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I'm Enamored With Lenovo's Desktop AI Companions, and I Could Use Their Help

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How well do you concentrate at work? For me, it very much depends on how I'm feeling that day, what else I have on my mind and a miscellany of other factors. One technique I use fairly successfully to keep me focused is a pomodoro timer, and at Mobile World Congress 2026 I found what I believe could be the perfect AI pomodoro companion.

I first saw Lenovo's Magic Bay Tiko at last year's MWC, but at the time it was just a concept. The little circular module perches on the top of your Lenovo laptop display, attached via the magnetic Magic Bay on the rear. The module is home to an adorable animated companion called Tiko, who you can interact with via text or voice.

Accessories with AI agents are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the wearables space, with many companies starting to offer pins and pendants. They can take on a variety of tasks, such as life logging and transcription. They can also carry out tasks for you, such as adding things to your calendar or checking your calendar to see if you're busy.

Tiko has a number of standard agentic AI capabilities -- it can start and stop your music, open a web page for you or answer a question. You can also interact with it by using emoji. Give it a book emoji, for example, and it will pop on its glasses and sit reading with you while you work. But my favorite Tiko feature effectively turns it into a body-doubling buddy, which I feel would be useful for keeping me on track on distracted days.

Don't tell me this little guy wouldn't make you want to stay on track. Katie Collins/CNET

Body doubling is a technique where you work alongside someone else -- either physically or virtually -- to keep you on track and accountable. Tiko comes with a timer, allowing you to track a focused work session. When you need a break, you can switch over to "wellness break" for 10 minutes of relaxation before you carry on. You can even choose to add 1 minute of breathing exercises, which Tiko will do with you, to keep you calm.

A traditional pomodoro timer is 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break, but this is flexible. I'm enamored with the idea of a physical manifestation of the timer perched above my screen, with a sweet animated friend to help keep me in check.

The good news for me is that Tiko is no longer a concept from Lenovo. The company wants to sell the Magic Bay accessory later this year -- although it doesn't know exactly when, or how much it will cost. The less good news is that you'll need to have a Lenovo laptop with a Magic Bay port, which I do not. It might be impractical to consider getting a new laptop just for Tiko, but it could sway me if I was already in the market for one.

Lenovo AI Workmate Concept

Lenovo's AI Workmate concept is still a work in progress. Katie Collins/CNET

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