Another year has passed, bringing with it a plethora of gadgets showcased at CES, one of the biggest tech expos in the world held annually in Las Vegas every January.

This year unveiled an array of intriguing innovations, including a solar-powered car, footwear that massages your feet as you move, and a six-wheeled transforming SUV designed to carry a passenger drone in its trunk for those spontaneous escapes.

However, the tech excitement was overshadowed by a devastating fire that erupted in Los Angeles on the same day CES commenced, diverting attention away from the gadgets as many of our friends and colleagues faced significant losses and unimaginable challenges just a few hours away.

What’s next for the gadget industry?

Amid all the uncertainties, one clear trend emerged: tech leaders are fully embracing an AI-driven future brimming with real robots, autonomous vehicles, and highly sophisticated AI agents that will make our current virtual assistants look outdated. However, when do these exciting visions transition from mere prototypes to transformative technologies? I’m uncertain, but it’s a question I’ll be exploring as I continue my tech coverage this year.

In the meantime, here’s a roundup of some of the gadgets that caught my attention, including several I highlighted on the Today Show.

The eye-catching shoes everyone will notice

I’d gladly stroll for miles in these advanced Nike x Hyperice Recovery shoes. These uniquely designed boots warm up, vibrate and massage your feet and ankles through an inbuilt air compression feature. After testing them on Olympic athletes in Paris, these shoes claim to enhance recovery from workouts, boost circulation, and ease discomfort in muscles and joints.

With their adjustable air compression system, they fit comfortably, and you can wear them while running errands—unless you mind a few surprised looks from passersby. They are certainly not subtle, as they are large and emit noticeable sounds, making them less than ideal for air travel. Plus, cranking the heat to the maximum can make them uncomfortably warm.

Excluding those drawbacks, they are engineered to help you reach optimum performance promptly, resembling compression socks on steroids. As a runner and someone who recently recovered from an ankle injury, I’m fully on board. No details on price or availability yet, but I’ll be watching for updates.

The future of PC displays?

I’ve spent a full week experimenting with Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 rollable laptop, which I first reviewed just days before CES. So far, I’m consistently impressed by its innovative rising screen design and exceptional battery life, which outlasts my current Mac by hours.

With a simple button press, the display expands from 14 inches to a striking 16.7 inches—an impressive 50% increase in navigable screen space, akin to having an additional screen attached to your laptop, perfect for multitasking. When you don’t need the extra space, a tap of a button retracts it and returns you to the standard display.

This design is clever, as today’s online landscape is largely optimized for taller screens, similar to smartphones. Making your laptop’s screen adjustable in height is ingenious, promoting better ergonomics and helping to prevent tech-related neck strain.

Anticipated to be released early this year, it’s expected to start at approximately $3,499.

Why settle for your smartphone when you can have this portable TV?

Another gadget I’ve come to appreciate is LG’s StanbyME 2, a 27-inch QHD touch-screen device that functions as both a large wireless tablet and a high-definition TV. It includes a mobile stand on wheels, allowing you to watch, play, surf the web, or create content wherever you please.

Why limit yourself to a single room when you can enjoy this stunning display in any setting? Perfect for binge-watching in the bathtub, this versatile TV is just as suitable for the kitchen, tailgating, home gym, garage, and beyond, making it easy to have a smart TV without being tethered to a power source (it lasts for four hours on battery). Plus, it supports AirPlay, enabling streaming directly from your iPhone, and features an “Information Board” to help organize your busy schedule.

While the price is not yet available, its launch is anticipated sometime this year.

A device that might save your plants from you

LeafyPod is a clever AI-enhanced pot designed for those who lack gardening skills. It connects to your smartphone via WiFi through a specialized app. Simply input the type of plant you have and fill the water reservoir; then let this smart pot manage the care.

Equipped with sensors that monitor temperature, light, and moisture, it waters your plant appropriately and alerts you when adjustments are needed, be it for soil or water. With a rechargeable battery that lasts up to three months, you can confidently take vacations without worrying about returning to deceased plants.

