format and helps you brainstorm new ideas. There's now a mobile app for iOS and Android, and new features were just announced during Google I/O last month. It keeps getting better without feeling like it's becoming overstuffed with features just for the sake of it. Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:11 / Duration 0:30 Loaded : 0.00% 0:11 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:19 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. This video is either unavailable or not supported in this browser Error Code: MEDIA_ERR_SRC_NOT_SUPPORTED The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported. Technical details : Session ID: 2025-06-24:5d5895938192cef4dcb7fa1 Player Element ID: vjs_video_3 OK Close Modal Dialog Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 NotebookLM isn't just Google Keep stuffed with AI, nor is it just a chatbot that can take notes. It's both and neither. Instead of asking questions to Gemini, only for it to find an answer from the ether of the internet, NotebookLM will only search through the sources that you provide it. It's a dead simple concept that feels like one of the most practical uses of AI, giving way to the perfect study buddy for classes or work. And Google didn't stop there. Now it can do so much more, and will reward your poking around to see what it can do for you. And features like its impressive Audio Overviews have since trickled down into Gemini itself, allowing it to be used in a much wider set of Google's products. Below, I'll cover some of NotebookLM's most interesting features (including the newly announced ones) and how it became one of my favorite AI tools to use. For more, check out Google's smart glasses plans with AndroidXR. What is NotebookLM? NotebookLM is a Gemini-powered note-taking and research assistant tool that can be used in a multitude of ways. It all starts with the sources you feed it, whether they're webpage URLs, YouTube videos or audio clips, allowing you to pull multiple sources together into a cohesive package and bring some organization to your scattered thoughts or notes. The most obvious use case for NotebookLM is using it for school or work. Think of it -- you've kept up with countless classes and typed notes down for every one and even perhaps recorded some lectures. Sifting through everything individually can eventually get you to some semblance of understanding, but what if you could get them to work together? Once you've uploaded your sources, Gemini will get to work to create an overall summary of the material. From there, you can begin asking Gemini questions about specific topics on the sources and information from the sources will be displayed in an easy-to-understand format. This alone may be enough for some people just looking to get the most out of their notes, but that's really just scratching the surface. Available for desktop and mobile NotebookLM has a three-panel layout. Screenshot by Blake Stimac/CNET NotebookLM has been available for a while now on the desktop and is broken into a three-panel layout, consisting of Source, Chat and Studio panels. Both the Source and Studio panels are collapsible, so you can have a full-screen chat experience if you prefer. While the Source and Chat panels are pretty self-explanatory, the Studio panel is where magic can happen (though some of the features can also be created directly from the Chat panel). This is where you can get the most out of your NotebookLM experience. The NotebookLM app: The Philosopher's Stone for data, in your pocket The mobile app for Android and iOS launched the day before Google I/O 2025. Screenshots by Blake Stimac/CNET Those familiar with the desktop experience will feel right at home with the new mobile apps for iOS and Android. The streamlined app allows you to switch between the Source, Chat and Studio panels via a menu at the bottom. When you go to the view that shows all of your notebooks, you'll see tabs for Recent, Shared, Title and Downloaded. While not everything is on the app yet, it's likely just a matter of time before it matches the web version's full functionality. Audio Overviews If you didn't hear about NotebookLM when it was first announced, you likely did when Audio Overviews were released for it. Once you have at least one source uploaded, you can then opt to generate an Audio Overview, which will provide a "deep dive" on the source material. These overviews are created by none other than Gemini, and it's not just a quick summary of your material in audio format -- it's a full-blown podcast with two "hosts" that break down complex topics into easy-to-understand pieces of information. They're incredibly effective, too, often asking each other questions to dismantle certain topics. The default length of an Audio Overview will vary depending on how much material there is to go over and the complexity of the topic -- though I'm sure there are other factors at play. In my testing, a very short piece of text created a five-minute audio clip, whereas two lengthier and more dense Google Docs documents I uploaded created an 18-minute Overview. If you want a little more control on the length for your Audio Overview, you're in luck. Announced in a blog post during Google I/O earlier this month, users now