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This weekend, an event by the name of The Gadget Show Live is being held in Birmingham, UK. Hosted by the presenters of the Channel 5 program, The Gadget Show, featured over 120 companies showing off the latest tech. Although Apple didn’t make an appearance, their products and ideas still came through.

As an example, one of the best speaker systems on show featured nothing more than an iPod dock. It’s almost become standard that speakers feature the 30-pin dock connector, but now even small niche companies feel the need to include it. I wonder if it could ever become the standard for audio? Apple did alright with Firewire; although it didn’t take over USB, it’s still used in some professions. Maybe the 30-pin connector couldn’t possibly take the place of the 3.5MM jack, but as a secondary option, it looks to be quite viable. The majority of systems include it these days, anyway.

Another part of Apple showing at The Gadget Show Live, was their design. Take a look at this external hard drive from Iomega (above, center)). Does it remind you of anything? How about Apple’s high end desktop, the Mac Pro. Looking at the product far right of the photograph, you’ll notice another external storage device that certainly wouldn’t look out of place underneath your Mac Mini. It’s actually a great way to add more capacity to your Mini without loosing the simple design, and the need for more long cables and devices around the desk. Their hard drives still work with Windows-based machines, but were really built with Apple in mind.

iPhones were everywhere at this consumer electronics show. The new LG Arena sparked a lot of interest, yet its similarities to the iPhone are amazing. To change the way your home screen looks, can you guess what you must do? That’s right—hold down an icon until you can move them around. The swiping motions were also similar, but not as flush as the iPhone. It was lagging at times, and took a while to respond to a lot of commands. Although its screen is the best available for a mobile device, and video looks amazing—it’s still not enough to make me even think about switching from the iPhone. Will an LG app store receive a billion app downloads within the first two years? I think not.

Neither a premium reseller nor Apple themselves had a literal presence at the very first Gadget Show Live in the UK, yet everywhere you looked, there was an Apple logo. Whether from the latest in sound technology, shock-proof cases for your precious iPhone/iPod, or simply another fan tweeting about his experience, it was there.