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CES 2026 is already shaping up to be an interesting year for robots. But while some companies are chasing humanoids that can help you do stuff, there are also a surprising number of robots whose main job is to be cute and keep you company.Japanese startup Ludens AI is showing off two extremely adorable robot companions at CES. Cocomo is an autonomous robot pet that can follow you around the house and respond to voice and touch. It has a fuzzy, egg-shaped body, but the version we saw at CES was wearing an orange suit with ears that made it look a bit like a teddy bear. It was moving around on a wheeled base, but it also has tiny legs if you prefer to carry it around and hold it. Cocoo's exterior is meant to stay close to human body temperature at 98.6 degrees fahrenheit and the company says it will rise up to 102 degrees in "high contact" situations like hugging it. And while Cocomo can interact and respond to your actions, it "speaks" with hums and other sounds rather than words.Ludens AI brought some very cute robots to CES 2026. This is Cocomo, a robot pet that's designed to be a companion. It can follow you around and learn about you over time. pic.twitter.com/rj6dLXN4h4 Karissa Bell (@karissabe) January 5, 2026 We didn't get to witness many of its abilities in action due to the loud environment, but Ludens says that Cocomo is designed to bond with its owners over time. "Cocomo engages through spontaneous gestures, imitation, and gentle initiation - learning what makes you laugh, what comforts you, and when to surprise you," the company says. Ludens didn't share pricing or availability info for Cocomo, but has a waitlist where you can sign up for updates in a forthcoming crowdfunding campaign. Ludens AI's Inu robot.Karissa Bell for EngadgetLudens also showed off a smaller, but also very adorable, robot called Inu, which it describes as a "desktop alien pupu." Rather than a robot that can move with you from room to room, Inu is meant to sit on your desk and keep you company while you work. It can also interact via audio and movement. It has a little tail that wiggles in response to voice and touch and its single eye can "blink." Ludens plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign for Inu later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/japanese-startup-ludens-ai-brought-two-very-adorable-robots-to-ces-2026-021914130.html?src=rss
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There are a slew of keyboards and apps that help people learn how to play the piano, but a small company called PopuMusic is showing off an intriguing set of products at CES to make the process easier. PartyKeys and PartyStudio are a 36-key MIDI keyboard and MIDI / Bluetooth speaker that pair together in seamless fashion. The PartyStudio is particularly interesting because it has a built-in library of 128 instrument tones and more than 50 different drum machine patterns. Naturally, it works with the PartyKeys, but any MIDI keyboard can connect to it and use those sounds. The PartyStudio and PartyKeys both use NFC to connect to each other you can just tap and hold the keyboard up to the speaker for pairing. You can connect up to three devices using MIDI over Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE MIDI) as well as a fourth using a wired connection. If you have more than one keyboard, meanwhile, you can connect them together with NFC as well you can pair three keyboards together total, giving you a huge 108-key surface to play.Both the PartyStudio and PartyKeys have an understated but appealing look to them (theyre available in black or white) and feel quite substantial and well-made. PopuMusic has been releasing hardware via Kickstarters campaigns for a few years now, so even though theyre a relatively small and new company they have some experience in this department. The speaker seems to hit a nice balance of portability and power; it has two tweeters and two woofers and weighs in at 3.75 pounds. Its about 13.5 inches wide, 5.2 inches tall and 4 inches deep, so its not a tiny speaker youll just throw in your bag, but it still feels easy to tote around thanks to its attached handle.The other trick that the PartyStudio and PartyKeys have is on the software side. Using a companion app, multiple people can play along with a song. The light-up keyboard can show you what to play, and if you have multiple people playing each keyboard can display complimentary parts. It starts with simple three-key chord voicings, but I also saw a demo that used a familiar Guitar Hero-style interface of different notes flying down the screen, making for a more involved and advanced performance.The PartyKeys are up for order on Kickstarter now for $199, while the PartyStudio costs $349. The company says theyre on track to ship both products in Q1 of 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/partystudio-is-a-wireless-midi-speaker-with-128-built-in-instrument-sounds-015511003.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Weve all fantasied about sprawling on an embroidered chaise lounge while our amanuensis faithfully typed out everything we said. SwitchBot turned up to CES with something that does a similar job, but without the romance of the amanuensis, the typewriter or the chaise lounge. Instead, its launching the AI MindClip, a wearable microphone which records and transcribes every noise to come from your mouth. The company isnt alone, with many others turning up to CES this year offering devices to log your thoughts through the day. But SwitchBot does hope to distinguish itself from the crowd with an AI which can both summarize and extract useful data from your chats. The companys representatives said it will use its initiative and create its own reminders based on what it thinks youll need to remember. Sadly, we couldnt get to see it working in person, and we dont know when itll be available or how much itll cost. But itll probably be a little bit cheaper than a chaise lounge. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/switchbot-turned-up-to-ces-with-an-ai-wearable-that-records-everything-you-say-014959824.html?src=rss
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