Mobile Menorah
We still fantasize about teaming up with eight other iPhone owners and copies of Sonic Lighter to have the best final night of Hanukkah ever. (Yeah, Hanukkah isn't usually that memorable.) That lighter app can transfer the flame between other phones, making the perfect menorah simulation. Until that evening, we'll stick with Mobile Menorah, which does the same thing on a single phone. You can even set the length for the candles to last, although that takes away our favorite Hanukkah game, candle races.

Christmas with Weezer
It's a very special episode of Tap Tap Revenge. This time, the music-beat tapping game combines rock and/or roll versions of Christmas songs as played by Weezer. You get O Come All Ye Faithful, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Silent Night, and many more favorites. Plus, the kids have to master those pop takes on pious to get what they really want: two bonus Weezer tracks that have nothing to do with Christmas. Everybody wins.

Fake Caller
People have pretended to take phone calls to get out of holiday obligations ever since Watson got pulled away from his aunt's fruit cake. Now Fake Caller makes social evasion as simple as programming a timer. Want to get away from doing the dishes? Or want to leave work early beat traffic home? Program the phone to ring with the ideal caller in two minutes, then casually saunter over to the boss or person in power. Oh-oh, who's calling? Don't oversell by holding the phone out to show off the caller ID. Just mumble who it is and casually angle the screen for a moment. Have a quick conversation right there, or just excuse yourself to take the call outside.

Camera Self-Timer
The interface is a mess, but a range of features make Camera Self-Timer a cool group-photo accessory. (For something simple, try FotoTimer.) After swiping the splash-screen up for no apparent reason, Camera Self-Timer reveals settings to tune its photo size, interval, countdown sound, and more. Just prop the iPhone, start the timer, and everyone gets in the picture. We especially like the time-lapse option to create movies of events or fire off multiple group photos without having to run back and forth.

hiCard - Suite
Nothing says, "I didn’t get you anything" quite like the perfect card. Nothing says, "I didn’t even get you a card," like an e-card. But at least hiCard's images look elegantly crafty, like something Martha Stewart would have completed with an iron. A selection of dozens of card designs, these include gently layered effects, full of ribbons, various papers, and general faux-DIY style. Enter some text, and then send off an email within the app. While the results look great, hiCard is text-only; if you'd like to add your own photos, check out helloCards.


New Year’s Eve
This countdown clock includes 15 cities around the world. Sure, it's just pacing down the seconds until 2009, but if you investigate a listed city, you'll discover a webcam showing the local event. We had fun quickly jumping between international images at any moment, even though we could do the same thing in a web browser. Having it all at our fingertips helped us dream of the new year.

Pyro Mania!
New Year's Eve is about blowing stuff up almost as much as the Fourth of July. But if the weather turns cloudy, you can still enjoy fireworks from your iPhone. Yeah, you've got to augment Pyro Mania! with your imagination, but this toy has a lot going for it already. Tap to launch small bursts, hold a finger to detonate big blasts, or swipe to ignite rockets. Those missiles even follow the path of your finger. But best of all, multi-touch multiplies the show. We most enjoyed swiping several fingers to orchestrate complicated patterns.