Author: Kim Berard
I'm a fan of innovation, the further the better, but every now and then I'm reminded that innovation is still possible just because a company has been around for a while.
Two examples: LEGO® and Kodak.
Let's start with Lego. If you're around little kids (maybe not even that little), you've probably seen them playing with Legos. LEGO bricks have been around in various forms for longer than I've been alive, and that's saying something. Most adults will probably have one of two reactions when watching kids building Legos: “Gosh, I hope they can put that together.” more Complex” (note, casual reader – this is sarcasm), and “Well, at least they’re not on screen. “
So I bet a lot of us will be a little surprised when LEGO announces: LEGO SMART Play™ at CES 2026 on Monday, January 6th.
The key innovation is the SMART Brick, which is “packed with the technology to bring games to life, including sensors, accelerometers, light and sound sensors, tiny speakers driven by onboard synthesizers and more, plus simple wireless charging.” All powered by a custom chip that's smaller than a stud on a Lego brick.
“With a novel high-precision magnetic positioning system, the smart bricks magically 'sense' each other's position and orientation in 3D space without any setup,” the LEGO Group said. “They can also communicate via a self-organizing network that adapts to the game. The advanced onboard system allows the smart bricks to understand and interact with each other, and fans can build with them.” In this case, “Magic” refers to Bluetooth.
bookworm Calling it “the most exciting innovation in screenless gaming ever”
“For more than 90 years, the LEGO Group has inspired the imagination and creativity of children around the world. As the world evolves, we continue to innovate to meet the play needs of every generation. LEGO SMART Play™ is the next exciting chapter for our LEGO play system, and we are very excited to launch it to the world at this scale,” said Julia Goldin, chief product and marketing officer of the LEGO Group.
Tom Donaldson, Senior Vice President and Head of Creative Play Labs at the LEGO Group, said: “The launch of LEGO SMART Play™ brings together creativity, technology and storytelling to make building worlds and stories more engaging, all without screens. We firmly believe we are setting a new standard for interactive, imaginative experiences and can’t wait to see this innovative product in children’s hands when it launches this year.”
LEGO teams up with Disney and Lucasfilm to launch three 'all-in-one' LEGO models Star Wars™ The building set, which includes smart bricks, smart tags and smart minifigures, “powers the system so the builder's creations become interactive, responding to actions with appropriate sounds and behaviors, allowing for a truly responsive play experience.” LEGO being LEGO, of course it's compatible with existing LEGO play systems.
The three starting sets are the Red Wing X-Wing, Darth Vader TIE Fighter™ and Throne Room Duel & A-Wing™ building sets, It will be available on March 1st.
Nerd's Rotem Rusak raved:
But just because a form of gaming doesn't involve a screen doesn't mean it can't evolve or incorporate cool technology we can use today. LEGO SMART Play is not an attempt to transform LEGO into something it is not. While its technology is great, its purpose is not just to create new technology, but to enhance the traditional play that has always been at the heart of the LEGO brand.
She added: “It's really a beautiful way of using technology. The LEGO Group is using advances in technology to support something that's already great, rather than trying to rewrite or remove it like we've seen in so many other areas.”
This is a great way to innovate.
Then there's Kodak. when i see a title digital camera world When I call Kodak the “comeback king of 2025” and another review calls the Kodak PIXPRO C1 the hottest camera of the year, my first reaction isn't “how good are they” but rather: “Wait, is Kodak still here?”
For those of us in previous generations, Kodak was the Apple of its time. Bold, innovative, well-designed and omnipresent. However, with the advent of digital and cell phone cameras, it's generally thought that it's lost its magic, and in fact, I could forgive it for falling into bankruptcy or worse. don stapley in DCW explain:
The comeback king has largely rekindled his fortunes by investing heavily in the ultra-cheap PixPro line of compact cameras—you know, the kind of cameras we were all convinced were about to disappear. The company that first made its name with point-and-shoot cameras a century ago is doing it again.
Comment by Chris Gampat photography photographer gushed: “There is no doubt that the KODAK PIXPRO C1 is a camera that, if tucked into a camera body, would feel like an early iPhone.” Mr. Gampat further told us: “Photography doesn't have to be so serious all the time… In a time when the world is burning around us, the KODAK PIXPRO C1 is a great reminder of that.”
Japanese photo retailer Map Camera ranks the Kodak PixPro FZ55 as its best-selling camera of the year. Kodak even has a global licensing program, washington post It is reported to be particularly popular in South Korea.
That’s not to say it’s all sunshine and roses in Rochester. Its second quarter 2025 financial results warned that its various debt obligations “cast significant doubt as to the company's ability to continue as a going concern” as of the date of the company's second quarter financial report, although its 3RD Quarterly results masked those concerns.
The point is that, despite its long history and all the headlines, Kodak is still finding ways to innovate in its space, not by being the flashiest or having the most modern technology, but by building its brand and delivering the experiences its customers are looking for.
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Not everything has to be AI. Not everything has to involve a screen. Not everything has to include the latest technology. As Ms. Rusak puts it, innovation is “trying to support what's already good, rather than trying to rewrite or remove it.”
Kim is a former electronics marketing executive for a large blues program and editor of The Late and Regretful tincture.ionow a regular THCB contributor
