Six of the best Father's Day gadgets (From Dudley News)

Six of the best Father's Day gadgets

7:00am Saturday 16th June 2012 in NewsXtra

Six of the best gadgets and gizmos on a theme. This week: Six of the best Father's Day gadgets.

By Peter Jenkinson.

With Father's Day fast approaching, it is time to come up with something quite splendid as your token of appreciation.

Avoid any down-in-the-mouth moments by steering clear of sock and slipper combinations and take a look at one of our gadget-based gifts.

These presents will allow your dad to release his inner child and they'll also be great fun for you, too.

Pigs Might Fly - Angry Birds Action Game - £24.99 from www.menkind.co.uk The Angry Birds franchise has been unleashed on all manner of products over the past year, from noise-making plushies to speaker docks, but this one is our soaraway favourite. The playing surface converts into a nifty carry bag, so you can play the game anywhere you fancy. The idea of the game is to launch your play pieces and knock over the wooden blocks to defeat the piggies.

Cast Off - Portable Fishing Rod - £19.99 from www.firebox.com Has your dad ever tried sneaking out to take part in his favourite hobby? We think we might have found a way to get him down by the riverbank undetected. This telescopic fishing rod starts out the size of a pen, but extends to a good 40 inches with a quick flick. The package comes complete with a reel, spoon, bobber, couple of worms and three weighted hooks.

Skeletal Terror - Robotic Dinosaurs - £19.99 from www.firebox.com Arriving in kit form, you'll have hours of fun constructing your chosen beast before inserting batteries to create a robotic T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Mammoth or Triceratops. Using no glue or tools, it all clicks together to form a very decent tail-moving, walking machine. Expect marvelling glances.

Spy Wear - Camsports HD Coach Sunglasses - £126.59 - www.pixmania-pro.co.uk Keeping the glare off the eyes is the least you'd expect from a pair of shades, but this set includes a built-in 4GB digital camera. They're ideal for adventure-type dads who want to show off their skills and keep a lasting memory while trekking, cycling or taking part in activity pursuits.

Sky Walking - Lego Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter - £46.99 from www.smythstoys.com This is an ideal combination package that is likely to make any dad as excited as a child on Christmas morning. This iconic craft from the Star Wars galaxy has retro appeal and includes four minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Jek Porkins, R2-D2 and R5-D8. What is there not to go wild about here?

Virtual Warfare - appBlaster - £9.99 from www.menkind.co.uk Owners of iPhones can download the free Alien Invasion app with this blaster and shoot away at virtual aliens while ducking and diving across the living room. Players need to move around to find the aliens, which get bigger and tougher with each round, creating a realistic gaming experience. It's quite simply the most fun you can have with an iPhone.

App of the week: Wildtangent Games - www.wildtangent.com/gamesapp - Android Sick of buying expensive apps and getting rid of them after a day or two?

This app lets you try out games for an initial free period and then, if you choose, continue playing the games on a rental basis, or you can buy the ones you want to keep.

Try titles such as Doodle Jump, Fruit Ninja, Kona's Crate, Air Attack HD, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Raging Thunder - you could save up to 65% on retail prices.

To rent the games, you'll need to use the digital currency WildCoins, which are available on various monthly price packages.