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Filed under: Software , Android Handango is certainly no stranger to the business of hawking mobile apps for cash, and it's using its expertise constructively to beat Google's own Android Market out of the gate this time around. They're getting pretty snazzy with the payment terms, too, allowing developers to offer apps for free (though why anyone would do this instead of just using the on-device Market is unclear), a one-time purchase price, or a number of different subscription terms. Seeing how they'll be the only name-brand clearinghouse in town for selling Android apps any time soon, we're thinking this is going to get some play -- but once the Market gets its act together, we're not seeing the value proposition. Call us lazy, but why would we want to drag ourselves over to a website when we've got the Market waiting for us in the applicationt tab? Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Smartphone users are now downloading more games and entertainment applications than any other category of mobile content, according to smartphone content provider Handango. The firm's First Half 2008 Handango Yardstick global trend report notes that games--buoyed by strong sales from brands including EA Mobile and Capcom--jumped from fourth place at the end of 2007 to second place in the current rankings, just behind entertainment. Handango says that in unit sales, categories focused on "killing time" now surpass applications emphasizing "saving time," i.e. business and productivity apps: Entertainment and games together totaled 42 percent of unit sales during the first half of 2008, followed by business and professional applications at 13 percent. Productivity apps like address books and calendars accounted for 9 percent of sales. A separate Handango survey reports that 86 percent agreed or strongly agreed that smartphone content makes their lives easier, while 76 percent agreed it makes their lives more enjoyable. Handango reports its content catalog now boasts more than 140,000 entries across various categories--the company added more than 370 developer partners during the first six months of 2008, bringing its roster of developers to over 23,000. The BlackBerry 8830 and BlackBerry Curve were the top two devices adding software in the first half of 2008, with more than 1,000 new mobile applications added to the BlackBerry catalog during this period. "Ringtones" was the most searched term during the first six months of the year, with the top 10 also including "games," "themes," "GPS," "weather" and "music." Ringtones and streaming television applications remain among the best sellers across multiple platforms. For more on the latest Handango Yardstick: - read this release Related articles: EA Mobile inks distribution deal with Handango Handango cuts apps deal with Sony Ericsson

Smartphone applications provider Handango announced a worldwide agreement with Sony Ericsson to bring content direct to consumers on all of the device maker's convergence phones, including the Windows Mobile-based Xperia X1 and its UIQ handsets. Handango's InHand clients will offer users a variety of productivity, games, imaging and music apps designed for optimal performance across the Sony Ericsson convergence phone portfolio--the Xperia XI will boast an embedded, Handango-branded Windows Mobile 6.1 InHand client. In addition, Handango will serve as the content provider for Sony Ericsson's mobile web storefront for UIQ devices, and by year's end will offer its InHand mobile client embedded on all UIQ devices. For more on the Sony Ericsson/Handango deal: - read this release Related articles: Sony Ericsson unveils motion gaming phone Sony Ericsson debuts Windows Mobile device

By Mark Lowenstein I am very pleased to inaugurate this series of monthly opinion columns with Fierce Wireless, reprising the role I had for several years at Wireless Week. As many of you might Read more...

Filed under: Handsets , Sony Ericsson While we're sure there's at least a few folks that'll be pleased to hear that Sony Ericsson's eagerly-anticipated XPERIA X1 will launch with Handango's InHand service on the device, we're guessing there's a tad more people that'll be interested in the other little detail revealed in the company's recent newsletter: that the X1 will apparently be launching in mid-September. Of course, we'll still have to wait to hear from Sony Ericsson to know for sure, especially given some of the launch date confusion in the past, but this latest word is at least in line with the company's most recent statement that the X1 launching in the second half of 2008, so it might not be such a crazy idea to start counting down the days. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

For the first time ever, entertainment content sales topped smartphone content provider Handango's year-end Yardstick global trend report, moving up from third place in 2006. According to Handango entertainment content accounted for 17 percent of total smartphone content sales in 2007, with business and professional content dropping year-over-year from 18 percent to 16 percent, heralding a consumer shift in using smartphones beyond business and productivity-related activities. Other leading Yardstick categories in 2007 were productivity applications like address book and calendar in third place and games in fourth place. In addition, the Ringtone Megaplex library was 2007's best-selling application on both the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile platforms. The Handango Yardstick consolidates and reports on key smartphone market data based on content purchases across the firm's distribution network. For more on the 2007 Handango Yardstick: - read this release Related articles: GPS, entertainment surge on Handango Yardstick Ex-Amp'd head Bill Stone named Handango CEO