She was the all-American 1970s mom raising six kids on TV, but when it came to learning how to use her cell phone to send text messages, she avoided asking her own tech-savvy children.

"I didn't want to see them rolling their eyes," said Florence Henderson, best known for playing Carol Brady, the sitcom mom on "The Brady Bunch."

The 75-year-old actress "was always very afraid of anything technical like that," and instead of seeking help from her children, she got a three-minute lesson from a business associate. She now has no problem with texting and regularly video chats with her granddaughter in St. Louis.

The experience, which Henderson described as empowering, led her to launch a senior service in October, called FloH Club, that provides technical advice and guidance without making the tech neophyte feel rushed, dismissed or embarrassed.

"For those of us who didn't grow up with computers, it's like learning a new language," Henderson said. "When I realized it was all passing me by, I was really upset about that."

Despite the challenge of learning a new language and a new way of doing things, for many seniors, using the Web, e-mailing, Skyping the grandkids, playing video games and tapping out Facebook updates from their iPhones have become everyday activities.

"As each year passes by, the demographic starts getting more and more comfortable with the technology," said Howard Byck, senior vice president for lifestyle products for AARP.

And technology appears to be getting more comfortable going a little gray too. Entrepreneurs and researchers are stepping up to develop products and services for seniors, including high-tech walking canes with gyroscopes and Internet-based services that encourage social networking.

Even canes and shoes, items that appear to employ no technology, are getting smarter.

A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles' Wireless Health program has fitted these walking aids with accelerometers and gyroscopes — devices that were developed for fighter jets and missiles but are now in smart phones.

The canes and shoes would be used to monitor balance and teach users how to walk safely and avoid falling. Sensors inside can also transmit data in real time to doctors and caretakers who keep track of the user's mobility. The canes and shoes are still in the testing phase, but developers hope to have them on the market early next year.

Program research manager Maxim Batalin said the devices could assist with monitoring outpatient rehabilitation for stroke survivors. They "enable us to tell exactly what kind of activity the person is doing and to predict how much that activity has changed," he said.

On the social networking front, so much communication, photo sharing and scheduling among family and friends has migrated to the Internet that not being online means being out of the loop.

FamiliLink is an example of a Web-based portal that brings together a number of the most popular online functions in a single hub with a simplified, user-friendly interface.

If iPods and mainstream MP3 music players seem too daunting, there are simplified products that do the same thing. Linked Senior puts portable audio in the hands and ears of seniors with a device no smaller than a TV remote control. All it has are five buttons for playing the audio and controlling the volume. Content can be downloaded from computers or from kiosks in senior living facilities.