By: Nick Gambino
As we say goodbye to 2025 and wave in the new year, we’re going to take a look at the most exciting tech products making their debut in 2026.
We’re kicking it off of course as we always do with CES. The most significant tech expo of the year is being held in Las Vegas from January 6th – January 9th. If they see numbers like last year, there will be somewhere in the vicinity of 150,000 people descending on the expo floor.
Most of the major companies will be represented, including Samsung bringing their biggest showcase to date to CES and Lenovo who are holding a keynote from the Sphere.
But of course, CES isn’t the only game in town, so let’s look at the tech products and trends we’re hyped about in 2026.
FOLDABLE PHONES
We’ve had foldable phones for a number of years now, namely from Samsung, but 2026 will see the first foldable iPhone. And, if the rumors are true, they’ve cracked the problem of the crease.
Even though foldable phones have improved significantly, they’ve still struggled to fold a screen without creating a crease right down the middle. Apple has reportedly solved this issue and after disappointing sales of the iPhone Air, they could really use a new product that shows they haven’t lost their way.
Now they just need to figure out how to make it cheaper because the word is it’s going to cost around $2.400. Although that’s the price of the upcoming Samsung Z Trifold and that sold out in mere minutes in South Korea. So we’ll have to see if there’s a big enough demand for a foldable iPhone.
AI
AI has been on a run over these last few years, but many are wondering when it’ll ever move beyond chatbots that act as a super-powered search engine. 2026 may be the year we find out what else they have in the tank.
Many in the AI space believe in a concept called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) where the AI is able to make computations like that of a human. This may not be possible, but there are those working hard to see if they can make it happen. And while I don’t think we’ll see anything close to this in 2026, we will be seeing more products that utilize AI.
We should be seeing more wearables, especially glasses that use augmented reality to really let AI cook. Then of course there are robots. Tesla’s Optimus and LG’s CLOiD home helper robot are two that are using AI in a big way to hopefully make your life easier. Apple should also be giving Siri a big boost with AI which will allow Apple Intelligence to deliver in ways they’ve so far not been able to.
CES AND BEYOND
We’ll have a better idea of what is coming down the pike in the next week or two at CES 2026. This will give us a glimpse into everything these tech companies have been cooking up.
Unfortunately, I won’t be covering it this year. Which brings me to my:
GOODBYE
This is my last article with NewsWatch for the foreseeable future. I’ve been writing articles and scripts for the company since 2014. In those 11 years, I’ve transitioned from my 20s into my 40s, and from clueless about parenting to raising two beautiful, healthy kids.
Thanks for reading along. It’s been a blast. See you up the winding road where humanity and robots have hopefully learned to co-exist.
