Apple Expo 2009 showcases products coming to Canada

The show brought together over 3,000 visitors and 100 resellers and distributors, and several of them were based in Canada.
Some of the standout products on the trade show floor included Optoma, whose handheld Pico projectors really changes the way we think about portable video projectors.
The PK101 Pico Pocket Projector is an ultra-light 4-ounce DLP projector that's smaller than an iPhone but which can project a 60" image. With a Li-ion battery good for two hours and a 4GB storage capacity, the PK101 is perfect for running slideshows or showing movies from your iPod or iPhone. Optoma also boasts a 1000:1 contrast ratio and an LED light source that lasts for 20,000 hours.We also saw a number of innovative iPhone cases from companies like Scosche, which offered a first look of their slim kickback rubber hybrid iPhone case that has an integrated stand. This case allows you to prop up your iPhone 3G/3GS for watching videos and then tucks into the rest of the case when not in use.
Accessory and battery distributor FastMac demoed its TruePower iV iPhone Charger, an extended battery and portable charger that extends the iPhone 3G's battery life by 3x. It also allows the charging of an extra device via USB and comes with a built-in flashlight that enhances the iPhone's camera.
XtremeMac, which specializes in iPod, iPhone and AppleTV accessories, demoed their compact and best-selling Luna Voyager travelling alarm clock and iPhone/iPod speaker. The Luna Voyager stands out from the competition by setting the clock automatically from the iPhone.
Blue Microphones showcased the Mikey, a microphone attachment that plugs into an iPod and allows for high-quality recording of anything from lectures to concerts. It will work with the iPhone 3G and 3GS, but only when Airplane mode is enabled. A recorded concert of rock band Fleetwood Mac in Los Angeles was demoed and we can say that it was far better than we could've expected.
Promise Technology presented its SmartStor NS4600 a network attached storage (NAS) drive and media server rolled into one with plenty of Mac integration. It's a hot-swappable RAID drive with four bays that can be expanded up to 6GB. There is support for Time Machine, though there is a backup option within the SmartStor software as well. Aside from a GUI based in Safari, you can also access content stored on the SmartStor using an iPhone, iPod touch, Sony PSP or any other DLNA-certified device.
On the software front, LightSpeed's impressive point of sale retail solution incorporates a database, inventory management and even a Web store solution. Ideal for retailers and small businesses, LightSpeed offers a slick-looking and speedy way to scan and identify product as well as enable live updates on the iPhone using LightSpeed istats application where owners can check on sales, returns and invoices in real-time.
Toronto-based Marketcircle showed its latest with Daylite, a business management and productivity tool, along with Billings, an expenses and invoicing tool. The Daylite Touch is an application for the iPhone and iPod touch that integrates with the desktop app to help you manage things on the road.
Acclivity, which recently announced it was bringing AccountEdge back to Canada after a hiatus of a few years, had a running demo on hand. The software has been Canadianized and offers a suite of features and tools for small business accounting.
Nik Software presented its suite of photo-editing plug-ins that offer a fairly different method of working on images. The add-ons can latch onto Photoshop, Aperture and Lightroom, and though they've traditionally been targeted at pro photographers, a spokesman suggested that the company is broadening its focus to serious amateurs and hobbyists who want to do more with their images.
MacSpeech was also on hand to promote its line of speech-recognition software. The company recently launched a medical version of its flagship Dictate software, but there was nothing new to show for general consumers. There will be, however, something new coming down the pipe "in the next few months" for those consumers, according to a spokesman at the show.