Gadgets: Wyzecam an inexpensive alternative to indoor security monitoring

Sophisticated, high-definition tech products no longer have to cost a lot. The Wyzecam is a 2-inch-tall, white boxy camera that connects to Wi-Fi and uses an electrical outlet. No battery here, which means it won't work in a power failure.

Pictures and video are in high definition, and the camera switches to night vision when surroundings are dark. The user-friendly phone app shows livestream video and photos taken by the camera, which serves as a microphone and a speaker.

You can talk through it or listen via smartphone. Data can be recorded on a MicroSD card or on the company's cloud.

The camera also contains a motion detector, a sound detector, even a carbon monoxide detector. (A carbon monoxide leak causes a unique sound pattern; when detected, the Wyzecam sends a phone alert.)

One set-up hiccup: You need to know how to set your router for 2.4 gigahertz for the camera's set-up. Once it is operational, you can turn the router back to 5 gigahertz and it will run fine.

Wyze tech support to help with this will need to know your router's manufacturer and model number.

With the Wyzecam, you could set up a three-camera surveillance system needing only three electrical outlets.

Oska is betting that its wearable device Pulse will be another tool for patients to control their chronic pain.

The oval gadget about the size of a large smartphone miniaturizes a device typically available only in doctor's offices.

The makers of the Pulse say it delivers so-called pulse electromagnetic field therapy — a decades-old medical treatment that realigns the electrical field around damaged cells to release toxins and attract nutrients for quicker healing.

Oska's founder and chief executive, Greg Houlgate, said the Pulse represents the latest application of medical know-how to a portable device for consumers.

"It's like the fitness trackers that came out at CES a few years ago that measured your heart rate," Houlgate said. "Ten years ago you'd have to do that in a medical setting. Now it's available on a wearable device."