By Aldo Panessidi

Take inventory of your tech devices. You likely have a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, an iPod media player, and maybe an errant MP3 player lying around. That is a lot of devices to manage, juggle, and keep tidy – a huge concern for those who like clean décor and want to incorporate these devices. So as the newest offerings of technology were paraded out at CES, who are the winners for top accessory innovators at this year’s conference?

To start, Samsung had some wonderfully well designed speakers and docking stations for their Galaxy S 2 smartphones and Galaxy tablets that had a range of classic to contemporary. They looked to have dedicated woofers and tweeters to ensure a great sound as well as a great look.

Next we have iLuv which you likely know for its Apple accessories. This year they branched out to showcase their newest Android offerings as well. Customers looking to replace a laptop with a tablet will like the folio-plus-Bluetooth-keyboard that gives the option of a hard keyboard or using their tablet with the soft keyboard. If considering a desktop replacement, iLuv’s workstation is affordable and a really neat design that will dock your device, is adjustable for height, and has an integrated wired keyboard. Benefits of a dedicated workstation with the mobility of a tablet? Yes, please! Showing even more innovation for its Apple offerings, iLuv is a must to check out for products that will fit your lifestyle and needs.

Another mobile accessory company that wowed at CES is Scosche. The coolest tech in their array of gadgets was their desktop chargers, wall chargers and car chargers. For phones they had a case, the flipCHARGE rogue and switchback flips via headphones. For emergency charging situations, keep a ClipSYNC keychain on hand and it will undoubtedly come in handy.

For protecting these mobile devices, bags, sleeves and cases are imperative. Otterbox continues to be a top manufacturer for the best protective cases and skins for all iPhone styles and now the top selling Android handset models. Best mentions at CES for Otterbox was the Commuter.

There were many other wonderful accessories to meet the need of charging multiple devices at once or store and protect tablets. As these become available to the public and we have more information on them, we will keep you posted!

By  Aldo Panessidi

A new report from industry luminary ABI Research indicates that more than 50% of all unlocked cell phones will be capable of running on 4G or 3G data networks.  Jake Saunders, VP of Forecasting for ABI Research suggests that . “As the festive cheer of the holiday season dies away, the mood among handset vendors remains quietly confident regarding 2012.   The outlook will yield growth in the order of 8%, netting 1.67 billion handsets shipped worldwide by the end of 2012. Particularly notable is for the first time, 3G and 4G handset shipments will capture more than 50% of total handsets shipped.”  The consumer’s appetite for  high end mobile devices will also drive the after sales cell phone and tablet accessories market.

Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  Discover the latest innovative protection solutions… stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases specifically designed to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside these brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

In an earlier report ABI Research identified the worldwide after-market wireless devices accessories sales increasing to more than $50 Billion by 2015.  Key accessory market indicators were identified as:

Protective Solutions – Bags, Sleeves, Cases and Screen Protectors – $1.2 billion

Hands Free Solution – BlueTooth Headsets and BlueTotth Car Kits – $920 million

Power Solutions – Desktop Chargers, Car Chargers, Wall Chargers, Batteries – $766 million

Memory Solutions – Micro SD Cards and Data Cables – $529 million

Personalization Solutions – Cases & Skins – $520 million

Audio Solutions – Speakers, Earpieces & Headsets – $308 million

In the second half of 2011, top tier mobile device vendors unleashed marketing promotions targeting the upward mobile market audience in emerging smartphone and table markets.   Samsung, used clever ads downgrading Apple users while extolling the benefits of the Galaxy S II X phones and Galaxy Tablet lines of business to make substantial inroads  into these market spaces. Apple is expanding sales channels in emerging markets, with greater success in China than it’s having in India, but is also targeting South American markets such as Brazil. HTC is gaining traction in China, but developed markets such as North America and Europe continue to be the mainstay of its “ship into” markets. RIM, despite its weakness in apps-capable smartphone markets, continues to do well in messaging-centric emerging markets such as Indonesia. Nokia hopes to benefit from Windows Phone 7 Lumia series launches in India (Dec-2011) and China (in 1Q-2012).

