Gadgets: Highlights from the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show

Monday, January 20, 2014 3:05 AM EST

Gadgets: Highlights from the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show

This is the remains of a brand new Verizon HTC cell phone, which I was given the opportunity to put in a blender and destroy. If that was your phone, you would then call ProtectCELL, explain what happened and they would send you a new one immediately, no questions asked. (Gregg Ellman/MCT)

Over the years while covering the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas I've had massages, shaves and just about every other industry gimmick you can think of - all right on the show floor.

This year I sat in a Lamborghini to listen to an incredible sound system designed by Monster and couldn't pass up the opportunity to destroy a brand new smartphone.

The company ProtectCELL sells annual insurance for your phone, covering just about everything. This includes getting lost, stolen, dropped in a toilet (very common insurance claim) and even if your phone gets caught in a blender.

A week before the show they sent me a brand new smartphone and invited me to come by the booth and destroy it.

After talking with some company representatives, who explained how the insurance policy works, they invited me to toss my new phone in a blender and whip it up.

Without hesitating I accepted and if you want to see a series of the photos just email me.

The blender destroyed the phone, creating millions of pieces from my brand new hardware.

If that was your phone, you would then call ProtectCELL, explain what happened and they would send you a new one immediately, no questions asked.

The company started in 2006 with 91 participants and now has more than 70,000 with a 25 percent renewal rate.

Your phone can be a personal one or company-issued, with plans ranging from $199 for two years of coverage for an iPhone 5s to $59 for simpler phones.

ProtectCELL will even back up your contacts and other data to help restore them in the event a new phone in needed.

Details: protectcell.com

PERFECT ACCESSORY FOR SELFIE FANS

Over the past year or so we have all become familiar with the smartphone photography term of "selfie."

A company called Cellfy has designed a hardware kit to help users take quality photos and videos of themselves using smartphones or tablets.

For the smartphone model, the patent-pending Cellfy Stic is a universal mount with suction cups on both sides to work in portrait or landscape modes.

First download a timer for your device. They suggest TimerCam for iOS or CameraZoomFX for Android.

Then attach your phone to the front side and attach the backside to any clean, smooth surface such as mirrors, windows, clean car panels or glass.

Set the timer, choose your pose and photos will now be better composed with the hands-free hardware.

They also have a tablet model ($24.99), which doubles as an accessory to mount on the back of a headrest for back seat viewing. It also has a built-in kick-stand for use on a flat surface in addition to the front and rear suction cups.

Details: Cellfy Stic $9.99, available in orange, pink, gray and white; cellfy.com

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