CES

Sanho makes a variety of battery packs under the HyperJuice name that give you extra power for iOS, Apple, and other USB based devices, but I was intrigued by their latest offering. The iUSBport is a hockey puck sized device that takes any USB hard drive or flash drive and turns it into a wireless storage device!

As much as I love new Apple products, one of the drawbacks to being an early adopter is the lack of compatibility with older accessories. In the case of the iPhone 5, to enjoy the new form factor, you have to upgrade to the new, proprietary Lightning connector. While there are adapters for speaker docks, etc., one type lf accessory that has been unable to make the transition is a case with a built in battery.

You can always count on OtterBox for heavy duty protective cases but also for rapid development of cases following the unveiling of a new Apple device. Sure enough, my iPad mini was just a few days old when I was able to wrap it in a protective Defender case from OtterBox.

Magellan has offered quality GPS tools for years, so I shouldn't be surprised that their GPS Car Kit for the iPhone and iPod touch is a quality product. Apple's maps app may not be world class, currently, so Magellan offers their own proven Roadmate app.

I've written about Nomad's artistic brushes before but their newest line, the Flex series, adds a nice twist. As with all of their styluses, they use capacitive hairlike synthetic threads as a paintbrush would, but thanks to their conductivity, you can use painting apps, like ArtRage, with greater control. With the Flex line, you can add a second tip and flip the stylus around and have a thicker or thinner brush tip, depending on your needs.

I attended the CES Preview in New York City this summer and got to see a cool merging of app and board games, thanks to iPieces from Pressman Toy Corp. They offer a wide variety of physical game pieces that interact with their free iPad apps.

I first got to preview the MirrorCase at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and again at the New York CES Preview a few months ago, but now it's shipping and I've had a chance to use it firsthand.


The MirrorCase lets you lie your iPhone almost flat and point the camera at your object of interest, and record videos or take photographs.

My traditional 30 pin iPod speaker docks are pretty much obsolete now, thanks to the new Lightning connector. But that's okay, because I can use the audio jack and Bluetooth to enjoy audio from my new iPhone 5.


I've come across a number of gadgets that make the transition easy. Suppose you prefer a speaker, to share your audio with others. I got to try some compact devices from Matrix Audio that fit the bill. They offer both a Bluetooth model, called nrg, and a wired model called one.