Smart Tangibles News Digest #2602
- Yoel Frischoff
- 2d
- 8 min read
January 12, 2026
Global smart tangibles news from around the world - connected hardware, IoT infrastructure, edge intelligence, standards, and the business models behind long-lived products.
CES 2026's Smart tangibles - connected hardware, IoT, edge AI, standards, and the business models emerging around them
The first major tech event of 2026, CES in Las Vegas, has set a clear early tone for the year: industry attention on Matter interoperability, edge AI chips, ultra‑low power intelligence, assisted smart home control, and new device categories from security to play. Against a backdrop of rapid generational turnover in hardware architectures and standards, 2026 feels like the year of applied connectivity - making smart devices actually work smoothly in real environments and ecosystems.
Cross-Cutting Signals
Matter momentum is real - major vendors and exhibitors are shipping more Matter‑certified products and controllers, pushing interoperability into mainstream adoption at scale.
Edge AI at low power is practical now - ultra‑low‑power SoCs with integrated NPUs bring on‑device intelligence to battery powered sensors and small IoT nodes.
Security and authentication leap forward - multi‑factor authentication for door entry points and enhanced biometric systems signal a rising baseline for physical device assurance.
Smart products are crossing categories - toys (interactive bricks), wellness devices, and appliances blur the lines between home automation, entertainment, and health monitoring.
Top Picks from CES
A snapshot of key CES announcements and news, shaping smart hardware roadmaps:
IKEA expands Matter product lineup at CES, including smart lights, plugs, sensors, and remotes that use the DIRIGERA hub
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Nordic Semiconductor showcases ultra‑low‑power edge AI SoCs that bring real‑time intelligence to tiny IoT endpoints
Anker updates its Eufy smart home security devices with improved cameras, locks, and solar powered sensors
Durin debuts MagicKey multi‑factor home entry using UWB, facial recognition, and voice biometrics
LEGO unveils the Smart Brick platform, embedding compute and wireless into play for interactive experiences.
News In Detail
IKEA pushes Matter deeper into mainstream smart homes
IKEA significantly broadened its Matter‑compatible portfolio at CES, introducing smart bulbs, sensors, plugs, and remote controls, all tied together via the DIRIGERA hub.
IKEA’s new range, expanding upon recent sensor rollouts, demonstrates that major consumer brands are embracing interoperability standards as core product strategy rather than optional add‑ons. The DIRIGERA hub plays a crucial role by not only enabling Matter connectivity, but also bridging legacy devices into the same unified ecosystem. This reduces friction for users adopting connected tech and puts price‑competitive, standards based devices on par with premium alternatives.
For OEMs and product teams, IKEA’s strategy signals that Matter certification and thoughtful hub integration are becoming table stakes for broad market penetration. Retailers and installers are likely to foreground interoperability as a key selling point, pushing developers to prioritize cross platform behavior and stability.
Why Does This Matter
Puts low cost, standards based devices in front of millions of “non-enthusiast” consumers, raising the baseline for what a normal home can do.
Forces other OEMs to treat Matter as plumbing, not a premium feature, or risk looking proprietary and fragile by comparison.
Strengthens the role of hubs like DIRIGERA as interoperability anchors, not just brand silos.
Normalizes the idea that a furniture retailer can also be a smart infrastructure provider, changing who product teams must partner with.
Signals to Watch
Retail messaging highlighting Matter certification as default.
Growth in IKEA’s smart device install base versus standalone proprietary systems.
Developer feedback on how DIRIGERA handles mixed ecosystem devices.
Key Links
IKEA’s new Matter smart home product line - Lifewire: https://www.lifewire.com/ikea-matter-smart-home-launch-11882204
Ultra‑low power edge AI becomes practical for tiny IoT
Nordic Semiconductor showcased new ultra‑low power edge AI SoCs that bring on‑device intelligence and wireless connectivity to battery dependent sensors and small endpoints.
