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 Smart locks have a notable inconvenience: running out of power. Lockin, maker of vein-recognition locks, debuted its newest model on the CES floor. It charges wirelessly via an optical infrared beam with a four-meter range. A small device, connected to a standard outlet inside the house, shoots a beam at the lock, which has a small receptor panel that turns the light into power, sort of like a plug-in sun beaming at a tiny solar array. The tech carries certifications from two independent organizations, and won't harm eyeballs or bodies that get in the way of the beam (though if the beam is interrupted, charging stops).
The lock itself is a mortise lock that will likely require a pro to install, as it's not just a standard deadbolt replacer. It's not a standard lock in other ways too, with video and speaker capabilites, AI recognition as well as touchscreen features and vein recognition.
The tall black rectangle looked sleek (if huge) in person with a pocket-style grip and a rather sizable display on the interior panel. The outer panel has a touchscreen along with two cameras allowing it to act as a doorbell video camera. You can unlock the door via palm, finger vein or 3D facial recognition.
Lockin V7 Max smart lockLockinIt'll feed the video to any of the major smart home eco systems, including those from Google, Apple, Amazon and Samsung. But for general setup and advanced AI features, such as recognizing a package delivery and speaking a canned request to the driver, you'd use Lockin's own app.
I can't imagine this high-end do-everything lock will be cheap, and
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 There's a good chance you spend more time talking to your phone's virtual assistant, or dictating text with your voice, instead of actually calling people these days. But, as convenient as voice input can be, you don't want to be the obnoxious person shouting commands to Siri or ChatGPT in a quiet library. And you probably won't have much luck dictating an email in a room with toddlers screaming and Peppa Pig blaring on the TV. (Ask me how I know.)
At CES 2026, the startup Subtle is unveiling its solution to those issues: Voicebuds. While they look like a typical pair of wireless earbuds, they feature a custom AI model that lets you dictate text below the sound of a whisper. Additionally, they can also filter out noisy environments so that you don't have to shout for dictation and voice commands. The Voicebuds seem similar to the WHSP ring we saw at CES 2024, which let whisper to your phone, and they also compete with other AI earbuds like the Notebuds One.
Subtle Voicebuds.SubtleSubtle claims its Voicebud
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Back in 2023, Withings launched Body Scan, a super-premium scale with the sort of tech found in a high-end gym or low-end clinic. It had a six-lead ECG, offered segmented body composition and could monitor your nerve health, among other things. Now the company has rocked up at CES 2026 in Las Vegas with a second-generation model that adds in tests for hypertension and cellular health. Withings hopes the new model will give you even more data you can use to fight against chronic illnesses brought on by our decadent modern lifestyle.
The first generation Body Scan checked 40 biomarkers, while the new model has 60, and even the press materials need a bulleted list to talk about the new features. Topping the bill is the new Impedance Cardiography (ICG) which monitors your heart's capacity to pump blood to the organs. Second, Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (BIS) uses a low level electrical current to check your body's total water, letting the scale keep an eye on your cellular age, active cell mass and metabolic efficiency.
Naturally, all of this data will then be extruded through the company's "clinically validated" AI model to offer more insights, such as your risk of hypertension and glycemic regulation. You'll also be told, based on your vital statistics, your health trajectory, and given tips on how to improve your "healthspan." In short, the company wants to further position this as a clinic in a box, steering you toward healthier choices as and when it can.
There's one major hardware tweak from the first generation, as the retractable handle used for the ECG now contains the scale's display. That, I'm sure, makes it easier to read if you're squinting naked onto the scale after your morning shower. But I'm also concerned that it's a single point of failure for the thin ca
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