In just the past few years a massive online industry has grown up around smartphones. What is a smartphone? Well, it is a mobile device that gives users access to various features and applications that make it more like a pocket computer than a regular mobile phone. For example, smartphone users can go on the internet, play games, and even do their banking all on their mobiles.

What is an application or app? Really, it is nothing more than a mini computer programme that lets users perform a series of actions. Some of the most popular ones grant user’s access to GPS or lets them listen to their favourite radio stations. Honestly, anything that you can do online, you can do with the aid of an application.

So, what are the best mobile phone apps ? This is an extremely difficult question. After all, there are thousands and thousands of them. The App Store alone is rumoured to be closing in on the hundred thousand mark. Though Apple has not confirmed this rumour, they recently announced that users have downloaded over one billion applications in the year and a half since the store officially opened. (more...)

Though the Blackberry and the Symbian are the current leaders in terms of smartphone sales, the iPhone is undoubtedly king when it comes to applications. In 2008, Apple opened an online site called the App Store. From the beginning the site gave iPhone users the ability to download both free and paid applications.

What exactly are cell phone apps ? Well, really they are nothing more than mini computer programmes that can be downloaded directly to your mobile device. Presently, the most popular applications or apps are mobile games. These games can be downloaded free of charge or for a small fee for most devices.

But getting back to the App Store, less than a year and a half after it opened its virtual doors the company celebrated its one billionth application download. Yes, that’s billion with a "b!" As we mentioned, even though mobile apps are still the most popular and are downloaded primarily by younger users, there are many useful applications that have been brought to the market. (more...)

With the popularity of apps exploding on the internet, there seems to be nothing smartphone users like more than learning mobile software technology . But when it comes to apps (applications), which company has the most to offer?

While it is true that the iPhone has by far the biggest catalogue with some seventy-five thousand apps, only about five thousand of them are actually free. The others will ask you to remit a small fee for each app you download.

Other smartphone makers offer similar arrangements. Though, a few of them offer a much higher percentage of desirable free apps. For instance, both Blackberry and Android offer users apps that can be used for everything from finding directions to finding friends to surfing the web. (more...)

The success of the App Store run by Apple has been the stuff of legend. The company was the first app site to reach the one billion download milestone. It took them just eighteen months to achieve this feat. Then, a mere six months later, the company released a statement that another billion apps had been downloaded from their store.

While it is true that the App Store is the envy of the industry, every other smartphone maker is currently working overtime to catch up. This means smartphone users should expect a deluge of new applications in the coming months.

Not that there is presently any real dearth of applications. Apple alone has a catalogue of over one hundred thousand of them. And, as we mentioned, other mobile makers are producing apps at record speeds. All of these new programs can leave consumers feeling a bit overwhelmed, which is why websites like topapps.org.uk can help separate the wheat from the chaff. (more...)

The best thing about Google android is that it is device free. This means that while Apples iPhone operating system may be good, it is confined to the iPhone and does not offer users a choice to change. With android however, backed by one of the world’s biggest and trusted companies, Google, the system can be used with any hardware. Several big companies like LG, Samsung, and Nokia are already starting to develop handsets running on Android.

Android supports several apps, and with its success already growing, an android app explosion in the market is imminent. Apps for Android are being developed relentlessly, and sooner or later, users will suffer the same problem that they do now, with other apps. With so many choices, which apps are actually worth our money?

The answer lies in sites providing users with Android smartphone apps reviews . Users rely heavily on reviews as there seems to be little other help in knowing about the functionality and quality of a particular app. (more...)

There are so many apps available today that choosing and downloading the best ones can be a daunting prospect. As you read this, thousands of new apps are being developed. App review sites can be a useful tool in sifting through the large volume of available apps.

Application review sites generally offer ratings for top ten or twenty apps in every category. Some good review sites will also give a detailed review based on various things like usability, design, visuals, performance, speed etc. these can come in extremely handy.

Once you choose the ones you want, it is easy to download apps . Some apps can be downloaded for free, while some cannot. It is usually the case that free apps are like versions of the full version paid apps. (more...)

Over the last year, mobile applications for the iPhone have become more popular than ever. In January, Apple announced that users had downloaded one billion apps in just three months time. That means they were downloading over ten million apps each day.

How did the iPhone gain such a following? As you may know, the iPhone was not the first Smartphone. In fact, the Blackberry was introduced eight years earlier in 1999. But the iPhone was the first device to offer an impressive catalogue of applications.

