“CES 2026 showed us that the future is no longer about dazzling gadgets. It is about quiet intelligence, better senses, and technology that earns its place by making daily life simpler, safer, and more human.” – MJ Martin
Introduction
As a lifelong technology enthusiast, all technological innovations excite me to no end. Yes, I know, I am very odd. But maybe there are others out there like me? So I offer you this top five list of the most important things that “my people” need to know about.
Needless to say, I can never wait for the news to spill out of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) every year. I am like a ten-year little boy again waking up way too early on Christmas morning. It is joyous, and yet heart pounding, as I await the latest news for this year’s gadgets, toys, cameras, robots, and Artificial Intelligence announcements. Here are my personal top five innovations for this year that make me giddy like a grade school kid again.
CES 2026 (Las Vegas, January 4 to 9) looked less like a single “gadget show” and more like a preview of how everyday products are being rebuilt around three big shifts:
1. cheaper on device AI,
2. better sensors, and
3. smarter connected home standards that finally make cross brand setups less painful.
The overall vibe, across outlets like The Verge, the Associated Press, and CES’s own daily briefings, was practical futurism. Robots are being pushed from “cute demo” to “useful helper,” laptops are experimenting with screens that physically change size, and core components like image sensors are quietly leaping forward in ways that will ripple into phones, cameras, cars, and factory systems.
What follows is a technical overview, in plain language, of five CES 2026 innovations that stood out repeatedly across awards roundups and credible reporting, including The Verge Awards, Engadget’s Best of CES coverage, CES announcements, and major press reporting. I am focusing on what the technology actually does, why it matters, and what a consumer is likely to feel in real life.
A stair capable vacuum sounds like a gimmick until you think about what it implies technically. The machine has to sense edges reliably, keep its balance, manage power draw as it climbs, and recover safely if something goes wrong. That pushes robotics into better perception, better motion control, and better safety behaviour, the same building blocks needed for more helpful home robots later. The Guardian’s CES roundup similarly points to a shift toward robots that do more than roam, with companies showing humanoid and semi humanoid helpers aimed at real household steps, not just controlled demos.
1) Lego Smart Brick and Smart Play, a rare “smart toy” that does not lead with AI
The Verge Awards named Lego’s Smart Brick system Best in Show, and the reason is simple: it makes physical play more responsive without forcing a screen first experience. The Smart Brick is essentially a small embedded computer with sensors, lights, sound, wireless charging, and wireless communication. It can recognize “Smart Tags” and NFC tagged minifigures, and it can update through an app, which lets Lego improve behaviour over time without changing the plastic parts.
The technically interesting part is that the Smart Brick appears to be more than proximity sensing. The Verge reported a “semi secret” capability where Smart Bricks can measure distance and orientation relative to each other across several metres. That is the kind of building block that can enable richer interactions, like a model that reacts differently when aligned, moved, or brought to a specific spot, and it also hints at future Lego robotics that can navigate and respond with fewer complex parts. For consumers, the impact is that toys can become more interactive while still being durable, offline friendly, and creative first.
2) Canon’s SPAD sensor prototype, a jump in how cameras see extremes of light
Everyone knows that I am an extreme camera guy. I love photography, so I always get hyper excited to see new things for photographers and videographers.
This year, Canon used CES to showcase a prototype SPAD (Single Photon Avalanche Diode) image sensor, and both Canon and camera press coverage framed it as a glimpse of the next decade of imaging rather than a product launch.
Here is the key technical idea in everyday terms. Most digital camera sensors measure light in an analog way, they collect charge in each pixel and then read it out, which is where noise creeps in, especially in low light. A SPAD sensor counts individual photons digitally, which can dramatically reduce read noise and preserve detail in scenes that are too dark, too bright, or both at once. Reports from CES 2026 emphasize extreme dynamic range claims (often described in “stops”), and Canon’s own materials position SPAD as useful for low light and high speed imaging. Canon boasts a mind blowing 21 stops!
