AMC’s award-winning series, Mad Men, is back for its fifth season premiering on Sunday, March 25th.  After more than a year of absence, fans are dying to find out what will happen with Don Draper’s proposal to Megan, or to Joan Harris’ baby with Roger Sterling.  Will Greg ever find out?  Will this end their marriage?

A lot of questions waiting to be answered, but fans have to wait four more days before the show premiers.  So to help pass the time, here are some apps and retro-style gadgets to bide your time.

Mad Apps

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• Mad Men Cocktail Culture – this app helps you get in the mood for watching Mad Men by teaching you how to create cocktails with 14 playable drinks and 32 drink cocktail guide.

• DIRECTV – this app lets you set your DVR to record Mad Men, if for some unfortunate reason, you won’t be at home to watch the season premier.

• GQ – this fashion app will help you look as good as Don Draper as well as access to interviews, photos, tips and much more.

• Lustr Fashion Finder – this app is for the ladies, if men want to look as good as Don Draper, the ladies would want to look as hot as Joan Harris or go for the classic Betty look.

• Silent Film Director – and if you want to create your own 60s-style video and feel like you’re one of Mad Men’s cast, this is the perfect app for you.

Livin’ the retro life

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Looking at the cast, backdrop and devices used in Mad Men, it made me realize just how much technology has evolved since the 1960s.  Peggy had a typewriter, we now have computers. Joan had the huge Xerox 914, we know have printers that also perform triple duty as a photocopier and scanner.  From TV sets that resemble packaging boxes, things have evolved into thin OLED TVs.  Don had slide projectors, but how slick would his presentations be with a mobile phone that has a built-in projector?  And Betty could only yell at Don from one room on her rotary phone, but we now have mobile phones with multi-touch screens.

Though technology has drastically changed, there’s just something about the old times that still interests us.  Have you noticed how retro things are coming back?

Just look at The Sixty – a cordless phone from Sagemcom that looks like a rotary phone. It consists of a base containing a touch dial placed around a reverse video Dot matrix screen (white on black background), a wireless handset with a 10 hour communication standby battery life with a radio range of up to 300 m indoors, a “High Glossy” orange finish, luminous dial buttons (13 LED), aluminium compound cradle, and small chromed backing plate.

What about turning your iPhone into a rotary phone?  Impossible?  Not quite.  With the Moshi Moshi Retro POP Handset, you can feel like you’re living in the past.  Just hook it up to your iPhone and you’re good to go.  But if you want the real deal with a true rotary phone that has a modern touch, just do what Davis Remmel did–put Siri on a vintage rotary phone.

If vintage photos are your thing but apps just don’t do it for you, you can try Holga’s Retro Lens iPhone case that comes with a rotary dial for the various lenses.  Or you can go all out and try Gizmon iCA case for your iPhone.  It turns your iPhone into a rangefinder camera, complete with leather strap and case.

And finally, if you want to do retro-fy your home, here are a few things to consider:

• Turn your iPad into an old school TV with the Retro TV iPad Dock from Mitre Box.

• Satisfy the geek inside you with the 1980s-style Padintosh Case for iPad 2.

• For music enthusiasts that just love those old-school radios but can’t live without their iPods, there’s the Crosley Stereoluxe audio system and iPod dock.  You might also fancy the View Quest retro-style DAB radio and iPod dock.  But if you want a more classic look, go for the Trumstand – a dock for your iPhone that looks like a gramophone.

• And If you’re a writer who misses the clickity-clack of old typewriters, the iTypewriter is the perfect addition to your retro home.

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