It has been recently announced that the Ascent lineup of Vertu luxury phones is about to be updated.  The Ascent which is unusually rich in features is ready to pack GPS, 32GB storage and a 5 megapixel camera.  The Vertu Ascent X 5 megapixel camera will sport a LED flash and continuous autofocus.  The only part of the phone that has not been updated to more modern standards is the 2 inch 16M color TFT display.  The specs on this device certainly sound a lot like the Nokia 6700 classic which recently got a huge makeover of its own.

As for the connectivity of the Ascent X this new device will support quad band 3G with HSDPA, Bluetooth v2.0 and should come with a built in GPS receiver.  However it is still unknown about what types of materials the Ascent X will be made of and as we all know that it was makes Vertu phones special.  The price and launch date are also unknown but are expected to be released very soon.  The Ascent X is just another phone in the ever growing line of luxury phones designed by Vertu.

With their recent announcement of new phones Vertu was greatly lacking in the updated features department.  It looks like they got their act together though with the new Ascent X as this phone appears to have some nice additions.  The GPS is a great addition to any new unlocked smartphone and a feature that many user find quite handy.  The 32GB of storage will allow users to utilize the new 5 megapixel camera to its fullest potential.  No longer will people need to carry around a digital camera they will just be able to use their new Vertu Ascent X to capture all of the moments in their lives.

The Sony Ericcson Vivaz is one of those new cameras…Oh wait, it is not a camera, it is a mobile phone.  You would not know this unless you take a further look at this smartphone.  Those digital camera companies are probably a little bit scared of this Sony Ericsso cell phone.  No wonder why the camera market is declining.  The Vivaz has an eight megapixel camera on board and has the HD 720p video with continuing auto focus.  It even has the LED flash, face and smile detection, geotagging and touch focus.

The camera and video on this phone has everything you need to take great pictures.  You will not need that digital camera sitting on your counter anymore.  This is not just a great camera, but it is also a great smartphone.  It has everything you are looking for in a touchscreen mobile phone.  It runs in the Symbian OS and has a 3.2 inch nHD screen with 640×360 resolution.  The Vivaz has 720 MHz and PowerVR SGX graphics accelerator.  It works on the quad band GSM and is 3G with HSDPA 10.2 Mbps.  The phone also is Wi-Fi and uses Wisepilot navigation software.

The Vivaz of course comes with the microSD card slot, TV out, Stereo FM radio, microUSB and stereo Bluetooth v2.0.  The web browser has full flash support.    The phone has all of these great features and looks good too.  With the rounded edges and the sleek style, it is hard to believe that it can do all of the things that it says.

A few of the drawbacks are that it does not have a lens cap or no auto mode for the flash.  It does not use smart dialing and there are no stereo speakers.  But these are not a deal breaker as some are already getting rid of their digital cameras and taking a long hard look at the Vivaz.  You will be able to share all of your photos on your favorite social networks.  It should be released sometime within the first quarter of this year.

   It’s been a few months since Quebec enacted the hands-free law.  You can no longer drive with your cell phone in your hand to talk in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia.

   These provinces are the first and we are sure not the last to enact this law.  With police and the government trying to take a hard line again reckless driving this is just the beginning.  This is a step forward in making driving safer.
  

   Recently, October 4, 2008, the Alberta government rejected two resolutions that would have banned cell phones or cell phone holding.  Many people in the medical community are for the banning or restricting of cell phones.  These problems are “newer” problems facing governments.  It will take some time before laws are fully passed.
The question is what will driving be like in 10 years?  Will we have implants for our cell phones?  Will talking and driving even be allowed anywhere?  These are questions that can’t be answered now but we will likely see many more changes in the coming years.