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When LG announced that it would demo a laundry-folding, chore-doing robot at CES 2026, I was immediately intrigued. For years, I've wandered the Las Vegas Convention Center halls and wondered when someone might create a robot that can tackle the mundane but useful tasks I despise like folding laundry. With CLOiD (pronounced like "Floyd"), LG has proven that this is theoretically possible, but probably not likely to happen any time soon. I went to the company's CES booth to watch its demonstration of CLOiD's abilities, which also include serving food, fetching objects and fitness coaching. During a very carefully choreographed 15-minute presentation, I watched CLOiD grab a carton of milk out of the fridge, put a croissant in an oven, sort and fold some laundry and grab a set of keys off a couch and hand them to the human presenter.Throughout the demonstration, LG showed off how its own appliances can play along with the robot. When it rolled over to the fridge, the door automatically opened, as did the oven. When the LG-branded robot vacuum needed to move around a hamper, CLOiD helpfully cleared the path. But the robot also moved very slowly, which you can see in the highlight video below. The appliance maker is selling the setup as a part of its vision for a "zero labor home" where its appliances and, I guess, robotics technology can come together to take care of all your chores and household upkeep. Maybe I'm jaded from a decade of watching CES vaporware, but I left the slick demo thinking the concept is unlikely to amount to much anytime soon.On one hand, it is exciting to see robots competently performing tasks that would actually be useful to most people. But this technology is still far from accessible. Even LG isn't making any firm commitments about CLOiD's future as anything more than a CES demo. The company has instead said that CLOiD is a signal of its interest in creating "home robots with practical functions" and "robotized appliances," like fridges with doors that can open automatically. That may be a more reasonable target for the company (and yet another way for LG to sell us more appliance upgrades). But it's still pretty far from anything approaching the fantasy of a "zero labor home."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/lgs-cloid-robot-can-fold-laundry-and-serve-food-very-slowly-181902306.html?src=rss
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I'll admit that I've always kind of taken walking for granted. Other than a knee injury more than a decade ago, my ability to walk long distances has largely been limited only by my own choices. That's not the case for everyone, though. And robotics company Dephy has created a pair of robotic sneakers, called the Sidekick, that are meant to help people who want to walk more than their bodies might otherwise be capable of.The system consists of two parts: an ankle-worn exoskeleton and a special pair of sneakers that attach to it. The exoskeleton hooks onto the back of the shoe and is secured with a strap around your calf. The battery powered device is equipped with sensors that can detect and adapt to the wearer's gait in order to deliver an extra "boost" with each step. The whole setup is pricey, at $4,500, but Dephy is betting that people who have "personal range anxiety" might be willing to pay for the extra confidence the Sidekick can provide. "This is a device that's kind of like [having] an extra calf muscle," Dephy CEO Luke Mooney told me. The Sidekick.Karissa Bell for EngadgetI was able to take the Sidekick for a spin around the CES showfloor and it was a truly surprising sensation. The best way I can describe walking with the Sidekick powered on is that with every step forward there's a noticeable upward push from under your heel. It wasn't enough to throw me off balance, but it did feel a bit strange.The Sidekick has adjustable power levels based on how much help you might need. At the highest level, it definitely felt unnecessarily pushy. The lower levels were still noticeable but felt less disruptive. I just felt bouncy. Later, when Mooney turned off the power entirely, I noticed that my feet felt weirdly heavy in a way they hadn't just a few minutes before. Mooney was quick to tell me that I'm not Dephy's target demographic. "A lot of times people who are fit, or like athletes, actually struggle to adopt to the technology because their body's so in tune with how they move," he said. "Whereas folks who are not as physically active and fit, their body's ready to accept help."The company's technology will be used in products more focused on athletic performance, however. Dephy has partnered with Nike on its upcoming robotic sneaker currently known as Project Amplify. Mooney declined to share details on the collaboration, but the shoemaker has claimed that some early testers have been able to improve their mile times by two minutes. I tried the Sidekick early in the day. Several hours later, though, when I was walking between the Las Vegas Conventions Center halls for the third or fourth time, I started thinking about those robotic sneakers again. I was getting close to 10,000 steps and hadn't sat down for hours. My feet were sore. I remembered that strange, bouncy boost and thought it sounded kind of nice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/these-robotic-sneakers-gave-me-a-surprising-boost-at-ces-174500005.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Spotify is rolling out more social features to keep people on the platform. It's adding a new tool to its messaging platform that lets users see what their friends and family members are listening to in real time. Once activated, a user's listening activity will be displayed at the top of the chat. The other person in the chat can tap the bar to play a particular track, save it or react with an emoji. People can also, of course, comment directly to either praise or rag on the song selection. There's another little addition to Spotify's messaging system. Users will now be able to invite chat participants to start a Jam, which is the app's collaborative listening feature. Premium users will find a "Jam" button in the top right corner, which sends an invite. This lets two people add tracks to a shared queue and listen together. Free users can join one of these sessions, but cannot initiate. It's worth noting that the messaging platform is currently just a one-on-one affair. There's no option for a group chat, so users won't be able to spy on multiple people simultaneously. These tools are rolling out gradually for iOS and Android right now, but won't be broadly available for a few weeks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-now-lets-you-share-what-youre-listening-to-in-real-time-via-chat-173749120.html?src=rss
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