This year’s Consumer Electronics Show is only just getting into full swing, and we’ve already seen a deluge of gadget announcements. There are the staples, of course: gigantic TVs, smart home sensors, phone accessories, weirdly elaborate ways to charge your devices. Wouldn’t be CES without them. But this year in Las Vegas, there are also plenty of new hints about what the tech industry imagines the future might be like.
The robots, phones, and Lego of CES 2026
On The Vergecast: all the most important announcements from the early days of the biggest show in tech.
On The Vergecast: all the most important announcements from the early days of the biggest show in tech.
is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay go through some of the show’s most interesting early announcements. They start with, of course, the humanoid robots, including the one that LG promises will be able to do your laundry even though it appears entirely unable to do your laundry. Then they talk about this year’s new mobile devices, including the Clicks Communicator, an early favorite for the “most exciting new gadget that actual people might actually buy” award.
Then it’s time for some smart home news, because there’s a lot of smart home news this year. And a lot of TV news. And at least one new party speaker. And the hottest, smartest new thing in Lego. It’s certainly true that AI is everywhere at this year’s CES, but it also appears to be a return to gadget-y form at the show. There’s only one gadget missing, really, and it’s the Trump Phone. We know: we’re surprised too.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started:
- LG says its CLOiD home robot will be folding laundry and making breakfast at CES
- You can’t buy Zeroth’s WALL-E robot in the US, but you can get its cousin
- From Harpers: Kicking Robots
- The Clicks Communicator is a BlackBerry for your phone
- I just want to keep unfolding the Samsung Z TriFold
- The Aliro smart lock standard for NFC and UWB unlocking will launch this year
- Lutron adds smart wood blinds to its Caséta line.
- Bosch’s fancy coffee machine is getting Alexa Plus
- Hands-on with the Mui Board: a wooden smart home controller
- Lifx launches a smart mirror and a $30 dimmer switch that can control smart bulbs
- GE Lighting’s new Matter-compatible smart shades start at just $300
- LG’s new Gallery TV, designed for displaying art, will be at CES 2026
- Amazon announces a Samsung Frame competitor with the Ember Artline TV
- Gemini on Google TV is getting Nano Banana and voice-controlled settings
- The LG OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TV makes its return at CES
- LG’s new karaoke-ready party speaker uses AI to remove song vocals
- Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution’ in 50 years
- Would you let AI cut your hair?
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is now blogging about AI slop
- Adam Mosseri on how Instagram exists in the age of AI-generated images
- A developer for a ‘major food delivery app’ says the ‘algorithms are rigged against you.’
- The Trump phone just missed another release date
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