At CES, Nordic demonstrated the nRF54L Series with integrated Axon NPU and “Neuton” edge AI models that deliver real‑time inference for tasks like gesture or anomaly detection without cloud dependency. These advancements address long standing IoT challenges around latency, privacy, and power, enabling developers to ship intelligent devices that can react locally while preserving battery life.
For product architects and firmware teams, this signals a shift where compute intelligence no longer requires cloud roundtrips. On device reasoning reduces reliance on connectivity, enhancing privacy and lowering ongoing operational costs. That said, robust OTA update strategies and lifecycle management remain essential to maintain models and security patches throughout the product lifespan.
Why this Matters
Allows battery powered sensors and small devices to run meaningful models locally, reducing reliance on cloud inference and connectivity.
Shifts unit economics: one-time silicon cost can replace ongoing cloud compute bills across multi-year device lifetimes.
Enables new classes of products (eg gesture, anomaly, or condition detection) that were previously impractical at low power budgets.
Forces roadmaps to think about model lifecycle (training, updates, rollback) as a core product concern, not a lab experiment.
Signals to Watch
Edge AI SoC sampling and adoption in commercial products by mid 2026.
Partnerships that combine Nordic’s edge solutions with mainstream developer tools.
Lifecycle tooling for safe, over the air AI model updates.
Key Links
- Nordic edge AI and nRF54L Series overview: Nordic Semiconductor news. https://www.nordicsemi.com/Nordic-news/2026/01/nRF54L-Series-SoC-with-NPU-and-Nordic-Edge-AI-Lab-make-on-device-intelligence-easily-accessible
3. Anker refreshes home security portfolio
Anker’s Eufy smart home lineup gets significant upgrades with Matter compatibility, enhanced cameras, smart locks, and solar‑powered sensing targeted for Q1 2026.
Eufy’s updates center around higher resolution cameras, AI based recognition, panoramic views, and multi ecosystem support across major platform players. The Matter compatibility means these devices can participate in unified automations regardless of which ecosystem (Alexa, Google, Apple) the end user prefers. Solar‑anchored sensors and versatile power options lower installation friction for retrofits and outdoor deployments.
This evolution illustrates how established smart hardware vendors are leaning into standards while still innovating on core perception and UX layers. For strategy teams, it reinforces that cross ecosystem support is now expected, not a differentiator. Success depends on depth of integration and reliability rather than mere compliance.
Why This Matters
Raises expectations that security cameras and locks will “just work” across ecosystems via Matter, not through brittle, one-off integrations.
Shows how incumbents can layer AI analytics, better optics, and solar power onto existing product lines instead of chasing exotic new form factors.
Increases competitive pressure on smaller brands that lack both retail presence and multi-ecosystem support.
Gives product teams a reference for how to package hardware, apps, and cloud features into clear, upgradable bundles.
Signals to Watch
User feedback on interoperability and local versus cloud recognition accuracy.
Matter feature completeness versus proprietary extensions.
Installer and retail adoption feedback in early 2026.
Key Links
- Anker Eufy CES 2026 lineup - The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/tech/851341/anker-eufy-doorbell-smart-lock-wall-light-ces
4. Multi‑factor authentication comes to smart home entry
Durin introduced MagicKey, a multi‑factor physical and biometric authentication system for home entry that combines UWB, facial recognition, and voice cues.
This system represents a broader push toward treating secure physical access with the same rigor as online services. By integrating automotive grade UWB, face biometrics, and voice authentication, MagicKey aims to reduce reliance on simple keys or single factor digital tokens, raising the bar for home entry security without sacrificing convenience.
For OEMs in locks and access control, this trend underscores increasing user expectations around secure, yet seamless, authentication. Support for standards like Matter will be critical to ensuring these systems can interact within broader smart environments. There’s also a risk surface around biometric data governance and privacy compliance that product teams must address.
Why This Matters
Signals that “password on a door” era is ending; homes are being treated as high value digital assets needing layered security.
Creates a template for blending automotive style UWB, biometrics, and voice into a consumer friendly UX.
Raises the bar for all access control vendors, who will need clear answers on spoofing, recovery flows, and data protection.
