The Best Smart Home Gadgets From CES 2021
Behold the top intelligent technology that CES had to offer.
By John Elliot
Sun, Jan 24, 2021 1:03am
3 min
3 min
Not even a pandemic could stop the world’s premier technology trade event, the Consumer Electronics Show, now officially known as CES, but this year, in accordance with social distancing and safety protocols, the event went all online.
Despite the novel format, CES was still packed with all the cutting-edge tech for which it’s become known. Below are some of the best devices you may be welcoming into your smart home soon.
LG Transparent OLED Smart Bed TV
Two years ago, all of CES was a clamour about LG’s OLED TV R, a 4K, organic LED smart screen that unfurled out of and re-rolled into a Dolby speaker base. This year, they’ve upped the innovation—by making it transparent and installable at the foot of your bed. The LG Transparent OLED Smart Bed TV, as debuted by LG Display, the company’s sci-fi-like screen division, is a 55-inch, 40% transparent screen which ascends and descends from a sleek and slender (and portable!) containment unit which is placed at the base of the bed. The screen, which users can see through when it is on or off, features speakers built into the display, and the container base provides an all-black secondary screen that can rise behind the transparent one for users to enjoy the full richness and colour of whatever they are watching. In addition to allowing users to consume televised entertainment, the Transparent OLED Smart Bed TV will allow them to mirror their devices on screen, and LG anticipates a suite of smart features for the device, from notifications and weather alerts to activity prompts and music streaming.
Like so many of CES’ most eye-grabbing gadgets, price and release date have not been named for the LG Transparent OLED Smart Bed TV.
NordicTrack Vault
Gym enthusiasts, acutely aware of what the pandemic has taken from them, will be overjoyed to learn of the NordicTrack Vault. Like the Mirror by Lululemon, the Vault is a full-length reflective surface/HD touchscreen that allows users to perfect their form as they take a wide variety of classes (yoga, lifting, high-intensity interval training and much more) from NordicTrack’s suite of iFit trainers. Unlike the Mirror, which is a freestanding or wall-hanging device, the Vault’s screen doubles as a door to a workout equipment storage system, complete with dumbbells, kettlebells, yoga, pilates, and strength-training accessories, giving Vault owners and even wider range of exercise options at their disposal.
Open to pre-order now, the Vault is available for around $3775 (exercise equipment included) or approx. $2500 (standalone), with each option including one year of iFit Family Membership.
Kohler Stillness Bath
Looking for a smart (and luxurious) soaking experience? Kohler, a leading name in high-tech bathroom fixtures, has heard your pleas. Modeled after a Japanese spa-style soaking tub, the $20,000 Kohler Stillness Bath is an infinity-edge bathtub that users can fill via voice command (even specifying precise temperature) and features a mood-lighting system ringing the entire basin. Users can even upgrade their Stillness Bath to include an “Experience Tower,” which will add aromatherapy and mist to their bathing experience—both also controllable by voice command.
The Kohler Stillness Bath will be available for $7800 to $20,000, depending on features, with the various models rolling out from May to October 2021.
MyQ Pet Portal
Here’s one for the dogs (and cats). The Pet Portal from MyQ looks to liberate indoor-outdoor pet owners from the constant need to give their four-legged friends entry to and exit from the home. Outfitted with a live-video streaming camera and two-way audio via the MyQ app, Pet Portal owners can open the pet door for their cats and dogs remotely from their phones or tablets—or they can cede the decision entirely to their furry companions. With an accompanying Bluetooth-enabled collar, pets can activate the Pet Portal via (very) close encounter, and once the device, which opens in two panels like elevator doors, grants entry or exit, it quickly closes and locks to prevent any other unwelcome visitors.
The Pet Portal, which requires professional installation and replaces an existing exterior door, is available for $2,999.
