Paramount and JJ Abrams have kindly provided Trekkies with two new ways to pass the time while waiting out the days between now and the release of Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness. The first is an app that enrolls users into the Starfleet Academy, allowing them to complete a range of missions incorporating various types of media. The second is a new featurette with behind the scenes commentary from Abrams.

The free app, available at both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, features an initial set of a few dozen missions with new ones being added each week. The LA Times got an early look at the app and reports that the missions involve "scavenger hunts, such as finding and scanning the latest Star Trek Into Darkness poster or visiting an AMC theater." Other missions "will use an audio scan function to recognize when users are watching Star Trek content on TV or elsewhere and reward them with points."

The app will also act as an aggregator, providing users with the latest Into Darkness news from around the web. Of course, fans who download it will also be treated to exclusive extras like extended trailers and photos. Developer Mitch Lusas describes the app as a smartphone version of Star Trek's Starfleet Academy: “You start off as a cadet, and you complete these missions. As you complete each mission, it will disappear and a new mission will come up. You’ll advance in your rank, you’ll unlock content and there will be some other exclusive things that will come up as well. The higher you get in your rank, the more content you will actually unlock,” he explains.

If you're not app inclined, the new one-and-a-half-minute featurette provides a glimpse of Abrams at work and includes brief commentary from the film's stars, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and Chris Pine. The director himself enthusiastically chimes in, too, boasting that the action in Star Trek Into Darkness is "light years beyond the first movie." Check it out below: