A couple of tech-y gift tips for Mother's Day

Stumped for a last-minute Mother's Day gift? Here are two tech-type options I like:

"Blush"-colored earphones. These V-Moda Vibe earbuds sound great and create a good seal in the ear canal for use in a noisy environment. They are sold in lots of colors (I tested a "midnight blue" set; see red above); a feminine "blush" set went on sale at Apple retail outlets this week -- just in time for gift giving.

Pocket photo viewers. I spotted these in Target's Sunday circular. For $20, buy pocket viewers with space for dozens of photos. Keychain and card-like versions are available for Mom to throw in her purse and gape at pictures of her little darlings whenever she likes. Trying to get review units; stay tuned.

Update: Target sent me samples of the two pocket viewers and, well, I guess you get what you pay for. They aren't bad, but an iPod nano makes a better photo viewer with more capacity, if you can afford it.

I had to poke around in Windows Vista settings for the viewers to be properly recognized by their own software, too, which is kind of a hassle for any kids trying to set this up for their mothers beforehand.

There's apparently Macintosh software on the discs that come with the viewers. But these are mini-CDs, meaning they can't be used with the slot-loading optical drives in MacBooks, MacBook Pros and iMacs.

It's also a shame the drives don't just mount as USB volumes so you can add photos via drag-and-drop.

For about $20 each, though, the viewers do make a nifty gifts once you get pics onto 'em. Try cropping first, roughly to the dimensions of each viewer -- square for the one below, say -- for the best results.