have three options to choose from: shorter, default and longer. This is perfect if you either want to have a short and dense podcast-like experience of if you want to get into the nitty gritty on a subject with a longer Audio Overview. You can interact with your AI podcasters It gets even better. Last December, NotebookLM got a new design and new ways to interact with Audio Overviews. The customize button allows you to guide the conversation so that key points are covered. Type in your directive and then generate your Audio Overview. Now, if you want to make this feature even more interactive, you can choose the Interactive mode, which is still in beta, to join the conversation. The clip will play, and if you have a particular question in response to something that's said, you can click the join button. Once you do, the speakers will pause and acknowledge your presence and ask you to chime in with thoughts or questions, and you'll get a reply. I wanted to try something a little different, so I threw in the lyrics of a song as the only source, and the AI podcast duo began to dismantle the motivations and emotions behind the words. I used the join feature to point out a detail in the lyrics they didn't touch on, and the two began to dissect what my suggestion meant in the context of the writing. They then began linking the theme to other portions of the text. It was impressive to watch: They handled the emotional weight of the song so well, and tactfully at that. Mind Maps Generating a Mind Map is just one of several powerful features from NotebookLM. Google/Screenshot by Blake Stimac I'd heard interesting things about NotebookLM's Mind Map feature, but I wanted to go in blind when I tried it out, so I did a separate test. I took roughly 1,500 words of Homer's Odyssey and made that my only source. I then clicked the Mind Map button, and within seconds, an interactive and categorical breakdown of the text was displayed for me to poke around in. Many of the broken-down sections had subsections for deeper dives, some of which were dedicated to single lines for dissection. Clicking on a category or end-point of the map will open the chat with a prefilled prompt. I chose to dive into the line, "now without remedy," and once clicked, the chat portion of NotebookLM reopened with the prefilled prompt, "Discuss what these sources say about Now without remedy, in the larger context of [the subsection] Alternative (worse)." The full line was displayed, including who said it, what it was in response to and any motivations (or other references) for why the line was said in the text. Study guides and more If the combination of all that Audio Overviews and Mind Maps could do sounds like everything a student might need for the perfect study buddy, NotebookLM has a few other features that will solidify it in that place. Study guides After you've uploaded a source, you can create a quick study guide based on the material that will automatically provide a document with a quiz, potential essay questions, a glossary of key terms and answers for the quiz at the bottom. And if you want, you can even convert the study guide into a source for your notebook. FAQs Whether you're using it for school or want to create a FAQ page for your website, the NotebookLM button generates a series of potentially common questions based on your sources. Timeline If you're looking for a play-by-play sort of timeline, it's built right in. Creating a timeline for the Odyssey excerpt broke down main events in a bulleted list and placed them based on the times mentioned in the material. If an event takes place at an unspecified time, it will appear at the top of the timeline, stating this. A cast of characters for reference is also generated below the timeline of events. Briefing document The briefing document is just what it sounds like, giving you a quick snapshot of the key themes and important events to get someone up to speed. This will include specific quotes from the source and their location. A summary of the material is also created at the bottom of the document. How NotebookLM really 'sold' me I already really liked NotebookLM's concept and execution during its 1.0 days, and revisiting the new features only strengthened my appreciation for it. My testing was mostly for fun and to see how this tool can flex, but using it when I "needed" it helped me really get an idea of how powerful it can be, even for simple things. During a product briefing, I did my typical note-taking: Open a Google Doc, start typing in fragmented thoughts on key points, and hope I could translate what I meant when I needed to refer back to them. I knew I would also receive an official press release, so I wasn't (too) worried about it, but I wanted to put NotebookLM to the test in a real-world situation when I was using it for real -- and not just tinkering, when nearly anything seems impressive when it does what you tell it to. I decided to create a new notebook and make my crude notes (which looked like a series of bad haikus at first glance) the only source, just to see what came out on the other end. Not only did NotebookLM fill in the blanks, but the overall summary read almost as well as the press release I received the following day. I was impressed. It felt