Google Gemini Spark: Useful But Not Essential

Google's Gemini Spark is a 24/7 cloud-based AI assistant integrated with Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, designed to handle everyday digital tasks without keeping your device running. CEO Sundar Pichai positioned it as agentic AI for everyday users, unlike competitors requiring always-on machines. In hands-on testing, Spark proved genuinely helpful for tasks like finding shopping deals and building packing lists, but showed notable gaps, including no Google Keep support despite being a personal productivity tool. The assistant works best for work-adjacent tasks and feels more like a useful feature than a standalone product deserving its own brand.