CES doesn't begin till January, however whispers of the merchandise and bulletins that might be in retailer for tech's largest annual convention have already began to take form. The CES 2026 present flooring is formally open from January 6 via 9, though the present kicks off with occasions on Sunday January 4 and a bunch of press conferences on Monday. As at all times, product demos, bulletins and networking taking place on the Las Vegas Conference Heart and surrounding motels all around the metropolis. As common, Engadget might be protecting the occasion in-person and remotely, bringing you information and hands-ons straight from the present flooring.
Extra particular particulars and pre-announcements ought to trickle out as CES approaches, however within the meantime, we do know what firms might be internet hosting press conferences and what tech developments may rear their heads on the present.
What we already find out about
Press conferences and present flooring cubicles are the bread and butter of CES. The Client Know-how Affiliation has already printed a searchable listing of who could have a presence on the present, together with a schedule of each official panel and presentation.
On Sunday, January 4, Samsung will kick-off CES with "The First Look," a presentation hosted by TM Roh, the CEO of Samsung's DX Division, on the corporate's "imaginative and prescient for the DX (Gadget eXperience) Division in 2026, together with new AI-driven buyer experiences."
That'll be adopted by a number of press conferences all through Monday, January 5. LG is internet hosting its "Innovation in Tune with You" presentation to share "its imaginative and prescient for elevating each day life via Affectionate Intelligence" initially of the day, Intel is launching its new Core Extremely Sequence 3 processors within the afternoon, Sony Honda Mobility is holding a press convention on its first automobile and AMD CEO Lisa Su will cowl AMD's upcoming chip bulletins at a keynote deal with that closes out the day.
Lastly, on Tuesday, January 6, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang will host Lenovo's Tech World Convention at Sphere, utilizing the massive and decidedly curved display to share the corporate's "dedication to delivering smarter AI for all by continually redefining how know-how can have interaction, encourage, and empower."
Exterior of the formal introduction of recent merchandise and initiatives, studying the tea leaves of what was introduced final 12 months and what firms are reportedly engaged on, we will make some educated guesses at what we may see at CES 2026.
New chips from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm
CES is incessantly the beginning of a cascade of recent chip bulletins for a given 12 months, and one of many first locations new silicon seems in actual client merchandise. AMD will doubtless use its keynote to introduce new variations of its Ryzen chips, together with the just lately noticed Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is anticipated to supply higher single-threaded efficiency, and the Ryzen 9000G sequence, which might be constructed with AMD's Zen 5 structure. The corporate may also use its CES stage to go over its new FSR Redstone AI upscaling tech.
Intel has already publicly introduced that it'll launch its Panther Lake chips at CES 2026. The formally titled Intel Core Extremely Sequence 3 chips match into Intel's total "AI PC" push, however are particularly meant for premium laptops. Primarily based on a preview from October 2025, Intel says the primary chip made with its 2-nanometer 18A course of will provide 50 p.c extra processing efficiency than earlier generations and for the chip's Arc GPU, a 50 p.c efficiency bump from final technology.
Qualcomm can also be rumored to be concentrating on laptops on the present, constructing on the work it's carried out shifting its Snapdragon chips out of telephones and tablets and into different forms of computer systems. The corporate's Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Premium chips ought to begin showing in laptops at CES 2026, providing a take a look at the improved velocity and AI efficiency the corporate promised in 2025.
Brighter, "more true" screens
Sony introduced a set of recent Bravia TVs in April 2025, changing the corporate's flagship, filling in its midrange choices and including a brand new price range mannequin to the combination. The star of this up to date Bravia lineup is the Bravia 9, which incorporates a QD-OLED panel, however Sony seems to be prepping completely new show tech for 2026. In March 2025, Sony launched a brand new RGB LED panel that makes use of particular person Mini LED backlights coloured in pink, inexperienced and blue to supply even brighter, extra correct colours. In distinction to a QD-OLED, which filters a layer of blue natural gentle emitting diodes via quantum dots that change colour, Sony's "Normal RGB LED Backlight Know-how" can get as shiny as a Mini LED panel while not having an additional filter layer or worrying about OLED's issues with burn-in.
The corporate has already trademarked the identify "True RGB," which may find yourself being what Sony calls this new taste of show if it decides to point out them off at CES. It appears completely doubtless, as a result of CES is nothing if not a TV present — it’s a positive wager that we’ll see new TVs from the likes of LG and Samsung along with Sony. If the corporate doesn't introduce new show tech for its TVs, it does have a brand new 240Hz PlayStation monitor coming in 2026 that it may showcase at CES as a substitute.
Sony isn't the one firm hyped on shiny screens. Samsung is reportedly pushing an up to date model of the HDR10 and HDR10+ requirements that might be able to demo at CES 2026. The brand new HDR10+ Superior customary can be Samsung's reply to Dolby Imaginative and prescient 2, which incorporates help for issues bi-directional tone mapping and clever options that routinely adapt sports activities and gaming content material. Samsung's take will reportedly provide improved brightness, genre-based tone mapping and clever movement smoothing choices, amongst different enhancements.
Ballie Watch 2026
The ball-shaped yellow robotic lovingly often called "Ballie" has been introduced twice, first in 2020 after which once more in 2024 with a projector in tow. Samsung stated Ballie would go on sale in 2025 at CES final 12 months after which shared in April 2025 that Ballie would ship this summer season with Google's Gemini onboard. Nevertheless it's almost 2026, and Ballie is nowhere to be seen. It's doable Samsung may make a 3rd try at saying its robotic at CES 2026, however whether or not or not it does, robotics will nonetheless be a giant a part of the present.
Robotic vacuums and mops had been a significant spotlight of CES 2025, and it's protected to count on notable enhancements from the brand new fashions which can be introduced at CES 2026. Not each firm will undertake the retractable arm of the Roborock Saros Z70, however robotic vacuums with legs for rising over small ledges just like the Dreame X50 look like they might turn out to be the norm. Roborock may additionally showcase its new Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Stream, the primary of its robotic vacuums to function a retractable curler mop.
Past simply traversing areas extra effectively, bettering robots' navigation is also a significant concern on the present. Distinguished members of the AI business are turning their consideration from massive language fashions to world fashions, which purpose to offer AI a deep understanding of bodily house. These world fashions might be the important thing to creating robots, bipedal or in any other case, competent at navigating houses and workplaces, and can doubtless be a big speaking level at CES 2026.
We’ll be updating this text all through the month as extra rumors floor and new merchandise are confirmed — keep tuned for future updates!
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/what-to-expect-at-ces-2026-120000278.html?src=rss