Quick App Daily Double: LCARS Launcher and Star Trek Communicator 21

Feeling like Trekking up your phone? We’ve got some options for you, in the form of a Star Trek themed launcher and soundboard. First up is the LCARS Launcher, a simple and straight-forward app launcher. While you can’t even customize the choices, LCARS Launcher does give you links to pretty much every built-in webOS app, though with a Star Trek-naming twist. For example, Text Comm and Library Images launch Messaging and Photos, respectively. The whole kit is wrapped in a Next Generation-era LCARS (Library Computer Access/Retrieval System).

We’ve seen LCARS applied to all sorts of computer interfaces before, but it never worked effectively with a keyboard and browser interface. But, as it was always used on Picard’s Enterprise (along with the Defiant, Voyager, and every single 24th century PADD), LCARS seems particularly well suited to touch interaction. As always, the designers of Star Trek were well ahead of their time - in this case, some twenty-three years ahead of the curve.

In fact, it’s an established fact that Dr. Martin Cooper, inventor of the cell phone, was inspired by Captain Kirk’s subspace communicator of old. While we may not be able to use our smartphones to hail Scotty and the gang, they’re notably more capable than the old (and bulky) communicators envisioned in 1966. But if you’re longing for the day of bleeps and bloops, along with a hankering for the voices of Spock, Scotty, McCoy, and all the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, then look no further than the Star Trek Communicator app.

A combination simulator and soundboard, Star Trek Communicator is built for the Pre. In fact, you have to launch it with the phone closed, and then slide it open (holding in the gesture area) to open it up to the familiar communicator chirp. The moiré grill starts spinning and all you have to do is select one of the colored buttons and then hit the two on the bottom two hear the voices of Uhura and Chekov, Scotty and Sulu, and Spock and McCoy.

There are plenty more Star Trek apps out there, including soundboards of Star Trek effects and a Klingon-themed soundboard, plus a few Star Trek themes, but we couldn’t help but have our Trek fan (we’re not going to get into the Trekkie vs. Trekker debate here) bone tickled by these two.

Thanks Josh!