Shortly after the official Galaxy Camera announcement in August we got our first look at some "prototype" Galaxy Camera accessories at Samsung's IFA booth. At the time, the manufacturer was clear that not everything behind the display case would see the light of day; these were just concept designs created to show what could be possible with Samsung's smart camera.

Fast forward to CES 2013, where Samsung had its full range of real, finalized Galaxy Camera accessories on show. Some of the more fanciful stuff has disappeared, giving way to -- amongst other things -- a couple of standardized leather case designs, including a "premium pouch" with a shoulder strap. Also on display on the show floor were official battery packs, charging stands and screen protectors, as well as AllShare Cast dongle for wirelessly connecting the camera to a TV. Finally, there was a redesigned wrist strap on show in each of the four Galaxy Camera color options.

Unfortunately there was very little info on when and where these accessories will go on sale; Samsung reps on the show floor offered a rather vague release window of H1 2013. So while you wait, you can check out more photos of Samsung's Galaxy Camera accessories after the break.

CES is always a breeding ground for some really spectacular smartphone accessories, and 2013 is no exception. What's truly unique about this tradeshow is how diverse it tends to be-- for a week, Las Vegas is home to some of the newest and best styles from all over the globe. Today, we caught a look at what Korean manufacturer Anymode is doing with its line of accessories.

Currently, Anymode is only available for import through their website-- don't expect to find any of these designs here in the States. What's noteworthy about these accessories is the way Samsung has managed to spur innovation around the world-- here's a perfect example of stunning detail designed exclusively for Galaxy devices (and the iPhone, but who cares). I've said it before and I'll say it again-- Samsung's success isn't due as much to its hardware as it is to its ecosystem. Aside from iOS products, the Galaxy line is by and large the Android devices with the most accessories to choose from, which is more of a deciding factor when purchasing a phone than most care to admit. Personally, I love my DNA much more than my Galaxy Note 2, but the DNA's lack of accessories, compared with the Note 2's plethora, is a major drag for this HTC customer.

Anymode's full line of cases and accessories for the Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy S 3 and the Galaxy Camera can be found in the gallery below-- we'll continue to gather eye candy as we stumble across it, and we'll keep our fingers crossed that some of these designs will soon hit American shelves. 

Lenspen has been making screen and lens cleaners for some time now, with its technology being used by many major camera manufacturers, and now it has a new line of smartphone and tablet cleaners as well. The idea here is that instead of using a towel to clean the screen, you use a carbon-covered pad that's much more efficient at picking up oils. The carbon absorbs much more oil than any towel can, and these stow away nicely to boot because they're about the size of a flash drive.

The original Smartklear (the small red one) has been around for a bit, but now has a new shell to match the newest model, the tablet-sized Sidekick (here in blue.) These things work, and the idea is really cool if you end up cleaning smudges off your devices incessantly like we do. Beats the heck out of stuffing a microfiber cloth in your pocket all of the time. Stick around after the break for a quick look in a video and a few more pictures from the CES show floor.

IK Multimedia has announced that they are bringing the iRig Recorder app to Android. iRig Recorder is a great and ultra-portable way to record audio on the go, and editing and export options make for a powerful piece of software. Combined with their hardware -- 3.5mm compatible microphones and  a 3.5mm to XLR conversion dongle -- you can get darn near professional quality recordings saved right to your Android device. This is great news for musicians and anyone doing field work that requires high quality recording.

Accessory companies have been notoriously slow to embrace Android. We get it -- it's hard to justify all the work when you're making money hand over fist from iOS devices. But the numbers are too big to ignore forever, and it's great to see companies that want to support the most popular computing platform in the world. Look for the iRig app in Google Play at the end of the month, priced at $4.99 for the full version. The press release is after the break.

More: IK Multimedia

Fitbit is one of the more popular choices in the personal fitness tracking space, and today at CES the latest device in the range has been introduced. The Fitbit Flex takes the form of a waterproof wristband. Like the existing devices in the range, it records information such as steps and total distance covered and sends this information to your personal website. The Flex will also keep track of your sleep, but with no buttons to enter sleep mode as on the other devices, you'll have to use either the mobile apps or the website. 

Speaking of the mobile apps, one massive drawback to the current iteration of the Fitbit Android application, is the lack of syncing. All that is set to change beginning from the end of January or early February. It will start to offer Bluetooth 4.0 syncing -- initially, only to the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2, with more devices "coming soon." 

