More Things We Don’t Need

CES 2026 included a lot of impressive and fascinating new tech, most of which you don't need

Author

Mathew Growden
January 09, 2026

In partnership with

I’m not at CES 2026, the annual consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

I’ve never been to the show.

Like many people, I watch the show’s coverage on YouTube.

Experiencing it on YouTube feels like you’re there without having to actually visit Las Vegas and walk through seemingly infinite booths on the conference centre floor, wondering if you missed the most exciting tech because you stopped for a yard of margarita along the strip.

I love tech, so I pay close attention to the news coverage, videos, and reviews of new devices on stage at the event.

Inevitably, there’s something I think I might want to buy and put in my laptop bag at some point in the future.

More Things We Don’t Need

I am also stunned and amused by some of the gear that is on display.

This year, the overarching theme of the show was “how do we jam artificial intelligence into the most benign, unlikely, and unassuming devices?”

There are so many things that companies are building or prototyping that we likely don’t need.

And we also don’t need large language models built into or around them.

I don’t know about you, but I just picked up my own cat’s poop with a scoop (when I had a cat), and I buy wrinkle-resistant shirts.

Ironing not included.

If you’re considering buying any of those devices, maybe cats aren’t the right pet for you, or maybe you could just take your dog for a walk to a pet-friendly patio and talk to the real-world bartender who is already paid to talk to you.

You’ll get just as drunk and possibly even make a friend.

I Love A Good Flashlight

I have a confession to make.

I have a long-standing obsession with flashlights.

When I was a kid, I combed through the weekly Radio Shack flyer (RIP Radio Shack) for the free flashlight promotion.

Each week, for unknown reasons, Radio Shack would include a coupon in their flyer for a free flashlight.

I suppose it was some form of loss-leader that was intended to bring you into the store to buy something else. Inevitably, if you got the flashlight, you were also buying Radio Shack batteries to power the darned thing. And I suppose some business analyst did the math on their battery margin and decided that they could sell more batteries if they gave away things that used them.

I would beg my parents to make the drive to Owen Sound’s Grey County Mall each week, so I wouldn’t miss this next new flashlight.

The coupons would feature different sorts of battery-powered lighting tools.

Some were standard flashlights like the Power Beam.

Others were more utility lanterns. (I really loved this flashlight.)

And some were just variations on the same bulb and battery in different moulded-plastic formats.

Batteries not included.

Did giving away free flashlights put Radio Shack out of business?

I do remember my mother asking me at one point, “How many flashlights do you actually need?”

And my answer at the time was, “All of them!”

Artificial Intelligence In A Flashlight

Timeli One-Touch SOS

To be fair, there was still a lot of impressive tech at CES (from what I can tell from the news and YouTube).

Among all the things I’ve seen from the show, I am most enamoured with the Timeli One-Touch SOS, and artificial intelligence-enabled safety-focused flashlight.

I mentioned that I love flashlights, right?

This is a next-level flashlight.

By combining a light, an HD video recorder, a loud alarm, GPS tracking, and live emergency dispatch into a single device, the Timeli One-Touch SOS earned a CES 2026 Innovation Awards Honouree.

Timeli uses AI-powered alerts in its companion app to provide real-time data to emergency services, but the device’s core SOS button function is a direct hardware trigger, not an AI-activated one.

This smart flashlight even works without a phone. Built-in cellular, GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth allow it to operate on its own.

It isn’t a weird, complicated, or unnecessary AI-enabled device. It is a practical evolution of the flashlight that uses AI in its accompanying software, making it a superior safety tool.

I want one.

You can pre-order one for yourself for $249 USD. (That isn’t an affiliate link, I just like flashlights.)

It might be the most expensive flashlight you’ll ever buy.

But it will keep you and your dog safe on your walk home from the bar.

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– Daniela Amodei, President of Anthropic

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