SALTZMAN: Love tech? The best is yet to come

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For gadget geeks like yours truly, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that just wrapped in Las Vegas is simply nerdvana.

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With nearly three-million-square-feet of showroom floor space at the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding facilities – the equivalent of about 55 football fields – it can be an exhausting endeavor to lay your hands on all the upcoming wearable tech, computers, high-tech cars, giant TVs, and other gear slated to debut later in 2025 and beyond.

You don’t need to be a techie to get excited about what’s to come, but here’s a closer look at 10 impressive devices shown at CES.

(See, what happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay in Vegas!)

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ASUS ZENBOOK A14

There’s a lot to love about the ASUS Zenbook A14, including its unbelievably long battery life of up to – get this – 32 hours between charges.

Crazy.

It’s also billed as the lightest 14-inch Copilot+ PC laptop in the world at under 900 grams, thanks in part to its “Ceraluminum” material that’s 30% lighter and three times stronger than traditional anodized aluminum.

A “phone link” feature allows you to manage calls, notifications and file transfers – directly from the laptop.

Starting at $1,199 Canadian, the Zenbook A14 will debut in February.

TCL NXTPAPER 11 PLUS

iPads are great – for the indoors.

But if you want to read an ebook by the pool or watch a midday movie on a backyard deck, it’s virtually impossible to see the screen.

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Instead, TCL showed off its next-gen NXTPAPER 11 Plus tablet, a super thin 11.5-inch Android slate with TCL’s NXTPAPER 4.0 display, an anti-glare matte screen that still yields great colour, brightness and sharpness, in any environment.

With the press of a button on the side of the tablet, NXTPAPER 11 Plus goes into a greyscale e-ink mode for reading ebooks.

It’ll be out the first half of 2025.

ROBOROCK SAROS Z70

The Roborock Saros Z70 is first robotic vacuum and mop hybrid with a retractable arm that extends out of the top when needed.

If the Saros Z70’s AI-powered camera detects an object in its path, like an errant sock or Kleenex lying in the middle of the room, it can literally extend a small robotic arm, pick it up and drive it over to where it should be, like a hamper for the sock or garbage bin for the tissue.

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No word yet on when it’ll be available.

KARA POD

While air-to-water machines (aka atmospheric water generators) aren’t new – they convert water vapour in the air into drinking water – Kara Pod will not only be the least expensive home unit (at $599 USD), it is also the world’s first countertop device that can brew you a coffee as well!

In other words, it’s a self-refilling coffee machine.

The company Kara Water says it can produce up to 3.2 liters of drinking water per day, which is enough for 18 cups of coffee or seven bottles of water.

Kara Pod is “coming soon” and will be available in black, white, and beige.

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LG SIGNATURE OLED T

While we got a sneak peak of this TV last year, LG Electronics officially unveiled its 77-inch LG SIGNATURE OLED T – the world’s first transparent and true wireless 4K OLED TV – and announced it’ll ship (in the U.S. first) by end of the year.

When you want to watch TV, it’s opaque like your existing television, but when you aren’t watching anything, instead of a black rectangle your television becomes see-through and blends into your room deIcor, like a large window. Or better yet, opt to show digital images, such as fish in a virtual fish tank. It’s amazing to see this in person.

Because its wireless, components like a cable box or video game system can be connected to the “Zero Connect Box” somewhere else in the room.

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TP-LINK TAPO DL110

Talk about versatility.

Coming soon, the TP-Link Tapo DL100 Smart Wi-Fi Door Lock offers six ways to unlock the door: by fingerprint, keypad, the Tapo app on a smartphone, Bluetooth, via your smart speaker, or with included backup keys.

The companion app also lets you remotely manage the weatherproof lock, monitor entry logs, and create temporary codes for guests to gain access to your home, such as a babysitter, cleaning person, dog walker, or technician.

ATARI GAMESTATION GO

If “retro” is more appealing to you than “futuristic,” there was still something for you at CES.

As the name suggests, My Arcade’s Atari Gamestation Go is a portable handheld designed for playing classic Atari games, anywhere and anytime. It includes more than 200 built-in titles to play on the 7-inch high-res display, or connect an HDMI cable to play on a big-screen television, projector or monitor.

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Many classic ’80s arcade games are included – from Pac-Man and Centipede to Breakout and Asteroids – which you can play using the four-way analog stick, small trackball, and buttons.

Atari Gamestation Go will debut in the second half of the year.

LAND AIRCRAFT CARRIER

Now this is wild.

Chinese automaker Xpeng AeroHT garnered buzz at CES for its Land Aircraft Carrier concept.

It might be best described as an electric minivan that launches a large, foldable passenger drone out of the back.

So, after you drive to your destination in the six-wheeled extended range “Mothership” vehicle, two people can then climb into the eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) drone to soar the friendly skies for an afternoon of sightseeing.

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Xpeng AeroHT said production and deliveries will start sometime in 2026 – in China.

TONIES STARTER SET

Designed for little listeners, Toniebox is a screen-free entertainment system that plays your children’s favourite songs and stories, by simply placing a Tonie figure on top of the soft speaker, and it launches the audio content – from Peppa Pig and Disney to Sesame Street and Paw Patrol.

Now available in Canada, the Tonies Starter Set ($119) includes one Tonies character, but there are hundreds more to collect (most under $25), including Moana, Marvel’s Spidey, Lightning McQueen, Elmo, and Elsa, to name a few.

Parents and grandparents can record messages and stories for the kids on the my-tonies app, which then plays on the Toniebox.

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SANDISK CREATOR PHONE SSD

Calling all content creators!

The SanDisk Creator Phone SSD (solid state drive) is a small and light magnetic drive that affixes to the back of any MagSafe device, like an iPhone 16, and can store up to two terabytes of footage directly to the drive.

That way, you’ll never run out of storage on your smartphone since you’re capturing directly to the SSD itself.

It supports Apple “Pro-Res” 4K video capture at 60 frames per second.

It’s coming soon and will include one month of Adobe Creative Cloud with purchase.

BONUS! KIRIN ELECTRIC SALT SPOON

Instead of consuming flavourless food because it’s low in sodium, journalists at CES tried out Kirin’s “smart spoon,” which sends an electric current through the utensil to your tongue and tricks your tastebuds into thinking your food is saltier than it is.

The handle of the spoon houses the product’s power and settings, such as four different saltiness options.

The idea is that we’d ingest less salt for a healthier diet, but don’t expect this Japanese product to debut in Canada any time soon.

– Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast and the author of the book, Apple Vision Pro For Dummies (Wiley)

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