The best thing about CES 2025

CES is always the place to find cool new toys and gadgets. Although the timing of this event is very bad because it comes so soon after the holidays and steals the holiday from those who have to prepare for it, I have to admit that I look forward to this event every year. This year was heavy on AI, exercise and health equipment, PCs and robotics.

I won’t be doing a product of the week this week because every one of the products I’m going to list could easily qualify, and considering how different they are from each other, it would be hard to pick a winner.

Let’s start with the product I’m lusting after the most.

Bodyfriend 733 Massage Chair

Image credit: Bodyfriend

I have a massage chair at home and even massage seats in my car, so I like the idea, but neither of these solutions come close to actual massage. However, if you have a spare $20,000, consider it Bodyfriend 733 Massage Chair.

It looks like a descendant of a transformer and a yellow recliner. What makes this chair so expensive is that it will do physical therapy, which is huge when you’re as ancient as I am. It forces stretching and mobility, and if used correctly, it can extend your range of motion well into your later years, not to mention it’s less painful than a session with a human physical therapist.

In effect, it uses pressure like heat and unique magnetic hands to combine massage functions with arm and leg exercises to provide an experience that should be unmatched in this category. It’s AI-powered, with 50 automated programs to fully customize your experience. These features make it worth the hefty $20,000 price point.

The Bodyfriend 733 massage chair is definitely on my wish list for what I’m coveting.

Lenovo Legion Go S 8-inch gaming handheld

Image credit: Lenovo

Lenovo has been pushing the innovation button hard of late and there are two new products that caught my eye. The first is the Legion Go S 8-inch Gaming Handheld – a handheld gaming PC. Using AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Go processor and integrated RDNA graphics.

This product, Currently available for $749 On pre-order at Best Buy, a great PC. It has dual USB C 4.0 ports (so you can turn it into a mini-PC), runs Windows 11, and is eGPU compatible, so it’ll play high-end PC games. There’s no camera, but it does have a built-in microphone and speaker, although I’d recommend using headphones if you’re using it on a plane because they’ll turn you away quickly if you don’t.

This device will also switch between PC, Xbox and Steam games with one click. This device class has been underpowered in the past, but this new AMD unit seems to have extra power. A testament to how far AMD has come in the last decade. A more affordable $599 version with less memory will be released in May, though I think the $130 extra for the extra memory is more than worth it.

Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable

Image credit: Lenovo

Foldable displays have become commonplace in smartphones but have yet to be introduced to PCs. Lenovo has come up with a more interesting technology, the rollable display, and used it in an impressively small 14-inch laptop that will expand to 16.7 inches, a more acceptable size for a monitor that offers enough real estate on a bottom. -Four-pound laptop (1.7 kg).

I use a 49-inch Dell monitor at my desk, so switching to a 14-inch or smaller laptop screen is really annoying. Extending that screen to about 17 inches would make a huge difference in my productivity, so I’m looking forward to seeing that. It uses Intel’s Core Ultra processor for powerful performance and is Microsoft Copilot+ compatible.

Well, at around $3,500, it’s not a cheap date, but if you need space like I do, it might be worth the extra expense — and the wow factor is off the charts. The only downside is that I don’t think you’ll be able to use the screen extension on a coach seat (it extends). Otherwise, this is the PC I want in my computer bag in 2025.

Nvidia Project Number: Grace Blackwell Personal AI Supercomputer

Image credit: Nvidia

I must admit I’ve been hoping for Nvidia to do this for a while, and I wasn’t disappointed at CES. The Nvidia keynote set the tone for the show with massive AI, robotics and autonomous vehicle components.

Still, what really knocked my socks off was nvidia project no personal computer. This tiny machine has enormous power, making it one of the smallest and most powerful personal supercomputers in the world. It has an Arm CPU and a specialized Blackwell GPU for incredible power (a full petaflop of FP4 performance), 128GB of unified, coherent memory and up to 4TB of NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) storage.

It runs Nvidia’s Linux (I guess Microsoft missed a meeting) called DBX OS and delivers server-level AI performance in a small desktop form factor. This machine is used for prototyping, fine-tuning and testing AI models, making it important for those learning how or those already building AI models or running Nvidia’s Omniverse simulations.

Sadly, it won’t run PC games, but if you plan on making money without spending on AI, this machine should probably be on your short list for 2025. PCs start at about $3,000 and are about the size of a Paperback of “The Lord of the Rings” book. I think they should have named it AWESOME (AI Workstation Engineering System Operative Manufacturing Engine), but it’s code-named numbers.

Tombot Jenny is the robotic puppy

One problem with getting older is that you become lonely and lose the ability to properly care for a pet. You need companionship, but even if you can care for a pet, there is a real risk that the pet will be traumatized and homeless if you die.