alchemical -- NotebookLM took some fairly unintelligible language and didn't just turn it into something passable, but rather, a pretty impressive description. Funny enough, I've since become a more thorough note-taker, but I'm relieved to know I have something that can save the day if I need it to. Video Overviews are on the way Another feature that was announced during Google I/O was Video Overviews, and it's exactly what it sounds like. There's currently no time frame outside of "coming soon" from the blog post, but it should be a good way to get a more visual experience from your notebooks. We'd previously heard that Video Overviews might be on the way, thanks to some sleuthing from Testing Catalog. The article also mentioned that the ability to make your notebooks publicly available and view an Editor's Picks list of notebooks will eventually make their way to NotebookLM. The Editors Picks feature has yet to rear its head, but you can indeed now share notebooks directly or make them publicly available for anyone to access. While we're waiting on View Overviews, here's a preview of one. If you need more from NotebookLM, consider upgrading Most people will likely never have the need to pay for NotebookLM, as the free version is robust enough. But if you're using it for work and need to be able to add more sources or the option to share your notebook with multiple people, NotebookLM Plus is worth considering. It gives you more of everything while introducing more customization, additional privacy and security features as well as analytics. It's worth noting that NotebookLM Plus will also be packaged in with Google's new AI subscriptions. For more, don't miss Google's going all-in on AI video with Flow and Veo 3.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Google adds AI features to Chromebook Plus devices
Google's adding a slew of AI features to its productivity-focused Chromebook Plus line of devices, including a screen selection tool for search and text capture, a tool that explains complex text, and NotebookLM. The new screen selection tool works similarly to Google Lens and the 'Circle to search' feature in Chrome on smartphones: long-press the launcher button or use the screenshot tool to select what is on your screen, and Google will instantly search for it. The tool also lets you select text and quickly add an event to the calendar. Last year, Google added a new 'Quick Insert' key to some Chromebook Plus models that let you trigger shortcuts. Users can now access Google's AI image generation features with this key, as well as AI-powered writing tools. Meanwhile, the new 'Simplify' feature lets you use AI to explain, simplify or summarize any text you have selected. Google's also giving all new Chromebook Plus users one year's subscription to the Google AI Pro plan, which includes access to the Gemini app; video editing tool Flow; image-to-video creation tool Whisk; Gemini in Gmail, docs and Chrome; and 2TB of storage. The AI Pro plan otherwise costs $240 per year. Alongside these features, Google is launching two exclusive AI features for Lenovo's new Chromebook Plus 14: One uses AI to recommend tab and document organization, while the second lets users edit images using the Gallery app to remove backgrounds or make stickers. Lenovo's new Chromebook comes with an OLED touch screen, and runs on an ARM-based MediaTek Kompanio Ultra chip. It comes in 12GB and 16GB RAM variants, costing $649 and $749, respectively. Sign in to access your portfolio
TechCrunch
6 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Google adds AI features to Chromebook Plus devices
Google's adding a slew of AI features to its productivity-focused Chromebook Plus line of devices, including a screen selection tool for search and text capture, a tool that explains complex text, and NotebookLM. The new screen selection tool works similarly to Google Lens and the 'Circle to search' feature in Chrome on smartphones: long-press the launcher button or use the screenshot tool to select what is on your screen, and Google will instantly search for it. The tool also lets you select text and quickly add an event to the calendar. Image Credit: Google Last year, Google added a new 'Quick Insert' key to some Chromebook Plus models that let you trigger shortcuts. Users can now access Google's AI image generation features with this key, as well as AI-powered writing tools. Meanwhile, the new 'Simplify' feature lets you use AI to explain, simplify or summarize any text you have selected. Google's also giving all new Chromebook Plus users one year's subscription to the Google AI Pro plan, which includes access to the Gemini app; video editing tool Flow; image-to-video creation tool Whisk; Gemini in Gmail, docs and Chrome; and 2TB of storage. The AI Pro plan otherwise costs $240 per year. Alongside these features, Google is launching two exclusive AI features for Lenovo's new Chromebook Plus 14: One uses AI to recommend tab and document organization, while the second lets users edit images using the Gallery app to remove backgrounds or make stickers. Lenovo's new Chromebook comes with an OLED touch screen, and runs on an ARM-based MediaTek Kompanio Ultra chip. It comes in 12GB and 16GB RAM variants, costing $649 and $749, respectively.
