CES has always been a place to find new cool toys and gadgets. Even though the timing of this show sucks because it comes so soon after the holidays and steals vacations from those that have to prepare for it, I have to admit I look forward to this event every year. This year was heavy in AI, exercise and health equipment, PCs, and robotics.
I won’t do a Product of the Week this week because each of the products I’m going to list could easily qualify, and given how different they are from each other, picking a winner would be hard to defend.
Let’s start with the product I have the greatest lust for.
Bodyfriend 733 Massage Chair
Image Credit: Bodyfriend
I have a massage chair at home and even have massage seats in my car, so I love the concept, but neither of these solutions is close to a real massage. However, if you have a spare $20,000, consider the Bodyfriend 733 Massage Chair.
It looks like the offspring 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 get to be as ancient as I am. It forces stretching and mobility, and when used right, it could extend your mobility well into your later years, not to mention that it is less painful than sessions with human physical therapists.
In effect, it blends massage functions with arm and leg exercises using heat and unique magnetic hand-like pressure to provide an experience that should be unmatched in this category. It is AI-driven, with 50 automatic programs to fully customize your experience. These features make it worth the massive $20,000 price point.
The Bodyfriend 733 Massage Chair is definitely on my wish list of things I’m lusting for.
Lenovo Legion Go S 8-inch Gaming Handheld
Image Credit: Lenovo
Lenovo has been pushing the innovation button hard of late and has 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, is one awesome little PC. It has dual USB C 4.0 ports (so you could turn it into a mini-PC), runs Windows 11, and has eGPU compatibility, so it will play high-end PC games. There’s no camera, but it does have built-in microphones and speakers, though I’d suggest using headphones if you use this on a plane as they are likely to escort you off early 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 appears to have power to spare. It is a testament to how far AMD has come over the last decade or so. A more affordable $599 version with less memory will be released in May, though I think $130 for the extra memory is more than worth the additional cost.
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable
Image Credit: Lenovo
Foldable displays have become common on smartphones but haven’t taken off on PCs yet. Lenovo has brought forward an even more interesting technology, rollable displays, and used it on an impressive little 14-inch laptop that will expand up to 16.7 inches, which is a more acceptable size for a monitor that grants substantially more real estate on an under-four-pound laptop (1.7 kg).
I use a 49-inch Dell monitor on my desk, so switching to a 14-inch or smaller laptop screen is really annoying. Expanding that screen to nearly 17 inches would make a huge difference in my productivity, so I look forward to seeing this. It uses Intel’s Core Ultra processors for strong performance and has Microsoft Copilot+ compatibility.
Granted, at around $3,500, this isn’t a cheap date, but if you need the space like I do, this could be well worth the extra cost — 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 expansion in a coach seat (it expands up). Otherwise, this is the PC I want in my computer bag in 2025.
Nvidia Project Digits: Grace Blackwell Personal AI Supercomputer
Image Credit: Nvidia
I must admit I’ve been expecting Nvidia to do this for some time now, and I wasn’t disappointed at CES. The Nvidia keynote set the tone for the show with massive AI, robotics, and autonomous car elements.
Still, what really knocked my socks off was the Nvidia Project Digits personal computer. This tiny machine has massive power, making it one of the world’s smallest and most powerful personal supercomputers. It has an Arm CPU and a special 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’m guessing Microsoft missed a meeting) called DBX OS, and it provides server-level AI performance in a tiny desktop form factor. This machine is used for prototyping, fine-tuning, and testing AI models, making it critical for those learning how to or who are already developing AI models or running Nvidia’s Omniverse simulations.
Sadly, this won’t run PC games, but if you plan to make money on AI rather than spend it, this machine should probably be on your shortlist for 2025. The PC starts at around $3,000 and is about the size of one of the paperbacks of “The Lord of the Rings” books. I think they should have named it AWESOME (AI Workstation Engineering System Operative Manufacturing Engine), but it is code-named Digits.
Tombot Jennie Robotic Puppy
One of the problems with getting older is that you get lonely and lose the ability to care for pets properly. You need companionship, but even if you can care for a pet, there is a real risk that the pet will be traumatized and left homeless if you die.
Tombot has created a robotic dog named Jennie that looks and feels like a puppy. It has interactive sensors, responds to voice commands, and makes real puppy sounds, 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 mobility challenged and want the experience of a pet but lack the ability to care for one. This robotic Labrador puppy is expected to cost under $500, which is pretty cheap compared to a real dog.