In the first year alone, Apple added over 25,000 apps to their website. Many of these apps were offered for free. At present the Apple App Store has a catalogue of over 100,000 applications. About five thousand of these can be downloaded for free. (more...)

What is the one deciding factor that you considered when you were buying a mobile device? For most people it was the application library because they are what truly make a phone fun and unique. Every mobile phone has the ability to call and text, it is the applications that really set them apart from one another.

If you are having a hard time deciding on which mobile phone to buy you should check out the internet and view the many mobile review websites that are available. If you want to know the best applications read more sites that have to do with reviews and ratings.

There are many sites that rank applications in terms of price and fun factor. Some apps get high scores based on their price in terms of usability. Nobody wants to pay a high price for an app that is low in value, instead they want to pay less and receive more. (more...)

For the first time on record, married couples are in the minority in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirms that singles, divorcees, cohabitees, and widows and widowers now outnumber married people in England and Wales. Of course, that hasn't stopped most singles from searching for a mate.

Each month, an estimated seven million UK singles look for dates online. That's a ninety-five percent increase from 2000. How and why has internet dating become so popular? Well, the how is easy. In short, people started spending a lot more time online. Emails, instant messages and chat rooms were accepted as a new and exciting form of communication.

The why? There are numerous theories. But in our humble opinion, it is due to a failure of traditional dating. Single people just don't meet or date the same way they did a quarter of a century ago. Casual relationships, hookups and cohabitation are becoming ever more common. Then there is dating Nokia? (more...)

Many times I have wondered how on earth I used to manage my life before the day of iPad Apps or iPod apps. These dinky little tools cost little or are even free and yet they help me to organise my life in a way that I was never able to before.

I am by nature quite a disorganised person and iPod apps help me to become a little closer to the person I would like to be. I can keep my days to day activities under control with the help of a calendar app and I need never miss the birthday of a friend or relative with a birthday reminder app. I now make appointments on time – well, almost always...

I can access a train timetable in a few short strokes and I can even find out where my nearest restaurant is wherever I am in the world. (more...)

The way technology is changing and shaping our lives is quite amazing, and it is the rate at which this is happening that is astounding. Who, even six years ago, could have predicted how powerful and useful that smartphones would become?

Smartphones have now, quite literally, become pocket computers. Not only do they allow for communication by voice, text, videophone or email, but they also have a wide range of other uses. With the development of smaller, more powerful chips, and specifically created operating systems, it is possible to have powerful applications running on them, that puts the software of home computers of yesteryear to shame.

There are thousands of apps available, from an iphone dating app smartdate which allows access to a dating database, to complex personal organisers with synchronisation to documents stored in 'the cloud'. (more...)

The appearance and huge popularity of smartphones over the last three or four years has been little more than astonishing. Originally aimed at the business market, they are now catered more towards individuals who love the social networking aspects of these devices.

It goes without saying that the smartphone's primary function in terms of social networking is still that of the two traditional forms of communication such as talking and texting. Surprisingly, video talking has never really taken off.

Secondary social networking aspects include using things such as Twitter and Facebook, where it is possible for people to update their status from quite literally anywhere. Another dimension that has recently been added, is that of applications, such as iPhone dating apps some of which even use Geo-location technology. (more...)

Of all the free iPhone apps available today, the ones consumers use the most are invariable video related. There are myriad streaming, recording and editing applications out there and, what is more, many of them can be acquired free of charge.

If you have a video saved on your computer, but you're keen to show it to your friends while visiting a far away location, simply find a remote streaming application to install on your PC and your phone accordingly. This will allow you to access media saved on your computer at home, even if you're miles from the destination.

Another family of apps will allow you to stream live TV to your phone. This means you can watch your favourite show regardless of where you happen to be while it's on. (more...)

Whether you've stuck to your old mobile and gone for one of the available sim only deals, or you've bought a new one outright, you will doubtless find yourself in a tricky spot and without a charger at some point in your life. There are few things more frustrating than a resolutely dead phone, but luckily, there are a few useful alternative strategies by means of which you can bring it back to life.

To start with, it is important to realise that no matter how hard you try, it is practically impossible to recharge your phone without any access to electronics. Some people swear they can eek out the charge remaining in an almost flat battery by placing the phone in the sun for a while, but this is hardly a long term, nor a very effective solution.

Your best bet to recharge without a true charger lies in your computer. Simply use a USB data cable to connect your handset to your lap top or pc and your phone will begin to charge. Be warned, however: it will take significantly longer to charge like this than it would to while plugged into a conventional charger at the wall. (more...)