In this month’s The Download, our resident tech expert Marc Saltzman rounds up some of the most practical, intriguing and forward-looking tech unveiled at CES 2026—from smarter robot cleaners to AI-powered kitchen appliances.

What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.

That is, you didn’t need to attend the CES 2026 (formerly referred to as the “Consumer Electronics Show”) to know about the hottest gadgets and gear coming down the road. As a self-professed geek, I’m all too happy to share some highlights from this year’s show.

It’s a purely subjective list, of course, but the following are some of the most memorable tech I saw for Canadian parents—though pricing and availability hasn’t been confirmed just yet.

Smarter Robot Vacuums That Clean and Tidy

Best known for its robot cleaners, Dreame demoed its upcoming Cyber10 Ultra, a robot vacuum and mop hybrid with an articulating arm that reaches out to pick up things it “sees” on the floor and puts it in the right place (up to 1.1 pounds).

For example, it could pick up a sock and drop it into a laundry hamper, take a Kleenex over to a garbage can, move an action figure or ball to a toy chest or bring shoes to a shoe stand. You get the idea.

Via the Dreame app, you can teach the robot what to pick up and where it should go.

Just as impressive, the robot can also drive itself back to the base and swap out its grabbing arm for a small vacuum hose that also protrudes out of the top of the ‘bot to suck up dust from corners, along the top of baseboards and other areas.

Genius.

Other robot cleaner innovations include the Roborock Saros Rover that can climb stairs (in order to clean another level in a multi-storey home), while the Eufy Omni S2 boasts an aromatherapy feature that emits pleasant odours into the air as it cleans.

Humanoid Home Robots Offer a Glimpse of a Low-Labour Future

While it may seem like science fiction, the “humanoid” robot revolution is imminent. Or at least that’s what it felt like while walking around CES 2026.

Unitree’s G1 humanoid robot is a general purpose bipedal robot that can walk and run, climb stairs, dance and even perform martial arts (for real). The G1 has an incredible 42 degrees of freedom, including a waist joint.

While backflips and Tai Chi are fun, the 4.3-foot-tall G1 is capable of more practical help as it has multi-fingered hands for precise handling of objects, advanced sensors like LiDAR and depth cameras (for environmental perception and navigation) and AI algorithms that learn and adapt to your needs.

LG also showed off CLOiD as a glimpse into a “zero-labour” future.

A cute home robot designed to automate daily chores, CLOiD features two articulated arms and 10 individually actuated fingers that mimic human dexterity, allowing it to handle delicate tasks like folding laundry or loading the dishwasher.

Built on an AI platform that LG calls “affectionate intelligence,” the robot uses an array of sensors and an onboard AI chipset to navigate homes safely.

While a little slow at some of the tasks, the live demos impressed the crowds.

Smart Fridges Use AI to Manage Food, Meals and Family Schedules

Featuring “AI vision” powered by Google Gemini, Samsung’s Bespoke AI Family Hub + Refrigerator is the first with an advanced LLM (large language model) that supports up to six individuals in the home for personalized info, like reminders and calendar notifications, recipes, meal plans and more.

As for the “vision” part, the AI agent also supports the camera for food management, which can instantly identify (both fresh and processed) food items when they’re placed in the fridge, to help with food management (like items about to expire), recipe suggestions and shopping lists.

Samsung says this kitchen bespoke appliance can also open and close its doors (by more than 90 degrees) using your voice or touch, boosting accessibility for children, aging adults, and those with dexterity or mobility challenges.

AI Art Frames Turn Walls into Custom, Mood-Driven Displays at CES 2026

AI is everywhere at CES 2026—and photo frames are no exception.

Walk up to the Fraimic Smart Canvas on your wall and use your voice to ask for AI-created art to suit your mood. For example, say “Show me a photo of a beautiful sunflower farm, with an old red barn in the distance.” And then boom, it’s there.

Available in two sizes, 13.3 and 31.5 inches, each wireless frame sports a full-colour Spectra 6 E-Ink matte display that can last “many years” on its internal battery.

The frames support auto-orientation (detecting portrait or landscape automatically) and lets you wirelessly sync your own photos, too.

New TVs and Projectors Deliver Brighter Pictures With Fewer Cables

LG Electronics announced the return of its iconic “Wallpaper TV”—the LG OLED evo W6—but now it’s been updated with LG’s “True Wireless” technology. All your inputs are connected to the Zero Connect Box and this receiver can transfer 4K video and audio wirelessly up to 10 metres away.

The LG Wallpaper is just over 9 millimetres thin, making it the world’s thinnest true wireless OLED TV to hang flush against your wall. Plus, it features LG’s latest “Hyper Radiant Colour Technology,” with improved blacks and colours, with lower reflection.

LG says the OLED evo W6 TV is also nearly 4 times brighter than conventional OLEDs, and is 5.6 times more powerful thanks to its updated processor.

LG, and many other TV brands, also showed off its “RGB” televisions. While a typical TV has backlights that emit white or blue light (depending on what’s on screen), RGB televisions (also referred to as Micro RGB) contain numerous small red, green, and blue lights that make up the picture instead. The result is greater colour accuracy across the board—with a bonus benefit being higher brightness and better contrast levels, too.

If you believe bigger and brighter is better, Hisense’s compact XR10 laser projector can beam an image up to 300 inches, with up to 6,000 ANSI lumens of brightness—resulting in a sharp picture even in well-lit environments, such as watching daytime matches during FIFA World Cup.

Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast and the author of the book Apple Watch For Dummies (Wiley).