MacWorld conference continues to carry the torch

Though it's been five years since Apple was in the official lineup of show attendees, vendors from all over the world still display their wares at the biggest Apple themed event in San Francisco's Moscone Center.

The show doesn't command the excitement or foot traffic it did in years past, but there's still plenty to see.

Among the many vendors, MacKeeper had a big booth close to the middle of the floor. The folks running the exhibit were very friendly while showing people how to clean and protect their Macs, but I don't think the MacKeeper robot was impressed with my CNET credentials at all.

FLIR, the personal thermal imaging case mod for the iPhone 5, was doing demonstrations for people as they walked the show floor. I talked with them briefly and they said the device would be available in a couple months and would cost about $350.

There were a ton of vendors that offered cases, covers, speakers, and more at the various exhibits. The folks from Schoche had headphones, chargers, and other iOS-ready products on display.

One section of the show floor was dedicated to apps for both iOS and Mac OS X. At each kiosk, vendors were demonstrating their apps for show attendees.

Hipplay was drawing a pretty big crowd and it was easy to see why. The app displays all your photos, videos, and music from any source, in a beautiful mosaic.

When buying a computer from Apple, you have the option to buy a refurb model at a lower cost, but it's not always going to be exactly what you want. With the RefurbMe app on your iPhone, you can enter the specs you want, and the app will send you an email when a computer that matches your specs becomes available.

Another app that caught my eye was Join The Challenge (also known as JTC). This app helps you make the right food choices by assigning red, yellow, and green colors (green being the most healthy) to food items. The app then helps you track your eating and exercise habits to help you lose weight and stay in shape.

One of the most popular exhibits at the show was run by Square Jellyfish, a vendor that makes stands, cases, tripods, and mounts for iOS devices. The company had a wheel where attendees could take a spin and win free stuff. If you look closely, you can see the line trailing off behind them.

Though most of the official talks had already happened Wednesday and Thursday, there were two stages set up on opposite sides of Moscone North with scheduled discussions about various topics throughout the day.

Double Robotics was letting people control its robots on the show floor. These robots, which retail for $2,500, let you virtually visit a location and control the robot using your iOS device. It was pretty impressive, but also a little creepy.

Though not nearly as crowded as the MacWorlds of old, there were still a lot of people interested in what the show had to offer.

Even if it doesn't have the draw it once did with big names like Apple and Adobe, MacWorld/iWorld is still a fun show for anyone who loves their Apple devices.