Padvance App of the Week: Star Trek PADD

If you subscribe to a Netflix Instant plan, July has been one of the greatest months of your life: The whole Star Trek franchise can now be streamed (or should we say "beamed") to your living room. For iPad Trekkies, the good news just keeps rolling in. Considering the iPad looks as if it was ripped from a Next Generation episode, it's only fitting that there's now a licensed app that completes the experience. Engineering deck not included (or required).

We previously brought several other Star Trek-inspired apps to your attention, but the ones that attempted to replicate the feel of being Geordi La Forge were not licensed. This one is the real deal-- based on the LCARS technology that powered the Enterprise-- and although you can't use it to achieve warp speed, it is the most useful app of its kind.

Instead of being purely an aesthetically pleasing time waster or a cheap, Facebook/Twitter/blog interface like imitators, Star Trek PADD serves as an encyclopedia for the Star Trek universe. It's not complete, at least not yet, but CBS Mobile is promising additional updates in the future to complete the knowledge base.

Right now, you can view images and descriptions for aliens, ships, characters, technology, places, food, science and medicine, episodes, cast, and staff. It also taps into the official Star Trek Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Of course, if you really just wanted to bolster your Trekkie acumen, you could hit up any number of Star Trek fan sites or wiki pages for free (or perhaps the StarTrek.com database that all the app's info is pulled from). The reason you'll pay money for PADD is because of the overall experience that's just this side of a holodeck. From the opening initialization down to every stray button press, this things feels authentic.

Is it nerdy? Oh heck yes. But the authenticity is so real that you won't even care. You'll feel awesome walking down the street, getting up to speed on your Voyager lore while looking like visitor from the future. Remember, to complete the look, you'll probably want to don your uniform.

The animations, sound effects, voice work, and of course, the starship-load of information make this app an absolute must-have for even the slightest of Trekkies. Even for everyone else, there's fun to be had just playing with the thing. The iPad was made for this app.