What's better than going pro with GoPro? Optrix has an idea, at CES!

I have had my eye on one of thos cool GoPro waterproof cameras that you mount to your helmet.  But at $300 plus various accessories, it was hard to justify.  So while wandering around CES, as soon as I saw the Optrix, I knew I had a solution.  As John Willenborg, the inventor of the Optrix HD points out, you already have a great 1080p videocamera, so why buy a GoPro when you can make a rugged case for the iPhone 4 or iPod touch.

That's exactly what they did, with the Optrix.  This is a seriously rugged case with mounting options up the wazoo.  They showed undoctored video of an iPhone in the Optrix case surviving (and record) repeated drops from a second story window and being run over by a 3 ton truck!

There are some issues with using the built-in video app so they went ahead and built a better one.  It uses telemetry data from the iPhone to display and record track/lap times, speed, direction, etc.  Try that on a GoPro!

At $90, the Optrix HD case alone would be valuable just for its rugged protection, but combined with the mount and the app, the sum is greater than the parts and GoPro could easily go the way of the FlipCam.