Sharp Poketomo AI Conversational Robot
Sharp’s latest creation, the meerkat-shaped robot Poketomo, turns daily conversations into something memorable. This little guy weighs 200g and is 12cm long so you can clip him onto your backpack or slide him into your pocket. He costs 39,600 yen ($270) but the real magic happens with a monthly plan that starts at 495 yen for 400 chats. Poketomo can even connect to cloud services via Wi-Fi thanks to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 CPU, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

Open-Source Aero Hand Open
Robotic hands have been in labs for decades but never quite escaped the high cost barrier that keeps them out of everyday makers. TetherIA, a small team working on making robots do real tasks, just changed that with the Aero Hand Open. This is a kit you can assemble yourself for $314 or fully built for a bit more. It’s tendon driven with 15 degrees of freedom total (7 that you control) and open sourced, or at least the electronics as well as software.

Caltech X1 System Humanoid Robot Drone
Engineers from Caltech‘s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) and the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, have put together a team of machines, called X1, that can work together in a crisis. The pace is set by a strolling robot, followed by a rolling scout and a soaring observer. The G1 from Unitree, the M4 drone and a wheeled rover all got put through their paces on campus this week.

Meta Quest 3S VR Headset 2025
Holiday shopping tends to come at us out of nowhere and catches us off guard, and this year the Meta Quest 3S is a sneaky little game-changer for anyone looking to get into virtual reality on the cheap. Coming in at $299 for the 128GB Gorilla Tag Cardboard Hero Bundle, it packs a pretty impressive punch for the price point and is definitely easy enough to justify buying for yourself or as a gift.

iPad Pro M5 Reveal
Apple’s latest iPad Pro has just been announced, and it’s a beast of a tablet that appears to be challenging you to push its limits. Powered by the new M5 chip, it takes the capabilities of its predecessors and pushes them to new heights of performance. This tablet is available in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, and it’s an appealing option if you’re a creator or a professional.