SPB Shell 3D - Launcher that redesigns your home screen, adding 3D effects, customizable widgets and useful features

***Update: Since publishing this post, I’ve began having some issues with SPB Shell 3D. It’s crashing pretty frequently and I have yet to find a conflicting app or been able to successfully troubleshoot it. With the steep price, you may want to use caution prior to purchasing. Through my research, I’ve seen many other users with the same issues***

($14.95 from the Android App Store) This app is expensive, but after researching it and checking out some of the videos and reviews, I took a chance and spent $15. While it may not be for everyone, it’s been the purchase I’ve been most satisfied with. It’s provided me the ability to add different sized folders/windows on my device, a nice weather and clock widget, a 3D world clock, a very cool 3-dimensional SMS conversation bubble, a 3D birthday countdown widget and some ridiculously cool eye candy for customizing, rearranging and managing your screen panels. A screen cap alone won’t do it justice, so take a look at the video below.

JuiceDefender Ultimate - Extends your battery life

($7.13 from the Android App Store) Works by managing the aspects of your device that drains your battery. Uses five profiles to select ranging from balanced, aggressive to extreme along with the ability to customize or choose more advanced options. While balanced will make only minor settings adjustments to provide as much normal operation as possible, extreme will completely disable connectivity and shut down Wifi, GPS, etc to save the most juice.While the app automates these processes based on the profile you select, it’s easy to turn on some of the stuff it flips off. You can also add apps to shutdown for the given profile, schedule when to automatically start JD, etc.

The app offers a widget to toggle JuiceDefender on or off. Based on my stats so far, which I typically choose balanced, JuiceDefender has increased my battery life x1.61 in the last 48 hours. Yep, you can see the stats too.

No Root Screenshot It – Lets you capture screenshots of your device without having to root it

($5.29 in the Android App Store) It’s kind of a pain to set it up as you’ll need to connect it to your PC or Mac, download the free desktop application and follow a few simple steps, but once it’s setup it’s simple to get screen shots (otherwise known as printscreens or screenshots) without having to bother with rooting your device.

Add a widget that takes a screen cap after the amount of seconds you select (default is 5) or even better, enable the screenshot to be taken when you shake your device. The video illustrates how it works and I’ve used this app to take all the screen shots used in this post.

doubleTwist AirSync - Wirelessly import your photos and videos from your Android to your PC and wirelessly sync your iTunes music, playlists, ratings and play counts to your device.

($4.99 from the Android Market) The free doubleTwist Player app is a very nice app as well, just doesn’t provided the wireless sync. The app itself is nice and comes with a music playlist Android Shortcut and either a small or large doubleTwist widget to add to your home screen. My favorite aspect is the desktop software, which gives me an iTunes-like desktop tool to make syncing and adding media a littler nicer experience. It’s not perfect and could use some enhancements, but it provides some nice features I otherwise wouldn’t have.

Dropbox – Free service to add photos, docs, music, videos to your web-based Dropbox account so you can add to and access files from your phone, computer, etc.

(FREE on the Android Market) I love Dropbox. It’s a nice central online location that lets me add anything I want from any computer or device I want. I have the free Dropbox app set up on my Droid Bionic, my iPad, my PC and my Mac. It automatically syncs all the stuff you add to the folder that’s set up on all your devices. For example, I can add some spreadsheets to my Android DropBox app, then pick up my iPad or Computer and now be able to access the spreadsheets or whatever I add from those devices. You get 2GBs of storage for free, 50GBs for $9.99 per month or 100GBs for $19.99 per month.

Another thing I love about using Dropbox on the Android is the Android Shortcut that lets you add a shortcut to a specific Dropbox folder onto your home screen. For example, I have a work folder setup within Dropbox that I have on my home screen for one-click access to this folder. I have another shortcut on my home screen for my Dropbox music folder.

I don’t typically pay for many apps, but the apps within this list have made me enjoy my amazing device even more. Did I miss any app that you believe is worthy of a mention?