Available for preorder now at $148, it’s expected to ship to customers in April.

The futuristic litter box for your cat

While flying cars may still be a dream of the future, we now have the Litter-Robot 4, a litter box that feels like it belongs in The Jetsons. More than just a place for your cat to relieve themselves, it’s a gadget equipped with sensors that can weigh your pet, track their usage frequency, and alert you to potential health issues, such as kidney disease.

It is smart enough to distinguish between multiple cats, making it ideal for homes with more than one feline. After a cat uses the box, it rotates to scoop and store the clumped litter in a drawer lined with a bag, effectively containing odors and mess.

Considering that approximately one in three households in the U.S. owns a cat, that’s a significant number of litter boxes needing cleaning. Priced at $699, this solution is now available to streamline the litter box task.

A smart pizza oven that delivers the perfect pizza in just two minutes

The Current Backyard Model P is a powerful smart pizza oven designed for home use. It can be placed on your countertop or in your backyard to create 12-inch pizzas anywhere you have a bit of space.

It reaches over 800 degrees Fahrenheit and utilizes an advanced algorithm to ensure even heat distribution, eliminating the hassle of constant monitoring while cooking. It connects to a smart app that features a “pizza build calculator” to determine the ideal cooking time and temperature based on the thickness of the dough, toppings, cheese, and sauce.

Ready to bring home the taste of Italy, this model will retail for $600 when it debuts in the second quarter of this year.

Effortless lawn mowing with AI

AI is also advancing in lawn care.

I’m a huge advocate for innovation in our everyday lives. This robotic lawnmower, designed to resemble a race car, utilizes state-of-the-art machine vision technology to cut grass right to the edge of your lawn without needing tangled wires or complicated setups. Simply connect it with its app, and let the mower create a layout of your yard and go to work.

True to its name, this robotic mower features all-wheel drive for enhanced traction and can manage up to ¾ of an acre in its standard configuration, which is more than sufficient for any urban lawn I’ve encountered. It navigates seamlessly around and beneath trees, shrubs, and other usual obstacles, and it thrives in uneven landscapes.

Presales are currently open, with a starting price of $2,499.

Porch thieves finally encounter their opponent

Porch theft is a significant downside to our delivery culture, but Hyve’s innovative package security system aims to put a stop to it. This intelligent container protects your deliveries when you can’t be there to collect them. Rather than leaving your packages exposed on the porch for thieves to snatch, Hyve secures them until you can pick them up, using your smartphone as the key.

It attaches to your front door hinge to prevent thieves from just stealing the entire container, and it’s large enough for packages of various sizes. Additionally, it has a tamper alert and wifi connectivity that shares photos of deliveries in real-time.

Hyve’s waitlist is now open, with a planned launch in June 2025 at an estimated price of around $300.

A cute robotic cat for cooling

Sometimes, gadgets don’t need a sound rationale to exist, and this little cat robot is a perfect example. I’m entirely convinced that this tiny feline finds its niche here. Its purpose is whimsically straightforward: to blow on your hot beverages and food to help them cool down. That’s it. Nothing more.

This charming little kitty sits on the edge of your cup or bowl and gently blows air over your hot items at one of eight different speeds. It might sound absurd – and it is – but it’s also endearing and functions as effectively as if you were blowing on your coffee or soup directly.

At just $25, it falls squarely into the “so ridiculous I must have it” category.

Mirmuri

From the creators of the coffee-cooling cat comes a delightful vision for the future of robots that I can genuinely appreciate. Mirmuri is an adorable little robotic charm that clings to your bag or backpack, resembling a tiny baby sloth. It has subtle yet striking head movements, responding to environmental shifts while looking utterly adorable.

Priced at $70, it blurs the boundary between high-tech gadgetry and cute plush toy, but the joy it brings to onlookers and yourself whenever you catch it in action is priceless. Are robotic companions the future of interaction? All signs suggest perhaps.

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech journalist and on-air contributor for “The Today Show.” The opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author and do not necessarily represent those of YSL News. You can find videos detailing the gadgets mentioned above @JennJolly on Instagram.