Studies have shown that a pet can significantly improve the quality of life for someone alone, lonely or unable to get out. Tombot Jennie could make a huge difference for someone who has lost their smile due to age or infirmity, so giving them their smile back would be invaluable.
Roborock Saros Z70 Robot Vacuum
I have three robotic vacuum cleaners that are forever running into socks, pet toys, and anything left on the floor. Wouldn’t it be great if a robotic vacuum could pick stuff up while it vacuumed? Well, the folks at Roborock must agree with me because they created the Roborock Saros Z70, a $1,000 robotic vacuum/mop with an arm that can pick up stuff off the floor.
This robotic vacuum has a docking station where it can dump what it vacuums up, and it will automatically attach or remove the mops depending on need, which is unique to this class of robotic vacuums.
The demos I saw of the device suggest the software still needs some work, so I wouldn’t buy one of the first of these, but once they get the software sorted out, this would be a killer solution for those of us with pets and kids. I’m just hoping it knows enough to identify dog poop before it drags it all over the house (a rather bad experience we had with an older robotic vacuum).
Oh, and the vacuum has an interesting Call & Cruise video function that will allow it to roam around your house so you can check on the status of your home remotely and yell at your kids or pets if they are getting into trouble. It is due out around June of this year.
OpenDroids R2D3 Ultimate Home Robot
At $55,000, this is far from a cheap date and well over my budget, but darn if I’m not intrigued.
This rolling robot is designed to help you around the home, though stairs will be an issue. Fully AI-enabled and with dual lifting arms, the OpenDroids R2D3 is a pretty amazing showcase of just where we are with shipping personal robotics.
OpenDroids also has a lower-cost R1D1 single-armed robot for around $18,500, which is showcased using a handheld vacuum cleaner that could do many of the same things.
But it’s the R2D3 that comes closest to Rosie, the Jetsons’ robot maid we all wanted as kids when I was young. This robot would be particularly useful for someone who is disabled and needs help around the home, though given it is on wheels and not legs, getting up or down stairs would be problematic.
The robot’s body raises and lowers based on need, suggesting it could reach things that would be out of reach unless we had a ladder handy. OpenDroids’ R2D3 was arguably the most impressive robot at CES this year.
Amp Strength Trainer
Image Credit: Amp Fit
It is January, and like a lot of you, I’m considering joining a gym again (I quit during the pandemic), but driving to the local gym early in the morning tends to get old, and often the equipment I want to use was being used by someone else. My final excuse is that viruses seem to be spreading again, making it likely I will want to avoid places where people congregate and spread bodily fluids (sweat).
But home exercise equipment takes up a lot of space, and I’ve had to get rid of a lot of it over the years. The Amp home fitness machine is AI-driven, has Peloton-like features that work through your phone or tablet, and is both small and simple, making it look good in the home and very easy to use.
The equipment costs $1,795, and the subscription to the trainers is a reasonable $23 per month. The price includes delivery and setup. Strength training is increasingly important to maintain mobility, flexibility, and freedom as we age, making it critical that I find a solution like Amp to ensure my future physical well-being. It’s due out in early 2025.
Realbotix Full-Bodied Robot
The Realbotix full-bodied robot is close enough to the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” Data character to be scary. At $175,000 to $200,000 for the fully featured version (you can buy the AI bust for $10,000, but I expect it will nag you to buy the rest of her body), this is no cheap date, but it will pack into a suitcase.
When unpacked, it will walk and act like a human, though I think it is on the wrong side of the uncanny valley. It comes close enough to what we believe an android will eventually become, but it is a bit freaky, and it makes me want to ensure my future robotic overlords won’t be a problem.
While Realbotix hasn’t achieved its entire mission of making a robot indistinguishable from a human, Melody comes closer than I thought possible, given where we are with today’s technology. It’s the best showcase for how far we have come to creating our own Data android.
Wrapping Up
CES 2025 was an impressive show this year, and I didn’t even cover flying and autonomous cars, although most of them aren’t due out until far later in the decade. From robots that will help you recover from an injury, help you work out, keep you company, or clean your house, CES had it all, including some fantastic PCs for gaming, productivity, and creating your own future AI. CES was the place to see the future that is coming at us amazingly rapidly.
I can hardly wait until next year. I’m kind of hoping Skynet won’t be part of next year’s show, though if you know where John Connor is, you might want to tell him it is past time for him to begin preparing for the future.
Happy New Year everyone. Here’s hoping our AI and robotic future will be amazing!
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