I think the biggest issue is the touchscreen. It's easy to slap something in a hard plastic box. A little more difficult, maybe, to put a button in the case that presses on the "shutter release" (they do still call them shutter releases, right, even if the camera's digital?). Making a good portion of the case flexible enough to effectively use the touchscreen while keeping it dry and intact is probably an order or two more difficult.

I'm not sure my Subaru is any safer than a good case. It's a '97, so there's no frame around the window. It's insanely easy to get a prybar under the edge of the window... though a hammer and centerpunch will do the same thing. I'm hoping the age and general condition of it (it's a working car; it does not attend car shows) deters most would-be-thieves, but I don't keep expensive toys inside it. In a few years, I bet the phone will be worth more than the car *grin*.

The smartphone's so *useful*, though. Obviously, it's a phone. If I need to call someone, I can (still planning on picking up a VHF radio, though). Wife loves to check up on me in the middle of the paddle, and her anxiety would kick in if I didn't pick up because the phone's sitting in the car. so I gotta have it on me. Being able to check weather forecasts and radar maps is very handy, too. The camera takes decent pics. The GPS is useful, but drains the battery extremely quickly.

I could pick up a waterproof GPS watch, a waterproof camera (GoPro HD, probably), and just leave the phone tucked under the PFD with the lanyard around my neck. The phone's safe on my person, dry, and accessible. Having separate devices is more expensive, but it's only money, right? ;oD

: Bill beat me to it. The best watertight case to keep electronic
: crap safe in that I know of is called the "Toyota
: Tacoma", and is stashed at the put-in.

: They've worked wonders with waterproof/shockproof digital cameras
: (my buddy Bryan calls then "tween-proof", whoa!!),
: what's the big problem getting these smart phones equally
: robust, I wonder?