Opens new partnership space between lock makers, phone OEMs, and identity providers as homes become part of the auth graph.
Signals to Watch
Certification or standards work around multi factor authentication in smart homes.
Adoption by builders and integrators in retrofit projects.
Regulatory attention on biometric data usage and storage.
Key Links
Durin MagicKey announcement synopsis - Finviz: https://finviz.com/news/268350/durin-debuts-magickey-the-first-multi-factor-authentication-for-home-entry
5. LEGO enters connected play with Smart Brick
**LEGO’s Smart Brick platform embeds wireless, sensors, and compute into standard bricks, enabling interactive, programmable experiences that integrate with tags and wireless mesh networks.**
Unlike many connected toys reliant on phones or apps, Smart Brick operates with embedded logic and encrypted wireless, enabling latency‑free interaction and on device reaction. This signals a convergence where physical play experiences become part of smart environments, extending connectivity and interactivity beyond traditional form factors.
For product teams, this is a reminder that smart tangible design is not limited to conventional appliances or fixtures. Consumer expectations around interactivity and extension of connectivity into new domains will influence future product categories. Developers should consider how mesh networking, local compute, and embedded intelligence can unlock new use cases beyond typical home automation.
Why This Matter
Demonstrates that embedded compute + wireless can be woven into playful, everyday objects, not just “serious” devices.
Trains a new generation of users to expect physical objects to be interactive, programmable, and connected by default.
Expands the smart tangibles landscape into education and entertainment, where experimentation budgets and engagement are high.
Provides a concrete example of mesh networking and local logic used for delight, which product teams can borrow for more utilitarian domains.
Signals to Watch
How Smart Brick’s wireless mesh interoperates with wider home ecosystems.
Developer tools and APIs that enable third party experiences.
Consumer uptake and integration with other IoT devices.
Key Links
LEGO Smart Brick at CES 2026 - Tom’s Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/the-smallest-computer-at-ces-2026-is-a-lego-brick?utm_source=chatgpt.com
and The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/tech/859525/lego-smart-brick-play-system-now-available-preorder-star-wars-sets?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Closing
CES is always loud, but the signal this year is surprisingly clear: interoperability, edge intelligence, and security-by-design are no longer future promises, they are the present baseline for any serious connected product. The announcements in Las Vegas are less about “what’s possible” and more about “what will be expected” from devices landing on shelves in 2026 and beyond.
As you digest the week’s news, the real work begins back home - turning these industry moves into concrete choices about stacks, partners, and promises you are ready to keep over the full life of your products.
From TheRoad / Smart Tangibles
Latest digest: If you missed it, last week’s [News Digest Issue #2601] covered how connected hardware is entering an operability phase - from digital twins becoming operational control planes and Bosch’s sensor-as-a-service model, to on-device AI, fleet governance requirements, and ServiceNow’s move to acquire Armis
Smart Tangibles book progress: The Smart Tangibles manuscript is currently expanding its chapters on connectivity standards and security baselines for smart products. If you have a case study that touches on Matter, Thread, Zigbee, or IoT security labels, I would love to hear from you via the [Smart Tangibles case submission page]
How to Use This Digest
This digest is designed to be more than a news summary. Use it as a strategic signal scan.
Product leaders - look for shifts that reduce integration friction or change build vs. buy decisions. Items like broker-native storage or OS-level edge support often signal when platforms are ready for productization, not just pilots.
Hardware and IoT teams - focus on standards and infrastructure updates. Quiet changes in Bluetooth, LoRaWAN, or edge stacks tend to show up months later as better battery life, lower BOM pressure, or simpler architectures.
Operators and service owners - track anything that improves lifecycle economics. Fewer moving parts, clearer upgrade paths, and more deployable edge AI directly affect uptime, support cost, and service margins.
Strategists and investors - read across items, not individually. When connectivity, compute, and platforms all mature at once, it usually marks an inflection point where new business models become viable.
The goal is not to follow every announcement, but to understand which shifts are becoming safe assumptions for next-generation connected products.
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