It’s amazing that, although our devices offer features such as LTE, pin-sharp cameras with 1080p recording and screens bereft of a hint of flaw that often, some of the more ‘bread and butter’ features such as notifications aren’t as convenient as they should be, and with such high-end hardware packed into our smartphones, we expect the software to perform at the same advanced level.

The ability to run custom launchers is one which certainly gives Android the edge over rivaling mobile OSes, and Go Launcher – a home screen alternative we featured a short while ago – is without doubt one of the best around.

Android and iOS are two very different ecosystems, and while it’s a matter of opinion as to which one is more superior, each has its strengths and weaknesses. Up until last October’s release of iOS 5, the notification system of Apple’s mobile OS was nothing more than a whimsical collection of popups and alarms, but the Notification Center soon saw to that, and thanks to iPhone Notifications for Android, a similar system can be replicated on devices running Google’s domineering mobile software.

A combination of great camera hardware and the rise of Instagram has given developers behind image and photo-centric apps something to shout about, but having said that, the app still has to deliver the goods and offer a substantial array of features to have any lasting effect on consumers.

Once upon a time, an alarm clock was a simple, sharp sound played in a loop at a given time in order to wake one up. In the days of Android and iOS, however, the process of rising from sleep is something many developers are trying to nail down to a fine art, and as such, there are bunch of apps purporting to help you feel fresher, more alert, and less cranky when morning comes.

Google’s Android has constantly come under fire from Apple for ripping off elements of iOS, with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously vowing to go “thermonuclear” and “destroy” what he deemed to be a “stolen product,” and one suspects the Cupertino outfit won’t be best pleased to hear that the Big G has, according to rumor, decided to develop its own Game Center-like infrastructure for Android.

The battle for supremacy in the cloud computing market is hotting up, and although Apple was the first of the big companies to push forth its iCloud service last year, Microsoft and Google have both joined the party in the last couple of months with their SkyDrive and Google Drive services respectively.

Smartphones have great range of uses – a range which is increasing all the time, but occasionally, an unexpected use crops up, and Metal Sniffer – a utility allowing you to locate scraps of metal using just your Android device – certainly falls under that umbrella.

It still seems like madness that in some cases, brand new Android powered smartphones and tablets don’t get shipped with Google’s latest version of the Android operating system installed upon them. If I was rushing to the store to purchase myself some of the latest hardware, I would expect it to ship with the latest and greatest software available in the market.

If you check out any technology lover’s arsenal of gadgets, I am pretty sure it will contain pieces of kit that cover all aspects of the consumer electronics spectrum. In today’s day and age it isn’t uncommon to walk into a home office and see a desktop computer as well as a laptop or notebook, also accompanied by a smart mobile device such as Apple’s ‘Post-PC’ iPad tablet as well as the a smartphone like the iPhone.

We should all be used to the fact that whenever a large scale sporting event happens somewhere in the world, a string of companies strike deals with the organizers to to be able to call themselves ‘official sponsors’ of the event, or name one of their products as the official drink or chewing gum.

Popular photo altering/sharing social app Instagram has enjoyed a pretty decent last few months by all accounts, and soon after releasing its long-awaited Android app, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook came along and purchased it for an unbelievable $1 billion.

Flipboard is a prime example of how an app should look, perform and function. It’s clean, it’s crisp, and everything just works, and it is truly unmatched on both the iPhone, and primarily, the iPad.

Within our phone books and contact lists, there’ll always be those few people we only make short, uninteresting, mundane small-talk with, and most of us absolutely detest those conversations which scarcely deviate from “how are you?” “what are you doing?” or, “oh really, how is that going?”

Android users have been pining for system-wide Google Voice implementation for quite some time now, and that calling may have been heard by MDR Tools, Inc., which has created an app purporting to offer just that.

The constant squabbles and patent-based conflict between Apple and Samsung is a well-documented debacle, and while both companies have agreed to drop several claims each, Apple does feel as though Samsung’s recent rise as the number one smartphone vendor is mainly due to plagiarism of its products.

Whether you’re an organized person or somewhat scatty, your cause can always be aided by means of technology. Tablet and smartphone devices offer an almost infinite list of to-do apps, keeping you updated and in-sync with everything occurring in your life day-to-day.

The various app hubs specific to each mobile operating system offer tens of thousands (or in the case of Apple and Google, hundreds of thousands) of apps and games enabling those using them to prosper, be more productive, organized and of course, entertained. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the apps on offer are pretty underwhelming, failing to really capture the imagination due to lack of thought, preparation, or execution.

Tablets are incredibly useful for productivity, and considering around 90% of computer users run Windows, it’s safe to presume that when it comes to typing in a document or writing a spreadsheet, most are accustomed to Microsoft’s Office suite.

As smartphones and tablets have become an integral part of our day-to-day lives, the process of jotting down notes has changed incredibly. The paper and pen have been ditched in favor of the digital keyboard, and whether you’re running iOS or Android, there is no shortage of apps available, each claiming to offer the very best note-taking experience.