Are you tracking Sasquatch? Bring along this camera

Photography
I haven't yet taken the solo-backpacking excursion to the White Mountains I'd been planning. But since I'm more interested in repelling wildlife than attracting it, I won't be bringing Bushnell's Trail Scout Pro Trail Camera along.

Still, even if you're not an outdoorsman, there's no denying the coolness of the Trail Scout Pro, from Bushnell. With its camouflage case and Game Call technology (for drawing your quarry closer), the Trail Scout Pro deserves a place between the bowie knives and shotgun scopes at Kittery Trading Post.

It adjusts to resolutions of 3, 5, or 7 megapixels, which means your Flickr album will be the envy of everyone in your backpacking or hunting group. You might even capture a clear still image, or 15-second video, or audio of the elusive Sasquatch. Bushnell is offering a cool $1 million for a "verifiable" picture of the beast. The camera also has a night-vision option, along with other features you should expect with outdoor gear.

The Trail Scout Pro is sturdy: You can padlock the camera to a tree and program it to catch still pictures at intervals from 30 seconds to two minutes. It has a built-in laser-targeting tool, and its nighttime flash has a range of up to 45 feet. The device uses four D batteries.

It will cost you about $386 at www.shopbushnell.com.

Mobile phones

Samsung's E200 Eco avoids the greenwash

A lot of electronics companies are greenwashing their stuff. It's especially galling when they say, almost halfheartedly, that a laptop is good for the environment because it's thinner (and thus uses fewer materials), or that a cellphone's extended battery life cuts back on toxic waste.

I say, "Give me a break."

Samsung's E200 Eco, at least, suggests the company is one of the few walking the walk, environmentally speaking. The E200 Eco is an updated version of Samsung's E200 bar phone. This one has a new cover made from bio-plastic, which is derived from corn and other feed stocks.

By using bio-plastic in the Eco and in the W510, Samsung is cutting back on its use of petroleum products (save that used by all of the farm tractors and aircraft).

Bio-plastics, its advocates say, are also less toxic than the petroleum-based stuff.

Never mind that by purchasing bio-plastics you might be contributing to unsustainable farming practices and higher food prices.

Holding the E200 Eco (more about that, in a moment), at least you will feel like you are doing something right. It has a 1.8-inch display and a meager 1.3 megapixel camera, however. The phone supports picture and video messaging.

Alas, there is no word on when it will be available Stateside. But Europeans will get their hands on this corn-fed phone in September.

Listening

This piggy makes sweet music

I thought an iPig was someone who cuts the line for the new iPhone, as Steve Wozniak is alleged to have done - or a marketing person wallowing in the notion that a lowercase "i" before a product name is retail gold.

Neither version sounds cute. But Speakal's iPig sure is: It's an iPod docking station shaped like a little piggy, with four speakers and 4-inch subwoofer on the bottom.

The iPig should make the perfect back-to-school gift for your favorite student. Just touching the iPig's ear gives you control over the 25-watt sound system. Its rubberized feet reduce vibrations between the device and the surface on which in rests.

The iPig's smiling mouth lights up when you turn the device on. It also flashes when you change the bass and treble with the remote.

The iPig (about $140 at www.speakal.com) comes in white, yellow, or pink. It also works with most other MP3 players.