Sharp camera offers some new angles, if not a new head of hair

Webcams
Don't your video chat friends deserve more than a fixed shot of your mug from your PC's webcam?

(My iMac's built-in camera offers a lovely, superior-angle view of my bald head.)

The Clique Hue HD webcam (about $80 at cliquemart.com) will not grow your hair back. But with its flexible gooseneck, you can change the cam's angle to capture some new, and perhaps more flattering, face shots for your online profiles.

The Hue HD (cliquevideo.com) is compatible with both the Windows and Mac (10.4 and up) operating systems.

The cam's 1.3 megapixel lens can capture video at 1024x768 pixels, at up to 30 frames per second.

The Hue HD also has a built-in noise-canceling microphone and a one-touch snapshot button. The snapshots come in at 1280x1024 pixels.

The Hue HD is available in pink, red, green, and other colors.

Video games

Playing any of the brain-boosting games for the Nintendo DS is a bit like eating broccoli: Just knowing something is good for you somehow makes it less enjoyable.

If you are growing bored with Brain Age and Big Brain Academy, it may be time for a good shoot-'em-up that tests your reflexes and exercises your itchy trigger finger.

Majesco Entertainment's titles (translated from the Japanese originals for the US market) include the kinder, gentler Cooking Mama and Brain Wave series. But Majesco has other titles aimed at our reptilian brains.

I've been playing The Wild West, a decent little shooting game in which you blast the bad guys with a shotgun, machine gun, or stick of dynamite.

You control the weapons via the DS's touch screen. The game includes top-down and 3D views of a street fight and stagecoach chase, and you can pick up a game of darts at the local saloon. There are plenty of power-ups and weapons that you acquire along the way.

The Wild West features cartoonish violence (the cowboys are animals in Western duds), so tame it makes Tom and Jerry look like Hellraiser.

Green(ish) energy

Need to charge up a hand-held? Just squeeze this fuel cell to generate the juice

As fall approaches, I again find myself dreaming of a life off the grid, where I am generating my own power and catching water from mountain rains and springs - doing my part to clean up the planet.

The truth, however, is that I could not last a day without the background yammering of the Web 2.0 sites and Drudge Report "shock" headlines - not to mentioned Netflix and a stocked fridge.

Fortunately, it is getting easier to walk the eco-walk these days, thanks to devices such as the 24-7 Power Pack, a fuel cell for hand-helds that you may be able to recycle.

New York-based Medis Technologies says the 24-7 (mypowertoday.com) will help campers, hikers, and business travelers maintain a wee line to civilization, without leaving much of a footprint on the environment.

The 6.5 ounce device generates about 1 watt of electricity, enough to charge mobile phones to the tune of about 30 hours of talk time, before the fuel cell is spent. Medis says the 24-7 will also charge the iPhone.

To get the 24-7 generating electricity, you have to squeeze the device. That starts the chemical reaction in the liquid fuel cell pack.

The 24-7 contains no lead, or any other dangerous heavy metals, says Medis's CEO, Robert K. Lifton. Medis plans to direct its customers to recycling centers that will accept used fuel cell packs.

Lifton last week said the 24-7 (which you can buy for about $30 at mytreo.net) will be more widely available later this year.

Innovative last week

George, the iPod speaker system, gets a face lift

Chestnut Hill Sound (chillsound.com) is giving its rock-solid iPod stereo speaker system, George, a new look. George - now available only in a relatively bland white and gray - will come with your choice of wood skins, in black, cherry, or walnut. Colors for George's speaker grilles will include red, black, and white.

In October, Chestnut Hill will also add support for audio books and additional controls for navigating your iPod's playlists.

Better still, the new George will cost only about $500 (including a stand-alone remote charging stand), according to Chestnut Hill. That's a $100 break from the price of George the First.

TECH LAB Watch Mark Baard demonstrate some of the technology he reviews at boston.com/business.