Not another iPhone or iPod case, I begged as I scanned Central Hall at the Consumer Electronics Show. Apple did things right when they made one device without straying. There are so many ‘other’ phones out there that it’s impossible for accessory manufacturers to keep up. But you make one iPhone case and it fits all iPhones. In addition to rugged cases and personalized skins, there are charging sleeves for Powermats and portable power storage (ie back up batteries) to get you longer life, and contraptions like the Miveu that turn your iPhone into a point of view camera.

Contour, Drift, Oregon Scientific, and more debuted new POV cameras. In fact there are almost as many cameras as cellphone cases. Personally, I get sick of watching all those glory vids. It’s great if you intersperse it with regular video footage but the only time I want to nothing but you point of view is –maybe- when you’re caught in an avalanche. The presenter for the new Magisto iPhone app said it perfectly. We all post boring videos. Magisto magically takes your silly footage, uses some weird algorithms and voile’, creates a more interesting cut of your filmography. I haven’t seen it work in real time but as soon as I have my next boring video look for it posted on Twitter @pcskigal

Companies are also pushing additional storage for iPhones and iPads in the form of detachable mini hard drives or cloud computing.

The CloudFTP creates an ad-hoc network where you can link your storage devices (flash drive, computer, phone) for sharing anywhere.

Cars –electric and otherwise- will soon become mobile hotspots so once you have that cloud setup you’ve got your own mobile office.

The 2013 Ford Escape no longer comes in a hybrid version but has this cool feature where you wave your leg under the back bumper to open the hatch when your hands are full. Think of the implications when you’re carrying all of your ski stuff as well as your kids’ gear. I’m a simple girl. Smart ideas like that get me excited.

Finally, I ran into the folks at Recon to hear what they’ve been up to. New deals with Smith, Uvex, Briko, Zeal and now Polar. Clip on a heartrate strap and see your real-time heartrate. The readout inside the lower right edge of the goggles features Bluetooth connectivity, GPS mapping, speed, altitude, temperature, jump analytics, vertical, distance, free fall detection, and more. The most usual feature is the GPS/Bluetooth connection. If your friend also has a Recon goggle you can see where they are.

The sheer number of companies attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas is dizzying. The gal at the press desk dropped that this is the second largest show in in history. More than 140,000 thousand attendees, 3000 exhibitors and 1.8 million square feet between the Convention Center and the Venetian.

Health and lifestyle gadgets have leapfrogged over the tablet craze this year. Although we still saw a fair share of wafer-thin notebooks set to compete with Mac. Including those with touchscreens.

From Roomba or one of the other robotic vacuums to heartrate monitors with built-in MP3/GPS/calories-burned counter, looks like it’s no longer about making life simpler. Be prepared to read a lot of instruction manuals. One thing that shouldn’t require too much thought are headphones. The only question next year will be what color. Fighter Floyd Mayweather and 50 Cent drew a sizeable crowd signing autographs and pimping his new earcups from SMS Audio.

There were a zillion different styles of buds as well, including waterproof models for swimmers. The Motoactiv from Motorola showed promise for fitness junkies. The iPod Nano sized smart device has a built-in GPS that will track time, distance, speed, heart rate, and elevation change, then sync with your computer or WiFi Cloud. The touchscreen is protected by rugged Gorilla Glass, and the entire unit is sweatproof and water resistant. It’s also a radio and Mp3 player that determines which songs boost your energy and creates a workout specific playlist. IF you have a Motorola phone or tablet you can also get texts and calls.

Finally, the proliferation of POV cameras continues. There are cases that turn your iphone into one, GoPro introduces a remote control and Oregon Scientific is out to buck those negative quality reviews by introducing two new cameras this fall. One – The Chameleon- has two separately adjustable lens so you can record you and your journey at the same time then play back simultaneously on a split screen.

Off to check out more stuff!

I entered the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center with one mission last year. To find a pen that would record my strokes so I could write in a hardback journal (blog) without having to be logged into a computer or without having to type it all in after. The only company that came close was Yifang.

The Asian group had purchased the technology from an Israeli company and got the ball rolling. There were other electronic pens at the Show but they were either wired to the computer, needed special paper, or worked with a touch screen. Nothing for regular paper, away from any computer. But even Yifang was limited- I told them so. Until now.

There they were! Pens that could write on any paper, anywhere. Granted you needed their clip and software but so long as the clip fits over your paper or book you can write and upload it later. Think about it. I could be at a tradeshow, taking notes on a pad and upload them when I got home. Beats carrying around my laptop, recorder or tablet. Not to mention if you have a tablet, you can use the pen as if you are writing on paper. No typing. Take notes old school. Bravo! 2012 CES opened with a bang in my book!