If you've ever fancied kitting yourself out for a bit of illicit spying, you might want to try the PenCam. It looks like a fairly ordinary, if rather fat, ballpoint. But hidden in the clip is a minute lens and microphone, plus a 2.4GHz wireless transmitter. Unscrewing the tip of the pen and pulling off the cover reveals five tiny LR44 cells and four dip-switches, which set the PenCam to one of three operating wavebands.
A switch on the bottom of the base unit allows you to configure the waveband to the same setting as the PenCam. Once a numbering difference between the dip-switches and documentation had been overcome, the PenCam behaved itself admirably. Audio quality is a little weak and scratchy, but the video signal was impressive considering the proportions of the camera.
Although range is rated at up to 100m with line of sight, in practice the signal dropped off noticeably over 20m or so, and even more quickly if there was a wall in the way.
Nevertheless, the PenCam will certainly serve its purpose, allowing you to watch remotely or record something without letting on that you have a camera. And you can write with it too!