Samsung Bot Handy
The smart home owner who wants the full “Jetsons” experience will be eagerly anticipating the release of the Samsung Bot Handy. Intended to serve as an extra hand wherever you need it around the house, the Bot Handy is a slender, mobile pillar with a rolling base and digital face—complete with expressions—and a fully articulating arm with clamp hand, that can pour you a drink, pick up laundry or even place dishes in the dishwasher. A forward-facing camera and pretty clever A.I. allow the Bot Handy to determine the material components of what it is seeing and handle it accordingly.
There is no release date or price yet for the helpful robotic companion, which Samsung lists as “in development.”
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The new Brooklyn Tower, a mix of luxury condos and rentals, rises from the historic Dime Savings Bank building.
By BILL CARY
Mon, Feb 2, 2026 3 min
3 min
Listing of the Day
Location: Downtown Brooklyn, New York
Price: $16.75 million
Boasting 360-degree panoramic views across New York City, this new 92nd-floor penthouse is the highest residence in Brooklyn.
The full-floor apartment stands atop the new Brooklyn Tower, which encompasses 143 condos and 398 rentals in the heart of downtown Brooklyn, said Katie Sachsenmaier, senior sales director, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.
The condos begin on the 53rd floor, and the penthouses begin on the 88th floor. This one, Penthouse 92, is the only full-floor penthouse.
“The building is coming into its own now,” she said. “It feels very busy when you step into the lobby.”
Developed by Silverstein Properties, the building at 85 Fleet Street rises from the historic Dime Savings Bank building, according to a news release.
It was designed by SHoP Architects with interiors curated by Gachot Studios, and it is the borough’s only super tall skyscraper.
Penthouse 92 features custom interiors by Brooklyn-based Susan Clark of design firm Radnor, Sachsenmaier said. “Her selections have made it really beautiful. It feels very warm and inviting.”
Architectural details include 12-foot ceilings, European white oak floors in a custom honey stain, mahogany millwork, bronze detailing and floor-to-ceiling windows.
The eat-in kitchen features Absolute Black stone countertops, an island with seating, oil-rubbed bronze Waterworks fixtures and integrated Miele appliances, according to the listing.
The primary en suite bathroom showcases large-format Honed Breccia Capraia marble. There is also a separate laundry room as well as a wet bar and a butler’s pantry.
The views are spectacular, Sachsenmaier said. “If you’re standing in the living room, you take in the Statue of Liberty and all the way up through Midtown. On a clear day, you can see the planes take off at LaGuardia (Airport).”
Photo: Sean Hemmerle
Moving around the apartment, you see south over the harbor and then north and east over the whole city, she said.
From the front door, “you’re immediately greeted with the expansive living room and the view,” she said. “It’s really the first thing you see.”
The primary suite features a dressing room, multiple walk-in closets, two bathrooms (one with a cedar sauna) and southwest-facing windows, Sachsenmaier said. “You get those really beautiful harbour views.
The amenities will be ready by the end of summer, she said. A Life Time club will occupy the entire sixth and seventh floors, and an outdoor pool deck wraps around the dome of the bank building.
Stats
The 5,891-square-foot home has four bedrooms, five full bathrooms and one partial bathroom.
Amenities
Residents will have access to over 100,000 square feet of exclusive indoor and outdoor leisure spaces.
Fitness company Life Time will manage an array of amenities that include a 75-foot indoor lap pool, outdoor pools, a poolside lounge and atrium, a billiards room, a library lounge, a conference room, a theatre with a wet bar, a children’s playground and playroom and limited off-site parking.
The Sky Park offers an open-air loggia with a basketball court, foosball, a playground and a dog run.
Photo: Gabriel Saunders
Neighbourhood Notes
Downtown Brooklyn is at the centre of a number of neighbourhoods, including Fort Greene, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Brooklyn Heights. The tower has access to 13 subway lines, 11 commuter trains, the city’s ferry network and 22 Citi Bike stations.
“You can walk to Fort Greene Park in less than 10 minutes,” and Dekalb Market Hall, which has a Trader Joe’s, a Target and a food hall, is “right next door,” Sachsenmaier said.
Agent: Katie Sachsenmaier, senior sales director, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group
