Over the years, users have spent tons of money on personalizing their mobile phones.  Even in the early days of feature phones, mobile users proved with their wallets that they were willing to go to great lengths to customize their mobile devices…  Mobile ring tones, ringback tones, wallpapers, phone skins, unique cases.  While a lot has changed in mobile over the years, one thing has remained the same… Users love to ‘pimp their phones’, and companies are lining up to help… One of the areas that seems to really be heating up is around homescreen personalization – particularly Android.

Homescreen replacement apps allow users to customize the icons and content on their homescreen.  Apps like this are launching all over the place, and competition is fierce.  Homescreen real estate is valuable, and the companies that can influence it are well positioned for success.  In the last few months alone, I’ve read dozens of articles  on homescreen replacement apps – Spark, LauncherPro Plus, SlideScreen, HelixLauncher, Panda Home, Open Home, dx Top, aHome, GDE… The list goes on.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with HipLogic one of the companies that’s on a mission to make Android devices more highly personalized and easier to use through their homescreen replacement app, *Spark.  Mark Anderson, the CEO of HipLogic is passionate about making better experiences for Android users.  You can see *Spark in action in the video below:

Last month weighed in on the war over your homescreen on a guest post for Android Guys.  Anderson knows the competition is fierce, and his team isn’t wasting time in trying to launch new, meaningful features users will love.  As far as homescreen replacement options go, Spark is a good option, and they’re partnering with big names to execute their vision.  Most recently, Spark partnered with CBS sports to launch its new Sports module, which allows you to follow your favorite sports results from your home screen:

It goes one step further, letting you dive into more details on each of your favorite sports in one click:

It also allows you to read the latest sports news:

and share that news with your friends…

and social networks…

Overall, I like *Spark. If you’re looking for a way to customize your homescreen, *Spark offers some great features.  You can give the new and improved *Spark a try by downloading the app on Android Market here.