Every year, a number of the largest names in expertise, media, movie, TV, and music head to downtown Austin for SXSW. They collect to speak concerning the future, image what it might carry, and ask how quickly that future might arrive. SXSW 2026 provides you a spot to fulfill, carry out, join, and share concepts.
Music pulls me in first. I wrestle to call one other competition the place 1000’s of artists play exhibits throughout a whole metropolis. Nonetheless, my tech at SXSW 2026 information goals to indicate that expertise stands by itself right here. From Rivian to MKBHD and Nothing, there’s loads of content material to discover.
Electrical SUV: Rivian R2
Rivian has teased the R2 for fairly a while. The corporate presents it as a smaller and extra attainable model of the well-loved R1S. From what I’ve learn, the R1S feels intuitive to drive and affords a cabin with area and luxury, even for those who place a few youngsters within the third row. That monitor document units excessive expectations for the Rivian R2.
The R2 begins at $48,490 for the bottom Normal trim and rises to $57,990 for the Efficiency trim with the Launch Bundle. That worth nonetheless calls for a stable price range, but the specs make a powerful case. The SUV can ship as much as 656 horsepower and attain 0–60 mph in 3.6 seconds. Freeway acceleration from 50–70 mph can take as little as 1.55 seconds. These numbers might tempt drivers who need robust efficiency with on a regular basis use.
I regulate how automakers use AI, and the business appears to face at a turning level. Many individuals suppose AI in automobiles means self-driving autos. The bigger impression occurs behind the scenes.
The R2 makes use of an AI-ready structure that mixes 5G-connected processing with offline functionality and tactile {hardware}. Rivian positioned haptic dials on the redesigned steering wheel. These giant scroll wheels allow you to regulate quantity, fan pace, and temperature whereas your eyes keep on the path.
Some new automobiles place each management on a contact display screen. Easy duties, equivalent to decreasing the fan pace, might require a number of menu steps whereas the display screen responds. That design feels unusual to me. Automakers warn drivers about telephone use, but many automobiles place giant tablets on the dashboard. Rivian retains bodily controls inside attain, so you will discover a button by contact and hold your concentrate on the highway.
Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast Dwell
Marques Brownlee is among the many largest tech reviewers on the earth. His channel, MKBHD, has greater than 20 million subscribers. Viewers tune in for detailed video opinions of the newest expertise and devices. After I look ahead to a brand new product to ship to my dwelling nation, Armenia, I usually verify his movies first to get an preliminary impression.
Within the Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast Dwell, Brownlee and co-hosts Andrew Manganelli and David Imel dive into many subjects. Anticipate discussions about Apple gadgets, the HONOR Robotic Cellphone, and privateness issues round Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
Featured Session: A Dialog with Nothing’s CEO and Co-Founder Carl Pei
Nothing Cellphone (4a) Professional
True-blood midranger with 140x extremely zoom
Carl Pei began Nothing in 2020 with the objective of creating shopper expertise much less monotonous. He argues that smartphones have change into boring, with small enhancements in batteries, screens, and cameras. I can see how the Nothing group responds to that problem.
I love the commercial design of Nothing telephones. After I first noticed press images of the first-generation Nothing Cellphone, the design appeared uncommon and unfamiliar. Over time, I grew to understand it. The London-based firm now releases a number of the best-looking telephones I’ve seen. If you wish to study the place Nothing is heading, be part of Carl Pei on the JW Marriott, Salon 6–8 on March 18.
Associated: Nothing Cellphone (4a) Professional vs. Google Pixel 10a: Which midrange telephone wins for you?
Carl will replicate on how the patron expertise business grew to become closed and predictable, and why the subsequent period requires a special mindset. He’ll share his perspective on main shifts throughout the business, together with the rise of AI-native {hardware} and the function AI now performs within the product expertise. The dialog may also cowl Nothing’s subsequent chapter, from its continued push into audio to the model’s increasing retail presence with new shops deliberate throughout New York Metropolis, Tokyo, London, and India.
What’s subsequent
The 2026 South by Southwest (SXSW) Convention & Festivals takes place from Thursday, March 12 to Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Austin, Texas. This 12 months, all main parts—Music, Movie & TV, and Innovation—run concurrently over the seven-day interval.
Parting ideas
SXSW all the time leaves me with a way that the long run sits nearer than we expect. As I look throughout all the things at SXSW 2026—from Rivian’s subsequent electrical SUV to expertise conversations on stage—I see an occasion that mixes creativeness with actual merchandise.
I take pleasure in how the competition blends massive concepts, design, and efficiency throughout all the metropolis. If you stroll by Austin throughout SXSW, you possibly can transfer from a live performance to a tech speak and really feel the identical inventive vitality in each areas. In case you attend, you might depart with recent concepts, new inspiration, and a clearer view of the place expertise might head subsequent. For me, that blend of curiosity, dialogue, and discovery makes SXSW probably the most thrilling occasions of the 12 months.
Grigor Baklajyan is a copywriter masking expertise at Gadget Circulation. His contributions embody product opinions, shopping for guides, how-to articles, and extra.