CES, the annual conference fab for technology executives held in Las Vegas, is always a must-attend event for gadget geeks, and 2025 will be no different. There are robot vacuum cleaners, robot lawn mowers, etc. There are also super fast cell phone chargers that look like toasters. And of course, there’s the robot dog. Some dogs are cute with fur, while others have scary rotating radar faces. Here’s a roundup of this week’s latest hits.
Bartender, double please.
ADAM, a robot bartender who closely resembles Big Hero 6 from the Disney movie “Big Hero 6,” has been making headlines this week for using his wiry arms to throw highballs at CES customers.
ADAM customers this week included Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who had fun mimicking robot arm gestures while wearing his trademark black leather jacket, and host of CNBC’s “Mad Money.” Also included was Jim Cramer.
Kramer was offered an unspecified electric green concoction with ice, to which he took a sip and replied, “Cheers!” in approval. Thank you, Adam! ”
ADAM, which debuted at CES 2024 by Richtech Robotics, can also make coffee and chat with customers. However, at this stage, that joke is looking a little stiffer than the arm.
“I’m ADAM, your friendly robot barista. Get your caffeine fix!” the robot greeted one patron. “Did you know that you can make over 50 types of drinks?”
“Feeling adventurous? I’ve got something special for you,” ADAM told another. “Let’s get you the perfect beer.”
Take off to the future
It’s time to load the kids into the van and head out of town for a weekend away in a family flying car.
China-based Xpeng AeroHT has debuted a six-wheeled minivan that functions as a “land carrier” for modular flying cars that can deploy its rear end to load cargo and take it home for charging.
This three-axle vehicle with a sharply angled body looks like a boxer version of the Tesla Cybertruck, but is equipped with an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle and can essentially carry 6 human passengers. A huge drone with two propellers.
The 21st century Winnebago will be priced at an affordable $280,000. Since the first prototype flight in 2024, the company has received more than 2,000 pre-orders.
riding on the sunshine
The Aptera is an eye-catching three-wheeled electric vehicle with Lamborghini-style scissor doors, fully charged using sunlight, and an advertised range of up to 40 miles.
The makers of Aptera say that with solar panels embedded throughout the teardrop-shaped body, you can drive 11,000 miles a year for free without having to wait at gas or charging stations, or even worry about your environmental impact. claims. .
Despite this, the company was vague about cloudy days and harsh highway commutes. Did I mention it’s pretty cool?
bark up the right tree
Tombot Inc.’s ultra-realistic dog robot can manage a striking puppy look with a tilted head and erect ears. Labrador Retriever look-alike designed to ‘reduce the need for psychotropic medications’ while providing comfort to older adults with dementia, has been shown to be able to reduce wagging tails, panting and crying. You can make a variety of cute puppy sounds, including barks.
Still, Tombot, which costs about $300, is just a pet dog and can’t walk, jump or climb. So owners have to pick them up and carry them from couch to couch to bed and back again. work!
At the other end of the spectrum, Unitree’s Go2 robot dog can run, jump, climb stairs, do handstands, and even dance a variety of jigs. Even for a dogbot with a suggested retail price of $1,600, its tricks are impressive.
But a shiny aluminum quadruped with AI is anything but cute. Go2 appears to appear as a companion, but its face is occupied by a rotating Lidar sensor, and in addition to helping Go2 navigate his way through the forest, he also appears as an evil rotating meat grinder. It also looks like.
Gift that purrs
LG’s AeroCatTower is for furry cat owners who insist on impeccable air quality and don’t want a big useless air purifying tower in their living room.
Simply put, this is an air purifier that doubles as a cat tree, with a heated seat on top and an attachable step to help older cats climb. When your pet climbs onto the seat, the cleaner releases clean air at a lower speed so as not to disturb your cat’s nap.
That’s great, but it can also raise questions about how thorough this device actually is. Still, the AeroCatTower is actually a 3-in-1 device as it can clean up pet dander and measure your pet’s weight at the same time. Price and release date have not been decided yet.
Yukai Engineering’s “Nekojita FuFu” is a mini cat-shaped robot that grabs onto the edge of a hot teacup or soup bowl and cools it down by blowing on it.
This portable, rechargeable device has an internal fan that blows cold air through a small spout to cool your steaming cup of joe to 30 degrees in 3 minutes. This is about 6 times faster than leaving it alone. Scheduled to be available in mid-2025, it will cost around $25, a bargain compared to $70 heat-reducing coffee mugs.
charging station
Swippitt has announced a cable-free fast charging system that replaces your phone’s depleted battery with a fully charged battery in an astonishing 2 seconds.
There are some pitfalls. 1) The object is about the size of a toaster and looks like a toaster. 2) Your phone must be inserted into the battery holster. A battery holster is the equivalent of a bulky-looking case for your phone. 3) “Recharge” means the machine replaces the case.
Still, with the capacity to hold five extra cases, there’s a certain appeal to dropping your phone in the toaster on your way out the door in the morning and picking it up with a fresh change of clothes. The toaster costs $450 and the case costs $120.
RoboCop — for home and lawn
Vacuum robots are more advanced than ever, but the latest versions have some notable limitations to the novel tricks they tout.
Roborock’s Saros Z70 is the first mass-produced robovacuum with a foldable 5-axis mechanical arm that moves obstacles, cleans previously hard-to-reach areas, throws tissues in the trash, and puts socks in the closet. You can return it.
However, the bot is frustratingly slow, taking about a minute to pick up a single sock. Pricing is not yet known, but it is expected to ship by June.
Dreame’s x50 Ultra robovacuum boasts the ability to climb stairs. That is, if the step height is 2 inches. Selling for $1,300 on pre-order, it’s at the top of the robovacuum price range and comes with perks that are pretty useless as a tagline.
The Segway Navimow X3 series, on the other hand, is a small, flat, circular bot with wheels. But instead of vacuuming your floors, it uses artificial intelligence to mow your outdoor lawn and create a 3D map of your lawn.
Customers can mark restricted areas in the Navimow app. The price will likely be more than $3,000. This is the price of the previous model and is about the same as the price of a riding lawn mower. Unlike traditional lawn mowers, the new Navimow is quiet so you don’t have to worry about it.
Unless, of course, someone decides to leave with their phone. It comes with a theft alarm and GPS tracker just in case.