Best Free Android Launchers Apps List on AppBrain

GO Launcher Ex

GO Launcher EX is the extra version of GO Launcher, packed with several useful features. The app redesigns your device, offering several supported themes, smooth scrolling with the ability to change your “fling speed” and transition effect, an icon popup menu, folder and task manager in the app drawer, gestures and functionality to scroll and resize widgets. The icon popup menu is executed by long pressing on any app, revealing a window with buttons to replace, rename, delete or uninstall.

LauncherPro

LauncherPro provides up to seven home screens, 2D and 3D app drawers with fly-in-effects, a scrollable shortcut dock and more. Customize the app to your liking by modifying the homescreen, grid size, dock and behavior settings. Transition effects consist of scale, rotate, flip and cube.

ADW.Launcher

ADW.Launcher offers a customizable app drawer, various themes, drag and drop action buttons and more. You can adjust the screen and drawer settings, preferences and behavior and enable or disable UI settings. By long pressing on an app icon, you can choose to remove, edit or uninstall.

LiveHome

LiveHome features a customizable app drawer, drag and drop action buttons, a built-in app and task manager, up to seven home screens and more. The transitions can be customized with cube, book, stretch, rotate and split effects. When you long press an app icon, options are to remove, get detail, edit or uninstall the app. LiveHome is loaded with features and you have to check out the book transition effect.

Launcher 7

If you ever wanted to get an idea of what Windows Phone 7 is like without wasting your money, this is the launcher for you. The app lets you customize your phones home screen with original Windows Phone 7 backgrounds and large tiles. You can change the tile colors, long press to drag and drop tiles around the screen, pick from different layout animations and a few other options. The app is in alpha, but definitely provides an entirely different way to experience your Android.

Don’t stop with just downloading the launchers above. Be sure to search the Android Market for supported themes and wallpaper to further customize and get the most out of the launchers.

Of the list, my two favorite launchers are LiveHome and GO Launcher Ex. What’s your favorite launcher? Are there any I missed that you believe is worthy of the top five? Let me know what you think.

Apps Available for Download at Blackberry App World

In addition to the Apps listed below, it’s important to note that BlackBerry App World also has several team-specific Apps you can use to stay up to date with your favorite teams.

ScoreMobile for BlackBerry 3.5/5 Stars

Up-to-the minute sports scores, boxscores, fantasy player stats, betting odds, detailed game previews, recaps, top stories and league standings.

CBS Sports Bookmark – 4.5/5 Stars

Sports scores, play by play and breaking news headlines across all major pro and college sports. Fantasy baseball and football teams, including fantasy scoreboard, set lineup, my player news, roster trends and more.

SMap – 3/5 Stars

For runners, hikers, bikers, etc. SMap is a free route recording application…utilizes the GPS in your device to record your routes..and other information within your route. Manage your routes and easily upload them onto the Sanoodi website.

Viigo – 4/5 Stars

One click access to Live Sports, news, entertainment, etc. Customize what you want to read to get news from only the teams you follow.

Launchers, Alerts and More

UFC Mobile Alert – Visit UFC Mobile and enter your phone number to setup Alerts for the latest UFC news and notes.

MMAJunkie Mobile – Visit MMAJunkie’s Mippin mobile page to read a BlackBerry friendly MMA Junkie.

ESPN Blackberry Launcher – Visit ESPN Mobile from your PC or download http://espn.mobi/bblauncher from your BlackBerry browser.

MLB.com Launcher – Download to your PC or http://wap.mlb.com/blackberry from your mobile browser.

NFL.com Wireless – Click on NFL Wireless and enter your phone number to have the link text messaged to your BlackBerry.

NBA.com Mobile Alerts -Visit NBA.com Mobile Alerts and sign up for a free account. Choose the teams and players you want alerts for.

NBA.com Mobile – Visit http://wap.nba.com from your BlackBerry Browser.

The Hockey News – Visit The Hockey News fand enter your e-mail for download instructions.

SI.com Mobile – Visit SI.com Mobile and enter your phone number to have the link sent to your phone.

MLB.com Gameday ($14.99 per season) – This isn’t free, but deserves mentioning. Visit Mobile Premium for more information.

Do you have any great Apps or launchers you’d like to share? What’s your favorite from the list above?