TECHnalysis Research president Bob O'Donnell writes columns for the Tech section of USAToday.com and those columns are posted here.
These columns are also often reposted on other sites, including MSN and other publishing partners of USAToday.
January 9, 2026
By Bob O'Donnell
No one will be surprised to hear that at this year’s edition of the “gadgetpalooza” that is the CES convention in Las Vegas, AI was everywhere. From smart glasses with AI-powered voice input and humanoid robots powered by what’s being termed “physical AI,” the reach of the technology is incredible.
But beyond these headline-grabbing new product categories, some of the biggest impacts that AI is enabling are improvements to many of our existing products, from TVs to PCs, smartphones, cars and more. While AI-enhanced versions of these devices aren’t new, the quality of the AI experiences now available on them is finally getting good enough to make them genuinely useful.
With the new Fire TVs from Amazon, for example, the company has integrated the Alexa+ digital assistant in a compelling and logical way. What it allows you to do is find the shows you want across all the streaming services you likely have by just asking for them with your voice. You can also dive deeper into any program and find things like summaries of previous episodes, other shows the actors are in, similar show recommendations, and much more. Most importantly, the means for accessing all this is intuitive, making it easy to use.
In the age of AI PCs, the biggest developments are being driven by new chips from companies like Intel, AMD and Qualcomm and each of them made major announcements at CES. Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3, AMD’s Ryzen AI 400 series and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Plus all represent the latest in the “digital engines” running inside your computer and all of them are offering the promise of big improvements in AI performance.
Major PC companies like Dell, HP and Lenovo also announced new systems that incorporate those new chips. Dell officially relaunched their XPS line of premium consumer laptops (though my personal favorite announcement was their amazing Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub monitor), while HP unveiled their Elitebook X G2 and Omnibook Ultra notebook lines.
HP also introduced an intriguing PC in a keyboard called the HP Eliteboard G1a that integrates a complete AMD processor-powered PC into the space of the keyboard. Lenovo used a very splashy and impressive keynote at the Las Vegas Sphere to debut a huge range of products, from PCs and Motorola smartphones, to AI-powered server racks and more. On the PC side, the company had updates to its Yoga and ThinkPad notebooks as well as several intriguing new PC concept designs, including a Legion series gaming laptop with a screen that can expand to a whopping 24” wide.
Equally important, as the AI PC category continues to grow and mature, it’s enabling the creation of more sophisticated applications and some of the first efforts at AI agents. These agents will be extremely impactful moving forward as they shift from just providing information to both performing tasks on our behalf and allowing multiple devices to work together in a more seamless manner.
Lenovo's new Qira is an ambitious new software effort designed to bring AI-powered ambient intelligence and more personalized AI capabilities to our PCs and smartphones while simultaneously improving data privacy and security.
Speaking of digital engines, Ford Motor Co. used the CES show to unveil their new in-house designed High Performance Compute Center module and Ford AI assistant app. The module is the AI-powered “brain” of the car and incorporates both the infotainment and ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) into a single unit.
Importantly, Ford’s goal is to bring these capabilities down into the company’s mainstream-priced vehicles, such as those in their upcoming Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) Platform.
Mercedes Benz also announced that their upcoming 2026 CLA EV will leverage Nvidia's latest automotive-focused chips and their Drive AV software. The goal here is also to bring improved driving assistance that will be available to a much wider range of consumers.
As with many new technologies, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype around new types of AI-powered products. And there’s little doubt that, eventually, things like AI-powered robots and standalone smart glasses will become a big deal. However, in the meantime, the real benefit that most of us are going to get from artificial intelligence is the improved experiences from the devices we already use every day.
Making tasks easier to achieve, making our devices easier to use and giving us significantly simpler ways of interacting with TVs, PCs, smartphones and cars is exactly the kind of innovation that most people can appreciate. It’s also why AI is going to make such a big impact and why it’s such an important technology to watch.
Here’s a link to the original column: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2026/01/09/ces-2026-ai-everyday-products/88101083007/
USA TODAY columnist Bob O'Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, a market research and consulting firm. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech. |
