CES 2026 is almost here, and the pre-show buzz points to a familiar theme: an avalanche of AI-powered gadgets. Thankfully, major announcements from tech giants like Intel, Sony, and NVIDIA will provide the substance. Intel is set to unveil its Panther Lake chips, the first built on its 2nm process. These Core Ultra Series 3 processors promise a performance boost of up to 50 percent, a critical move as competition in the chip market intensifies. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang will deliver a keynote expected to be packed with AI announcements. Meanwhile, AMD’s Lisa Su is likely to counter with new Ryzen 9000-series chips and updates on AI upscaling technology. CES remains the premier stage for TV innovation. This year, the conversation will center on Micro RGB display technology. LG is introducing a new Micro RGB Evo panel featuring over 1,000 dimming zones. Samsung plans to launch a full range of Micro RGB TVs, with sizes spanning from 55 inches to a massive 115 inches. Sony, which introduced a new RGB LED panel last year using individual Mini LED backlights for red, green, and blue, has trademarked the term True RGB. This is expected to be the branding for its own advanced RGB display technology. Beyond the big keynotes, Engadget will be on the ground covering all major press conferences and product reveals, sifting through hundreds of AI-branded devices to find what is actually noteworthy. In other news, Samsung has previewed two new Wi-Fi speakers designed to blend into home decor. The Music Studio 5 and Music Studio 7 speakers feature a minimalist design. The Studio 5 includes a four-inch woofer and dual tweeters, while the Studio 7 offers a 3.1.1-channel spatial audio setup. Pricing and availability details will be announced later. Xiaomi has launched the 17 Ultra smartphone, with a special Leica Edition. The phone is a powerhouse, featuring a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a 6.9-inch AMOLED display capable of 3,500 nits brightness, and impressive camera hardware including a 1-inch 50MP main sensor and a 200MP periscope telephoto lens. The most distinctive feature is a manual zoom ring that surrounds the rear camera module, allowing for precise control without tapping the screen. The Leica Edition adds a two-tone finish, a red dot logo, textured edges, and special film simulation modes. The phones start at approximately $995 for the standard model and $1,140 for the Leica Edition. Finally, a change may be coming for Gmail users. A Google support page suggests the company is gradually rolling out the ability to change your primary Gmail address. The old address would become an alias, and all existing account data and emails would remain intact.
