This is Technology Bytes, episode 145 for December 14th, 2025.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
For the third or fourth time in as many weeks, I am going to cover something in this microcast about which I know nothing.
It’s random thoughts then for me just on things I’ve heard and optimistic expectations.
I’m not really sure, but what am I talking about?
Well, I’m talking about Gemini 3, and Gemini 3 is Google’s, I guess you call it their large language model that they build.
It’s their artificial intelligence, and it seems that Apple has reached out to them to build a version of Gemini 3 for them, for Apple to use in the Siri world, for Apple to use in the smarts of the artificial intelligence of the iPhone until I guess they build their own.
And it’s interesting because many in the Apple world feel like Google’s, I don’t know, are they the enemy?
I don’t know, but kind of on opposite sides of a coin, never to see each other.
And we know that Google is a company that sells our information.
That’s what they’ve built their business on.
They’re an advertising business at the bottom of the line.
And so it’s interesting to see them working with Apple so closely.
Now, Apple is paying them, from what I heard, a billion dollars from pundits that I listen to on the regular.
But it’s not so much that Apple is using Gemini 3 in Google’s world.
They’re asking Google to build a version of Gemini 3 for Apple’s world that will run under their security settings, under their privacy settings.
And so really, Apple is saying, you guys have done a good job at Google at building this artificial intelligence.
If you’ll let us borrow that tool for the moment, borrow it for a lot of money, then we will ask you to build something that runs on our private servers for our users, and we will manage the data.
We will manage that interaction and what our users choose to share with the rest of the world.
So it’s an interesting thought.
And you know, if you listen to this podcast for any length of time, my interaction with artificial intelligence is next to nothing.
It’s weird because I’m supposed to be a tech guy and I just don’t use it.
And all the tech people I listen to are like, we use it every single day.
And I’m like, yeah, I don’t know why, because the things that they tell me they use it for, I can’t talk to artificial intelligence in most of the environments that I’m in.
And I just end up typing to Google.
And I don’t like Google’s artificial intelligence system.
Maybe it’ll be better now.
I guess I should pay attention to that.
But I get the same results from my search.
I’m just not talking to any thing, any entity.
So it’ll be interesting to see.
And that’s, you know, when I started this podcast, I said cautiously optimistic to see what Apple can do with this model from Google.
And so I was reading about the next beta version, which will be 26.3.
Yeah, 26.3 and what Apple’s doing with that.
But they’re saying in 26.4, whenever that beta comes out, so I don’t know, is that a couple months from now, that that version will be using Gemini 3.
So still some time to wait, but I am interested to see what they do.
So people that I listen to tech people that cover the Apple world are also quite optimistic, although cautiously as well.
And they are super impressed with what Gemini 3 has done.
In fact, they all to a person say that Gemini 3 distances itself from AI.
Oh, no, who is it?
From the other chat.
How come I can’t think of it?
Anyway, from the one that everybody uses, maybe I’ll think of it in a minute.
But anyway, that they’ve set some kind of distance from the other AI systems that are currently being used, even the most popular one from chat GPT.
There we go.
And so that’s an interesting thought.
And it makes me wonder what it’s going to look like.
Now, I have no basis because I don’t use any of them.
And so all I really am after is for whatever Apple does to look back at what they announced, what is becoming two years ago, and the app intents and the use of artificial intelligence, what they named Apple intelligence to interact with the information that they already know about us because of all the information on our phones.
So looking at our calendars, looking at our email, looking at our texts, looking at our contacts that we would allow Apple to do and to make smart decisions about that.
And just little things like I use Apple Maps to drive to work and home every day, not because I don’t know how to do it or I don’t know where I’m going, but because I like to see the traffic pattern.
I like to see if there’s something that I need to be aware of.
I also like to know about how long it takes me to get home.
And I share that with my wife.
But they have this new thing in Apple Maps that has our preferred routes.
And it’s basically the route you take all the time.
And so they recognize that and have that be the first choice.
Well, in my preferred route, it has me get off the freeway halfway to work and then get right back on at that same exit.
I’ve never done that.
I’ve never done that in my entire life.
I don’t know that I’ve ever taken that exit off the freeway that I’ve ever taken that exit off the freeway ever.
And so I keep using my preferred route thinking that when they recognize that I never get off the freeway there, I’m always staying on the freeway, that eventually my preferred route will change.
And it has not.
And it’s been months.
So obviously Apple needs to do something.
So it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
I’m looking forward to the S-Lady being better than ever.
And if that’s 26.4 and we’re not having to wait till iOS 27, even better for me.
Maybe I will use Apple Intelligence or some form of artificial intelligence once that has been created.
Well, that is all I have for today.
If you have comments, suggestions, or questions, you can send them to technologybytes at merrickfamily.com.
As always, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast.
And I look forward to the next time we are together, taking another bite of technology.