Mint
21-06-2025
- Mint
Google's Audio Overview can turn those boring documents into engaging podcasts
The New Normal: The world is at an inflexion point. Artificial Intelligence is set to be as massive a revolution as the Internet has been. The option to just stay away from AI will not be available to most people, as all the tech we use takes the AI route. This column series introduces AI to the non-techie in an easy and relatable way, aiming to demystify and help a user to actually put the technology to good use in everyday life. The first time I heard an article I had written being discussed, I sat up and listened in utter surprise. Two people I had never come across before were deep in conversation about what I'd written. This man and woman team went through everything, making up a slick podcast. These were AI voices that sounded totally natural and pleasant. This kind of conversation is generated by a feature called Audio Overview. To experience it immediately, download the Gemini app on your phone. Tap the plus sign at the bottom and navigate to one of your documents. Once uploaded, see the tab on top of it, click - and go make yourself a cup of coffee. By the time you get back with your streaming cup, the Audio Overview should be ready. Click, as indicated, and sit back to listen. The two AI hosts will now talk about your content. And they do so with impressive clarity and skill. It's no gimmick or party trick. Also read: Why India is so far behind in the fight for AI supremacy Listening to content can be a great way of absorbing it. Anyone can get tired of reading, since we have to do so much of it each day. As long as you have content that is in a Word file, plain text, a PDF, or Google doc, you can feed it to Gemini to turn it into an Audio Overview. I was putting off going through an 83-page document, when I figured I could quickly get the general gist of it with an Audio Overview. At work this can really help productivity. It's also great for just giving your eyes a rest. If you happen to have a visual impairment, the feature is a relief as you can get so much more done. NotebookLLM: podcasts from anything Audio Overview can be even more magical in its original home, Google's NotebookLM. To find that, go to your browser on any device and type NotebookLM in the search bar. Sign in with your Google account and you're in. Add up to 50 items of content including articles, notes, YouTube videos, presentations and more, to make up a notebook. All of these will be combined into an Audio Overview or a more full-fledged Deep Dive conversation through the Chat and Studio tabs. This does take a few minutes, so find something else to do for a bit. Once the conversation is ready you can listen in the browser, or download for later. Or even share it. This amazing audio feature gives you more control in NotebookLM than it does in Gemini. NotebookLM does have an app, but that doesn't seem to have all the features. You can select the playback speed, the length of the conversation, and incredibly even the language the AI hosts should speak. And yes, Hindi is on the list, making it possible to reach a wider audience with that content. It's easy enough to imagine the feature being used for training and education, making it so much more widely useful. Also read: AI didn't take the job. It changed what the job is. As if all this weren't impressive enough already, here's another way you can control the conversation. In NotebookLM you'll also find a Customise tab for the Deep Dive audio. Here, you can actually describe what you want the hosts to focus on. Request a focus on some selected aspect of the content, or ask to keep the language simple or technical. You have the option of deleting the conversation and re-generating it with fresh instructions. You can easily create a conversation in multiple languages for use with different audiences, or change the difficulty level. If you visit aistudio via the browser, you'll see that Google is experimenting with users being able to change the accent or style of speaking in a feature called Native Speech Generation. There's no announcement to the effect but one can easily see how this could be added to Audio Overview sometime. It works very well and is fascinating to try out. Join the conversation Another impressive but experimental feature lets you actually 'join' the podcast, by tapping a button. Interrupt the hosts and ask a question or make them change focus or ask for a comment on your opinion on the subject. This is a little slow and you'll be left wondering if the hosts heard you at all, but I fully expect it to become more fluid in the future as Google adds new features quite frequently. Also read | Mary Meeker's AI report: Decoding what it signals for India's tech future Audio Overview isn't flawless, but chances of getting things wrong are minimised because it's you giving the content. The feature has worked well enough for Google to have brought it to Search, where it will give you AI Overview in audio form – being tried out in the US first. Mala Bhargava is most often described as a 'veteran' writer who has contributed to several publications in India since 1995. Her domain is personal tech and she writes to simplify and demystify technology for a non-techie audience.
