The hottest stuff from the show.

I didn't go to the show this year because of the flu. I was less concerned about being in Las Vegas than about the travel to and from the event because the rate of infections in my area is off the charts. I rarely leave home.

I was able to find several things that caught my eye at the show that was streamed. We will close with my product of the week, which is my favorite product from the show.

The future is Bed of the Future.

The Ooler sleep system is a godsend because it assures me that I am always at the right temperature for a sound sleep. There was a bed that was more of an integrated approach to the sleeping problem that caught my attention. It is a smart bed.

The back lift and recline on the Sleep Number is available. The bed gives reports on the quality of sleep and gives suggestions on how to improve it. It helps you keep cool and has a foot warmer feature that can help keep your spouse from using the cold feet wake up method, which is hilarious to the person doing it.

Enhancing Teleportation.

I met Stan Lee over a decade ago when I attended an event hosted by Marvell Semiconductor. A large, high-definition screen display was placed in a door frame and tied to a video conferencing solution.

It was like walking up to a doorway and talking to someone. Even though we were not yet at 4K resolutions, it felt more natural than the upper-body focused and conference room solutions we have today.

Two companies showed more advanced solutions.

Portl had a desktop and a booth. The desktop solution has a wide range of uses and provides a credible 3D experience and a digital assistant that was amazing. It looks like you could use it to freak out your pets.

The Portl "M" is a communication and media device. Credit: Portl

I saw a solution similar to La Vitre's. It was less expensive at full size and more focused than the Portl device.

The computer case is cool.

I still build my own desktop computers and I look for the next cool computer case. Cyber Power released a series of computer cases that are just over the top. It has active vents that open and close automatically. This is something to check out.

This case has jewels in front that move into open ducts as your workload increases. It is on my short list for cases to buy when I do my next build, assuming it is available in black, because I am not buying a white case no matter how cool it looks.

The vacuum is robotic.

I own three robotic vacuums. The iRobot docking station that sucks the dirt out of the small container on the robot allows it to go weeks without a human needing to empty the bag.

The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is a vacuum that also washes the floors.

The robotic vacuum/mop picks up gunk from the dock that replaces the water.

I have tile floors and the existing vacuums do a nice job picking up dirt, but when I wipe the floor it's clear it needs to be mopped. A robotic vacuum can deal with people with pets and hard surface floors.

The PC is desktop.

I build my own PCs but I still lust after prebuilt models. The HP Omen 45L was the gaming PC design that caught my eye at the show.

HP Omen 45L. The gaming desktop is from HP.

The machine was interesting because it didn't use either the hot air out of the case or the cold air in the radiator to cool it. Most of my builds do one or the other, but that is sub-optimal because you want cool air in the case and through the radiator for the most effective cooling.

This is Omen. One of my hobbies is building hot rods and 45L reminds me of using an intercooler for a blown car. The isolated cooling solution helps with carrying the case. The most innovative case design was from a major vendor. I wanted it a lot.

The HP Elite Folio laptop was my favorite laptop from last year.

The best monitor.

The best monitor at the show was the Odyssey Ark, which comes with a warning that you can't afford it if you have to ask.

I use a forty-nine-inch Dell monitor on my desk which I thought was pretty big, but I have never seen a larger workspace like that before.

The Odyssey Ark is a curved gaming screen that takes it to the next level. There is an exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show. Credit: SAMSUNG

I am pretty sure I would need to redesign my home office to use this monster, but I'm okay with that given how awesome it would be. This is on my Christmas list in the second half of the year.

The best laptop.

The ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 was the laptop that caught my eye this year.

I think a seventeen-inch form factor is ideal for working at home because you don't travel as much during the Pandemic, but you are still moving around a lot, particularly if you have pets and kids.

ThinkBook Plus Gen 3. Credit:Lenovo

The pen dock and twin displays on this laptop allow people who are better than me at drawing to express themselves without taking up main screen real estate. You can still work on your primary project while using the second screen for media, social networking or for your security cameras to make sure your pets or kids are not doing things they shouldn't.

I have three dogs and three cats, and while the dogs are pretty good, the darned cats are getting into trouble. This configuration is ideal for those of us who are mobile inside the home, but rarely travel, which appears to be my life for the foreseeable future.

The best over the top offering.

This is the media chair. It combines a recliner with a large screen TV into an integrated offering for couples who want to watch TV together but cannot agree on the same program. I like action movies with a lot of violence and my wife is not a fan of them.

You would need two of these. They are not going to be cheap. It uses a fifty-five-inchOLED flexible screen that can change orientation at the push of a button. It has a unique sound capability that uses the screen as a driver.

I have two TVs in the house. I can attest to how great they look, but I would love to get two of them. I could not hide in my office to watch my shows.

The Virtual Ride concept is a curved screen exercise bike. eloton eats your heart out.

The best car.

I was struggling with this one. The Cadillac and Mercedes prototypes were over the top and the Sony Prototype car was the best looking.

I want to be able to change the look of my car. I am tempted to use lights.

It tends to be too67531, not to mention a ticket magnet.

The BMW iX Flow concept uses E Ink panels to create unique optical designs and effects.

In the future, we might be able to change the color of our cars using color E Ink.

Over the years, E Ink panels have improved and become much cheaper. They put technology on the wheels. Some of us would get into trouble because of the information capability of these panels. The video is here.

The best PC feature.

There was a time when Microsoft and Intel dominated. PCs are a small part of the show. Major PC-oriented content was present at all of the keynotes.

I think the keynote by Nvidia was the most captivating. The keynote used heavy use of technology and videos to hold my attention, but what caught my eye was Intel's announcement about creating greater interoperability between smartphones and PCs with Screenovate technology.

I have been waiting for this capability to emerge again and become compelling since I worked at IBM and co-owned a lab focused on PC phone integration. Dell and Microsoft have integration efforts that work, but they do not approach what we were doing back in the 1980s.

If Apple does not break this on the iPhone that should work as well, what Intel said suggests it may get there with the support of Dell, Google, and Microsoft. I have been waiting for this for three decades, and it looks like there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

It was wrapping up.

This year at the Consumer Electronics Show was amazing. I saw a number of amazing products, even though it was unsafe for me to travel to the show.

I am not a fan of BMW, but the E Ink solution has me rethinking that position. I am going to buy a robotic vacuum and I want a chair and a monitor.

I am on the waiting list for a new computer case, but I will get one soon.

The HP Folio may be my favorite laptop in 2022.

This may be the most expensive show I have ever been to. I don't travel to the show often, so it would be ironic if the most expensive was one of the times.

Alienware m17 R5 is a Ryzen edition.

All of my gaming rigs are desktop based. I would like to game somewhere other than in the house, because my back yard is a river.

Typically, gaming notebooks from the company have been full of tradeoffs and have not been that interesting. The Alienware m17 R5 was showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show by Dell and Advanced Micro Devices. I want a gaming rig with me.

Frank Azor is the chief architect of gaming solutions at Advanced Micro Devices and he is an old friend of mine.

Alienware m17 R5 is a Ryzen edition. Credit: Dell and Alienware.

I believe that this is the most powerful laptop in the market. The laptop is awesome to look at, but when fully configured, it should handle our gaming needs.

I like big screens. The laptop has seventeen inches of screen. For a gaming laptop from a top tier provider, it starts at a reasonable $1,599 and comes in my favorite laptop color: black.

If you've ever wanted to see what a mobile product would look like, this Alienware m17 is for you.