CBS launches official Star Trek PADD app for iPad, a Trekkie’s wet dream
Turns out that CBS did have a reason for sending copyright claims to that poor app developer a while back, though seeing the app they were working on themselves I don’t think it matters much that the unofficial one is still there, as the official one takes the whole “turn an iPad into a Star Trek PADD” where no app has gone before. For those of you who have never seen a single episode of Star Trek, the PADD was a tablet device used in the later series of the franchise, and the design looked a heck of a lot like various tablets we’ve seen in the last few years. Naturally, this has lead Star Trek fans to create and put LCARS (the PADD OS) skins on all sorts of devices over the years. CBS’ new app does exactly that, but unlike so many of the unofficial skins and apps over the years this one has content like you wouldn’t believe.
The app is basically a interface to the Star Trek database. Ships, characters, episodes, cast members, technologies – you name it and this app has a entry for it. It reminds me a lot of the Star Trek Encyclopedia that I myself have a copy of, which I used so much over the years that it fell apart. The app is extremely well polished with buttons that might not do anything all the time (LCARS was a typical TV prop OS with lots of random buttons that didn’t seem to do anything) but might give you a laugh with remarks such as “this is not a replicator” (replicators being food synthesizers on the show).
As a huge Star Trek fan myself, this app is pure gold. I can see Star Trek fans buying iPads just for the sake of this app, and frankly I don’t think they’ll be disappointed. While it does stick to “canon” information (actually seen/said on the show) and not any of the books or fan fiction seen on the unofficial wikis out there, it’s still a ridiculous amount of information. At $5 it’s not free, but definitely worth it for any fan of Star Trek.
[iTunes]
