Gadgets for grads, dads and moms

Live, from the West coast of the USA, the Mercury News reports on how gadgets are no longer just being made for young geeks, but older geeks and female geeks, even mothers, are now the focus for gadget makers.

• Pure Digital Point & Shoot Camcorder is billed as an inexpensive way for anyone to easily record and share videos.

The camcorder plugs directly into any PC or television and has built-in software so users can view their movie on a television, burn it a CD or send to friends via e-mail.

If you want to play Hollywood, drop off the device at CVS, Rite-Aid, Ritz or Wolf Camera and they'll churn out a DVD, complete with chapter headings and the best footage set to music.

It's priced at $130 at Target, and tech review site Engadget calls it ``video on the cheap,'' not likely to satisfy a demanding consumer. Still, ``It doesn't seem a bad option for the tech-phobic or in risky situations you wouldn't want to stick your $1000 camera into,'' Engadget says.

• Why are more and more people seen with behind-the-earpieces enabling them to listen and talk on their wireless phone hands-free?

They look geeky, but ``they're hot'' with the college set, says Eugene Muscat, senior associate dean at the University of San Francisco's business school. ``It's androgynous, guys are into it just as much as the girls.''

Among the headsets employing Bluetooth -- a short-range wireless technology that replaces cables used to connect wireless telephones to hands-free headsets -- are the vibrating Jabra BT350 ($79.99 at hellodirect.com) and Motorola H700 ($119.99 at Best Buy).