For a dad…

Keep the old man smiling with these techie toys...

Ringing the revs

He may not be able to drive the sports car he'd like - thanks to all the food you eat and your expensive trainers no doubt - but with this brand new phone releas at least he'll be branded in the right way. The spanking new Porsche Design P'9521 mobile phone offers cutting-edge looks (of course), is built from aluminium, and also sports a data-protecting fingerprint reader. Those features aside, it also packs in Bluetooth, an MP3 player and three speakers for booming out ringtones and voice in stereo quality sound.

$1635, www.axiomtelecom.com

There or there about

There's nothing more frustrating than getting lost on the way to an important meeting, so suck some stress out of his life with LG's LN700 Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system. Built to be mounted from a car windscreen, this fist-sized piece of kit will give him audio and visual directions, and comes with maps of the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia pre-installed. The Windows team a few months back and we found it did the job well, so buy with confidence.

$544, www.lge.com

Natural juice

When he's out and about on the go your dad really needs a way to keep his gadgets powered up, so jump onto Amazon.com and order him the Solio Hybrid 1000. This cunning device, perfect for the ever-sunny Middle East, boasts a powerful solar panel and battery in a compact and slender case.

Geared with a built-in rugged carabiner and cable, its charger can power virtually all his electronic devices, from the most common mobile phones to MP3 players and GPS units, all just by changing the adaptor tip. Ingenious.

Price varies, www.solio.com

Remember this

TravelPAC's 132i memory and SIM card reader is as useful, digitally speaking, as the proverbial Swiss Army Knife. This good-for-everything gadget can read up to 10 different memory card formats, as well as being able to read and edit the contents of SIM cards. So in short, this USB 2.0 buy is great for reading anything on a memory storage card (if for example your PC doesn't have the relevant slots), and for backing up your dad's invaluable list of phone numbers. There's a good chance your pa will wonder how he ever survived without this present, and it won't cost you an arm and a leg either; bargain!

Price varies, www.fatecme.com

Aqua safe

Okay, so the chances are that your dad doesn't work with crucially sensitive information, and even if he does, he probably doesn't need to access and edit this underwater, but hey in the crazy Gulf, who knows?

And if he does, then that's no reason not to help him out with the perfect pressie is it? That would be this: the EasyGo from SecuTronix, a waterproof biometric fingerprint reader no less. Applications? We're not sure. What's the point? Again, ditto...

Price varies, www.secutronix.com

Super swing

If your dad's a golfer and serious about his game, he can geek out to his heart's delight with this comprehensive piece of software. Called My Golf Scorer (and available from the .com site of the same name), this app will provide a record of all his scores, plus a range of analysis tools to help him focus on the particular areas that need improving, lowering his handicap (a good thing in golf) and, its makers claim, "enhancing [his] enjoyment of the game".

$19.99, www.mygolfscorer.com

Look no hands!

A car-free phone accessory with a difference, Merlin's Bluetooth Car Mirror works with any car and just slips over its existing rear view mirror to provide immediate hands-free calling capabilities. The device packs in a 12-digit caller display, a beautifully-named ‘backside' speaker, plus voice dialing and last number redial functions. It's also a handy way of getting your paps to use his mirror more and so drive safely, so he should always come back from work in one piece.

$150, www.merlin-me.com

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