5 Apps & more for Father's Day
Here in the US, in the UK and in 53 other countries, we're celebrating Father's Day. It's a day for Dad to sleep in, revel in the love of his family, and (perhaps not as importantly, but still nice) receive presents. Lots and lots of presents.
Before you purchase yet another soap on a rope, consider our list of potential last-minute gifts for the Mac-loving or iDevice-toting dad in your life. He'll thank you for sure. ( If Dad doesn't have an iPhone 4, iPad or iPod touch -- there's a suggestion right there.)
Macworld posted a solid list of apps for dads; some of them are our picks as well, and we've got a few divergent suggestions.
Weber's On The Grill ($4.99) delivers grilling advice, recipes, techniques and tips for the master of backyard cooking. The app comes in an iPhone version (reviewed last August) and a gloriously high-def iPad edition, complete with big videos, stunning pictures and easy navigation. Dad not a grilling fan? Try the Epicurious app for iPad (free) or the $1.99 Dream Cocktail.
Unfortunately, the cartoon slugfest Konami MLB Power Pros Touch 2010 for iPhone is just coming off a half-off sale and is back to its regular $7.99 pricing. Still, for fans of America's pastime, this is one of the more enjoyable baseball games on the platform, with all the physics, pitches and delightful little touches that the Power Pros franchise has on the console side.
It's got some drawbacks -- for one thing, stability is not really what it should be; if the game was a fictional baseball player, it'd be Crash Davis -- but it's worth turning off the annoying announcer voiceovers and setting Dad up with an officially-licensed MLB lineup and a season's worth of fun. The game allows for head-to-head play between two iDevices, so Dad can challenge his offspring to a few innings of competition.
Comic Life is a bit of a vintage app on the Mac, but nothing makes it easier for Dad to create custom cards, comic strips or lively interpretations of family photos. It's inexpensive enough to qualify as an impulse buy, but powerful enough to provide plenty of tools. $25 gets you the standard version, $30 gets you Deluxe with more templates, fonts and styles.
Chances are, dads of a certain age are fans of The A-Team; with the movie reimagining of the '80s TV series now in theaters, the $1.99 iPhone game can help Pops recapture the energy and mindless let's-blow-that-up-yeah fun he remembers from his youth.
Speaking of blowing things up, when it comes to geek-dad TV there's only one true north: Mythbusters. The show's official iPhone ($2.99) and iPad ($4.99) apps includes video clips, minigames, photo galleries, episode schedules, tweet chat and more.
Every dad needs more room to maneuver from time to time; that's where the Mimo USB monitor comes in, expanding your screen real estate on any Mac OS X machine. ThinkGeek has the full line of displays; they've also got a USB Aromatherapy stick, just in case the man cave is beginning to grow a bit too funky, and a snazzy USB Amplifier for Dad's inner guitar geek.
Sometimes, Dad might need some extra help getting rolling in the morning (don't we all). The Phillips DC290 iPhone clock radio has a price tag of $100 and enough audio muscle to help him make his train.
The Eye-Fi Geo X2 will cheer any picture-taking dad's spirits. The Wi-Fi enabled 4GB memory card gives SD-format cameras automatic upload and sharing features, along with geotagging to mark the spot where those memories were formed.
What geek toy or iPhone app did the dad in your life crave this Father's Day? Let us know below.