Why should an average person care. Because the same sensor ideas that improve a cinema camera can also filter into phone cameras, home security cameras, robot vision, and car safety systems. Imagine a dashcam that can see into shadows while still reading bright signage, or a door camera that does not blow out headlights at night. Petapixel also noted broader implications for autonomy and robotics, where reliable perception in difficult lighting is a safety feature, not a nice to have.
3) Rollable and expanding screen laptops, changing the “shape” of productivity
CES has always loved laptop concepts, but 2026’s rollable designs are closer to a practical benefit: more screen when you need it, smaller footprint when you do not. Lenovo’s CES 2026 press materials describe the ThinkPad Rollable XD Concept as shifting from a compact 13.3 inch form to a near 16 inch workspace, and highlight touch gestures, voice control, and an out folding design that supports collaboration.
On the gaming side, Lenovo also showcased the Legion Pro Rollable concept, a wide screen that can expand horizontally for a larger field of view, which matters in esports and immersive games. The consumer impact is straightforward: less time juggling windows, fewer compromises between portability and comfort, and a new set of design tradeoffs like durability, cost, and battery life. The Verge also called out rollable laptop concepts as show highlights, which signals that this category is moving from “tech demo” into a pattern multiple brands want to commercialize.
4) Matter plus UWB smart locks, the connected home finally gets less annoying
The Verge Awards highlighted Aqara’s Smart Lock U400 for combining Matter interoperability with Apple Home Key support and Ultra Wideband (UWB) presence style unlocking.
Here is what that means in normal language. Matter is the industry effort to make smart home devices work across ecosystems without brand lock in. UWB is a radio technology that can measure proximity very accurately. Put together, you get a lock that can understand “you are right at the door” instead of “your phone is somewhere nearby,” and can unlock in a more intentional way. Aqara’s own release describes the U400 as Thread based and Matter compatible across major platforms, which is important because Thread is designed for low power, reliable home mesh networking.
The practical impact is fewer brittle automations and less vendor fragmentation. A lock is not fun tech, but it is high value. If Matter and Thread based devices keep improving, the smart home becomes more like plugging in a toaster and less like maintaining a hobby project. Even without direct access to CNET’s blocked winners list, CES itself confirms that the CNET Group ran the official Best of CES 2026 awards live on the CTA Stage, which is part of why “useful” home tech categories got so much attention this year.
5) Robots that cross into real chores, including stair capable robot vacuums and home assistants
As a mega fan of First Robotics for school kids, I see deep development advancements every year. So for the past decade, I call myself a robot guy too.
Robots were not just a sideshow at CES 2026. Mainstream reporting singled out robots aimed at everyday chores, including systems designed to help with laundry and home tasks, and robot vacuums that are attempting the hardest problem in typical houses: stairs. Roborock’s stair climbing Saros Rover was cited by The Verge and the Associated Press among major highlights, and it also appeared in The Verge Awards roundup.
Summary
Putting these five together, a coherent picture emerges. CES 2026’s “most recent” story is not one miracle device. It is that the underlying ingredients of consumer tech are improving at once: sensors that see better, radios and standards that connect more cleanly, form factors that adapt to your workflow, and robots that are beginning to handle the awkward parts of the physical world. Award lists like The Verge Awards, and Engadget’s Best of CES coverage (even when access is rate limited), tend to converge on the same theme: the best tech this year is the tech that disappears into everyday benefit.
So the core theme that I am taking away this year from CES 2026 is: Transparency in Technology. Amazing innovations that function in the background and make all technology possible, similar, and operate seamlessly out of sight to service the average consumer much better than in the past.
So there you have it for 2026, what do you think? Has any news or announcements of next generation innovative caught your eye this year? Offer your thoughts in the comments.
About the Author:
Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).
Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now Ontario Tech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario – Centennial College, Humber College, George Brown College, Durham College, Ryerson Polytechnic University [now Toronto Metropolitan University]. For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.
He holds three master’s degrees, in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and seven certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 60 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) continuous education in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.