C'mon, how many of you have been to a festival or gig and have wanted to wave a lit Zippo around to a particularly middle-of-the-road ballad or soft rock number? We know we have.

Indeed, we can't listen to More than Words at home without risking serious fire damage or injury. And Bohemian Rhapsody can often (literally) bring the house down.

Now, if only there was a way to get the same effect without the heat, danger or unmistakable smell of burnt hair and paraffin...

Virtual Zippo Lighter

Format

iPhone

Price

Free

Where

iTunes

While it has long been accepted that smoking is far from cool - often leading to bad breath, social pariahdom and, erm, death - Zippo lighters are the very epitome of the word. Except, of course, they also aren't. They're hot.

Certainly, they are when they're held in your hand being waved perilously close to a oily perm at a Heart gig.

So, what better way to avoid unnecessary injuries than wafting about a rendered version of the classic lighter, and with the Virtual Zippo Lighter iPhone app that's what you get.

Obviously, it's not much cop at setting fire to things, but the application has already been downloaded over 10 million times, so the odds that you'll be sat next a fellow Virtual Zippo owner at the next Toto concert are quite high. But, you needn't have the same-looking lighter as, thanks to a recent update, you can actually swap skins or, even, buy new ones (with real money) to give yourself a little individuality.

The app comes with some skins as standard, including the ability to engrave your virtual lighter, but also has a link to an online store, with plenty of customised versions, including some from Harley Davidson (for $0.99 each).

To be honest, there's not much more to it, but at least you'll keep long-haired Europe fans happy.

Recommended articles