A solar charger you can carry around

Solar

Not all renewable energy systems need be an eyesore, like the wind turbine the state is considering planting atop the Blue Hills.

London-based Better Energy Systems, which makes portable solar chargers, has produced a 5-watt photovoltaic stick that should be able charge many of your hand-held devices. (It will not charge your laptop, however.)

The Hybrid 1000 is an attractive device less than 8 inches long and 4 inches wide. Better Energy also sells the lovely, fanlike Solio Classic Universal Hybrid Charger.

The Hybrid, available Oct. 25, has a lithium ion battery that will store the energy you capture from the sun as you cross the campus quad. And you'll look good doing it. The Hybrid is available in orange or gray and has a carabineer clip, so you can hang the device from your backpack, bike messenger bag, or WGBH Eco tote.

Hardcore urban cyclists and backpackers take note: The Hybrid weighs a little more than one pound, something to consider when every ounce counts.

Better Energy also says the Hybrid will be carbon neutral, because it will offset the carbon dioxide used to make the Hybrid with donations to renewable energy projects in Africa. We'll see.

The Hybrid (about $80 at solio.com) comes with an adapter cable and tips to make the device compatible with your iPhone or iPod, or your Motorola or Nokia phone. The Hybrid is also compatible with Blackberry phones, Garmin GPS navigation devices, and iriver MP3 players. But I urge you to call or e-mail Better Energy with your device's model name or number, to be sure it will work with the Hybrid.

You can also plug the Hybrid into your PC's USB port to charge the charger's battery. That's right, the Hybrid draws energy from your PC, rather than the other way around.

Voip

This USB dongle can connect to an ordinary telephone

A new device, the magicJack (magicjack.com), may provide the cheapest way for anyone to start making Internet calls using an ordinary landline phone.

It is definitely the easiest to use.

One end of the magicJack (about $40) plugs into your computer's USB slot. The other can connect to the vintage-looking corded telephone that you've been wanting to put back into operation.

Calls you place through the magicJack go over the manufacturer's own VoIP service. The first year is free. Subscriptions after that will cost about $20 annually. MagicJack includes free voice mail.

Currently, the device is for PCs only. A Mac version should be available this month.

Digital Photography

Why use a cellphone camera when you could have a Fujifilm F50fd?

I visited Franklin Park Zoo last week with my daughters, Maeve and Oona, to see how Little Joe was faring after his keepers' civil trial. (Recall Joe's 2003 escape and mini-rampage.) I snapped a few pics with my Samsung phone of the wee girls greeting Joe (through the glass). That's when I realized just how crummy camera phones can be. The shots were soft, grainy, and washed-out, as if taken by a surveillance camera.

Really, there is little excuse for not bringing a real camera on a family outing. Last week, I started playing with the Fujifilm F50fd, for example, a compact and lightweight 12-megapixel (yes, 12) camera that somewhat resembles my wife's 5-megapixel Canon PowerShot. (The "fd" stands for "face detection," an increasingly common focusing tool).

The F50fd (about $300) uses a lithium-ion battery, which sure beats the aggravation of replacing or recharging four AA batteries.

The camera also takes better pictures in low lighting than any camera phone I have used. Though the F50fd has a 2.7-inch color LCD, it has no optical viewfinder, which makes taking shots in very bright light difficult.

Innovative last week

Luxury USB drives are true memory sticks

Here's something any nerd can proudly sport on Newbury Street: a USB flash drive, made with African blackwood or mahogany, gold and white diamonds, called "Adam & Eve." Gresso (gresso.com), which also makes hardwood cellphones, last week unveiled a line of luxury 1GB memory sticks, including the Adam & Eve (carved in the shape of a chomped apple), ranging from $100 to $1,000.