The last thing you expect to smell at the Consumer Electronics Show amidst the should-to-shoulder crowds is fine Italian leather. Squeezing off the tram and buses and shuffling down the aisles, attendees are more likely to smell like that morning's bacon and eggs, or maybe even the garlic from the Italian dinner they had the night before escaping through their pores. I tried not to think about it nor breathe in too deeply, but as I edged ever more deeply into the rear of the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, a faint odor that reminded me of my childhood and the fragrance of my mother's closet of the finest leather handbags and shoes stopped me in my tracks.

I was expecting Ricardo Montalban to materialize and ask if I wanted to see some "fine Corr-in-thi-an Leather."

I was standing in a section of mostly Chinese-staffed booths with a wide assortment of iPhone and iPad accessories, many that had Shenzen in their company name, a city just north of Hong Kong and HQ of many high tech companies. A rather sophisticated Chinese gent in this particular booth, Hong Kong-based Melkco, showed me an elegant iPad case that easily would retail well over $100 in the US. "We have a complete range," he purred, stroking the case like Ricardo might caress the cheek of Lana Turner. "Fine leather from Italy or you can also have this--made in China" as he groped a plastic iPad cover that might have been made from a skinned Teletubby.

And there were booths upon booths of rhinestone studded cases. Girls in Asia were much faster to add bling to their mobile phones and embrace girlie netbooks and turn their electronics into a fashion statement.

There's no doubt that Apple has won, at least this year, with votes cast by the sea of accessories that protect your mobile devices from worldly attacks including the shockproof dustproof waterproof covers of Lifeproof, whose iPhones happily played videos while submerged in an aquarium. Yet another booth, Liquipel, promises to waterproof your mobile phone with a film thinner than human hair while still enabling you to plug things into it.

Beyond utility, though, there's now a sense of style: Beyzacases, a Turkey-based case provider had probably the most elegant vertical leather flip case for the iPhone 4. HEX, a California-based tech accessory company, is specializing in carrier bags designed for street wear. Expect your bicycle messenger or UC students to be wearing one of these. The padded flap opens up to reveal your iPad or MacBook Air and the cross-strap holds it on your body while you skateboard or bike to your next class.


Digital product one-upsmanship certainly has changed. In the past, geeks could open up their computers and brag about the boards and drives and blinking lights they could put inside their PC. While those days are gone and while you can't open up your iPhone, your iPad or your Nano, you certainly can wrap something around them that's worth talking about.