Tombot created one Robotic dog Name Jenny that looks and feels like a puppy. It has interactive sensors, responds to voice commands and makes real puppy noises, but it doesn’t pee on your floor. Basically, it just sits on your lap and keeps you company.

This product is for people who are hospitalized or have mobility issues and want the experience of a pet but don’t have the ability to care for them. This robotic Labrador puppy is expected to cost less than $500, which is quite cheaper than a real dog.

Studies have shown A pet can significantly improve the quality of life of someone who is alone, lonely or unable to get out. Tombot Jenny can make a huge difference to someone who has lost their smile due to age or frailty, so giving them back their smile would be invaluable.

Roborock Saros Z70 Robot Vacuum

I have three robotic vacuum cleaners that are forever going through socks, pet toys, and anything left on the floor. Wouldn’t it be great if a robotic vacuum could pick up stuff while vacuuming? Well, the folks at Robrock would certainly agree with me because they made Roborock Saros Z70A $1,000 robotic vacuum/mop with an arm that can pick things up off the floor.

This robotic vacuum has a docking station where it can dump what it vacuums, and it will automatically attach or remove mops depending on the need, which is unique for robotic vacuums in this class.

From the demos I’ve seen of the device, the software still needs some work, so I wouldn’t buy one of these first, but once they get the software figured out, it’ll be a killer solution for our pets and kids. It knows enough to detect dog poop before it drags it across the room (a rather bad experience we had with older robotic vacuums).

Oh, and the vacuum has an interesting call and cruise video function that allows it to roam around your home so you can check the status of your home remotely and yell if your kids or pets are in trouble. It is supposed to be around June this year.

OpenDroids R2D3 Ultimate Home Robot

At $55,000, it’s far from a cheap date and well beyond my budget, but I’d be afraid if I wasn’t interested.

This rolling robot is designed to help you around the house, though stairs will be a problem. Fully AI-enabled and with dual lifting arms, OpenDroids R2D3 A pretty amazing showcase of where we’re shipping personal robotics.

OpenDroid also costs less R1D1 A single-armed robot for about $18,500, which appears to use a handheld vacuum cleaner that can do many of the same things.

But it’s R2D3 that comes closest to Rosie, the Jetsons’ robot maid we all wanted as kids. This robot will be especially useful for those who are disabled and need help around the house, although it is on wheels and not on legs, it will have trouble going up or down stairs.

The robot’s body raises and lowers as needed, suggesting it can reach things that would be out of reach if we didn’t have a ladder. OpenDroids’ R2D3 was arguably the most impressive robot at this year’s CES.

Amp strength trainer

Image credit: Amp Fit

It’s January, and like many of you, I’m thinking about joining a gym again (I quit during the pandemic), but driving to the local gym early in the morning gets old and often someone else is using the equipment I want to use. My final excuse is that since viruses seem to be spreading again, it’s probably because I want to avoid places where people gather and spread bodily fluids (sweat).

But home exercise equipment takes up a lot of space, and I’ve had to get rid of it for years. D amp home fitness machine AI-powered, with Peloton-like features that work through your phone or tablet and is both small and simple, it looks great at home and is very easy to use.

The equipment costs $1,795, and the instructors’ subscription is a reasonable $23 per month. Price includes delivery and setup. Strength training is increasingly important to maintaining mobility, flexibility and independence as I age, making it important that I find a solution like Amp to ensure my future physical fitness. It is scheduled to be completed by early 2025.

Realbotics full-bodied robot

D Realbotics The full-fledged robot is scary enough for “Star Trek: The Next Generation” character Data. At $175,000 to $200,000 for the fully featured version (you can buy the AI ​​bust for $10,000, but I hope that bothers you to buy the rest of his body), it’s not a cheap date, but it will pack in a suitcase.

When unpacked, it will walk and act like a human, although I think it’s on the wrong side of the uncanny valley. It comes close enough to what we believe an android will eventually become, but it’s a little weird, and it makes me want to make sure my future robotic overlords won’t be a problem.

While Realbotics hasn’t quite achieved its mission of distinguishing a robot from a human, Melody comes closer than I thought, given where we are with today’s technology. It is the best showcase for how far we have come to create our own Data Android.

wrap up

CES 2025 was an impressive show this year, and I didn’t even cover flying and autonomous cars, even though most of those aren’t due until the end of the decade. From robots that will help you recover from injuries, help you run errands, keep you company or clean your house, CES had it all, including some fantastic PCs for gaming, productivity and building your own futuristic AI. CES is the place to see the future that is coming at us surprisingly fast.

I can’t wait until next year. I’m hoping Skynet won’t be part of next year’s show, although if you know where John Connor is, you might want to tell him it’s past time to start preparing for his future.

Happy New Year everyone. Here’s hoping our AI and robotic future will be amazing!