Smile, that pen may be recording your actions

spy gear
If you don't like having your picture taken on the street, at least Boston's orb-shaped Big Brother cameras (think John Carpenter's "They Live") are easy enough to dodge. Just remember to grab your baseball cap as you head out the door.

But not every spy camera pointed your way is hanging from a light pole. Swann Communications' new PenCam DVR is going make it harder than ever to keep your personal business personal. It's a working pen with a hidden camera pointed outward, so you can record while you appear to be writing. It is the latest digital spy gadget to be disguised as something innocuous.

Swann, of course, is best known for its boxy surveillance cameras (CCTV and otherwise) for homes and businesses. But the PenCam DVR's aim is covert surveillance, and much of that in the name of fun, apparently. (A spokesman noted how easy it is to upload videos from the PenCam DVR to YouTube.)

But Swann may be crossing the line from legitimate surveillance to encouraging misguided people to spy on each other for kicks.

While the PenCam DVR is designed to secretly capture video and audio, its rather awkward, ergonomically unsound looks should be a dead giveaway. A street savvy straphanger, on the lookout for surreptitious cameramen, might ask, "Who writes with pens like that, anyway?"

No doubt, the PenCam DVR's audio capabilities and storage capacity, and its expected price tag (about $120), make it a tempting toy. The device (based on Swann's original PenCam) records up to three hours, or 2GB, of AVI video. Swann's spy camera can also capture audio at distances up to three feet. That is far enough away to record the conversation a table away at Peet's Coffee and Tea.

The PenCam DVR's battery lasts only about 90 minutes between charges, so you should never be too far from your laptop's USB port. To recharge and download your sneaky data, you pull the two halves of the pen apart (as you might to refill a Parker pen). Inside, you will find a 2GB USB drive that plugs straight into your PC.

Swann says the PenCam DVR will be available soon through its company store and at electronics retailers.

games

Keypad ends the hunting and pecking

I'm all for the online-gaming-meets-social-networking thing, which is unfolding at PlayStation Home. But one of the biggest drags with Home, and the Wii, for that matter, is having to move your cursor over an onscreen "keyboard" to chat and to send messages.

Sony's new Wireless Keypad for the PS3 offers a way out of this hunt-and-peck nightmare. You can find other wireless keypads online, such as those Logitech makes for the Wii. But the PS3 Wireless Keypad is made specifically for the PS3 controller.

The Bluetooth Wireless Keypad clips onto your PS3 game controller, so you can chat more easily.

The keypad also works with other Bluetooth devices, such as smart phones, according to Sony.

The Wireless Keypad has a couple of shortcut buttons. That means you can quickly retrieve messages and chat with friends while playing a game.