Source: Fitbit

We had an opportunity today to take a look at the first Google Glass competitor, Vuzix Glasses. At first glance they look like no more than a large glorified bluetooth headset, but once you look closer you notice that there's a bit more involved with these. The basic idea behind Vuzix is to have a complete device with its own processor and memory -- running Android, of course -- that will interface with your smartphone via bluetooth to display information. It also has a speaker for your year as well as a front-facing camera for stills and video.

The display is not see-through (like Google Glass plans to be,) but rather meant to be out of the normal field of view and glanced at occasionally. The units we looked at today were non-working prototypes, but the expectation is to have the display show a complete mirror of whatever app is running on the tethered phone. We're not so sure how the navigation will work, with only a few buttons on the top of the glasses used for all operations.

There wasn't much information as far as a release date or working prototypes were concerned (welcome to CES,) but the planned retail price is supposed to end up under $500. We've also got several more pictures and a video for you to take a look at after the break.

Home automation is the stuff nerdy dreams are made of, and Belkin is today introducing a new device to bring a little part of that to life. The WeMo Light Switch, being displayed at CES in Las Vegas, is a replacement for your standard household light switches with WiFi connectivity. The cool part -- it'll be controllable from your Android device. 

The WeMo connectivity means you can turn lights on or off from anywhere, schedule an on/off time, and doesn't require your Android device to be connected to the same WiFi network in order to work. So, you leave the office late, it's dark, and as you pull up on the driveway you can turn on the lights so you don't trip over the dog. OK, not the best example perhaps, but you get the idea. 

Android connectivity has been a much asked for feature of WeMo's existing, iOS compatible only, range of home automation devices. With the arrival of the WeMo Light Switch and the app into the Google Play Store, connectivity with their other devices will be opened up to Android users. An open beta will begin in February for users of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and "other leading devices." The Light Switch will become available this Summer, and the Android app is expected to exit beta by the device's launch. 

Source: Belkin

Samsung has just announced a new set of digital audio equipment, most importantly to us smartphone nerds being a new Bluetooth speaker for pairing with phones and tablets. This newest speaker, model DA-F60, supports both NFC pairing and the apt-X audio codec. This is a not-so-common yet interesting use of NFC, which lets users tap a tablet or phone to the speaker to initiate the bluetooth pairing connection meaning there's no messing around with a manual Bluetooth setup -- pretty neat.

Apt-X, if you're not familiar, is a relatively new audio codec available in some devices that improves the dynamic range and quality of streaming bluetooth audio. The list of supported devices is small but growing -- including the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2, the HTC One (X, S, V) line and Motorola RAZR (original, HD, Maxx, i, M) line.

We should see a bit more of the new speaker (and Samsung's other offerings) at CES this week, and hopefully have some time to play around with these new ones. No pricing or availability is out just yet, but we should expect those shortly as well.

Source: Samsung (BusinessWire)

Kickstarter has spawned some pretty interesting products over the past 12 months, one of which is the Pebble smartwatch. It's some time now since Pebble first hit Kickstarter with a $100,000 goal that eventually became $10million. Having originally been slated to ship in September, this was missed, with seemingly no end to the wait in sight. 

Press invites have started to roll out to a Pebble event on Jan. 9 at CES in Las Vegas, where we're promised that the company CEO, Eric Migicovsky, will not only unveil the much anticipated product, but will also offer a full walkthrough of the finished article. 

The Pebble smartwatch is an intriguing device. Featuring an electronic paper display allowing for great viewing outdoors, the watch will pair to your Android device via a downloadable application. The app will allow you to choose a watch face to match your tastes, and will also push notifications to the watch for email, phone calls, Facebook notifications, calendar events, Twitter, weather and alarms. Additionally Pebble will have the ability to receive text messages from your phone. The watch itself will also be able to run specially designed applications, opening up a whole world of possibilities. 

The event goes down at 09:00 PST on Jan. 9, and Android Central will be on the ground to bring you all the news. The event will also be live-streamed over on the Pebble website.

After an eternity of waiting and speculation, it seems the elusive ASUS Nexus 7 dock may be about to hit the United States and Europe this month.

In the Netherlands, AndroidWorld.nl has word from ASUS Benelux that the dock will arrive in mid-January. Prices are speculated to be around €29.99. On the U.S. side B&H Photo, which opened preorders of the Nexus 7 dock back in December, is now showing an expected availability date of Jan. 10.

Originally rumored shortly after the tablet's Google I/O debut, the ASUS-made dock connects through the Nexus 7's pogo pins and allows it to connect to other devices through microUSB and headphone jack.

Source: AndroidWorld.nl (Dutch)