A desktop computer crammed in a keyboard, Lego’s first electronic smart brick, and a robovac air freshener.
In the first of two episodes this week, Nilay and David unpack the flurry of “is this a thing?” AI gadgets that flooded CES, including LG’s CLOiD robot that struggled to put a single towel in a laundry machine.
The Vergecast will be back tomorrow for a live episode from the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas!
This one’s a concept from Motorola called Maxwell. It includes a microphone and camera for multimodal input, and an integrated magnet means it can be worn as a pendant around your neck or as a pin on your shirt. The idea is that it’ll take meeting notes and hands-free photos, answer questions in natural language — all the usual stuff. Having picked it up, I can at least confirm that it’s much lighter than that other, ill-fated AI pin.
Aqara’s new U400 smart lock is the first to use Apple’s UWB-based hands-free unlocking, and it works every time, even with full hands.
Julia Goldin and Tom Donaldson explain what the sensor-packed Smart Play initiative means for Lego.
Soccer’s governing body isn’t at its most popular right now, from price gouging complaints to allegedly breaking its own rules giving a “peace prize” to Donald Trump. But hey, it’s a World Cup year, so you can’t blame it for trying its luck with this branded version of last year’s regular Motorola Razr.
The chipmaker is making a big bet on self-driving cars. And it’s making quick progress too.
CES day 1 (or day 5, or day 200, depending on the calendar you observe) is coming to a close and we are all clearly feeling it. Case in point: I watched this robot walk out of the Central Hall and into the plaza where it threw a few punches and knocked itself out. Honestly? Big same. But we’ll be back at it again bright and early tomorrow. No word on the robot, though.
The Series E round surpassed the $15 billion target, per a blog post, and xAI said that Grok 5 is in training and the company is “focused on launching innovative new consumer and enterprise products.” The news comes amid a widespread controversy in many countries over Grok’s ability to undress photos of women and children at a user’s request.
[xAI ]
The accessory maker launched a new Kickstarter today for Genki Grips: a modular grip system for Nintendo’s latest console. A $99 pledge gets you get a kit with solid and split shells (that lets the Joy-Cons detach) plus multiple sets of grips with various designs you can regularly swap to improve your hold on the handheld based on the game you’re playing.
Last year, Heart Machine told me it was experimenting with Patreon because “money is tough to come by.” But in a late December post, Heart Machine said it’s pausing the Patreon because “our current projects are too nascent for us to provide updates or ongoing material that would make this Patreon feel meaningful or worthwhile.” (I have the post in email; the Patreon is now inaccessible.)
Trying Patreon out “gave us a lot of insight, and reconnecting more directly with the community was genuinely valuable and so meaningful to us.”
Small businesses told Modern Retail they were shocked to find their products for sale on Amazon without their consent as part of a “Buy For Me” feature the retail giant announced in 2025. Some sellers actively choose not to associate with Amazon; others found errors in listings on the platform, or that Amazon was selling out-of-stock items.
It’s part of a larger push by retailers into AI-powered agentic shopping — that’s now causing headaches for humans.
Something has gone horribly wrong when your portable battery has a screensaver.
The Australian company is back with a colorful new range of 15-inch portable monitors powered by a single USB-C cable. The $249 entry-level Lite models feature a 1080p display packed into a 1.55-pound (700g) plastic and glass slab. It comes bundled with a versatile magnetic folding stand and pulls just 5W at 400 nits of peak brightness.
I loved Espresso Displays’ Pro monitor that I recently reviewed, but its products are much more expensive than generic brands offering similar specs.
The 2026 Vivobook S14, S15, and S16, announced today at CES, pair a familiar design with new processors, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite, along with updated Intel Core Ultra Series 2 and AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series options.
According to Asus, the Snapdragon-powered S16 boasts 25 hours of battery life.
