If further evidence is needed that smartphones and tablets are taking off among the American public, the Consumer Electronics Association has it.  According to the trade group’s semi-annual industry forecast, smartphones, tablets and other mobile connected devices will push overall CE sales above $206 billion in the U.S. in 2012, a growth of 5.6% and nearly two percentage points higher than a previous forecast released in January.  “[Smartphones and tablets] continue get stronger, while many of the other categories are getting weaker,” Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis at the CEA, tells Marketing Daily. “What we’re starting to see now is the impact of these mobile connected devices as [a factor] that is impacting…