Handango has long been synonymous with web based application shopping. For the last couple of years it has also been offering on-device clients for a number of platforms. InHand takes a selection of applications from the Handango catalog and makes them available for purchase directly from the user's smartphone. The UIQ client, more specifically a client for Sony Ericsson's P800, P900 and P910, has been one of the most successful InHand implementations for Handango.

"It is one of our most popular clients," says Clint Patterson, Handango's VP of marketing. "It has received a tremendous number of downloads and that popularity has created user feedback, which we have addressed in this new release." Clint characterizes the changes as falling into two categories: improving the variety of applications available (InHand now features more than 60 applications) and making the purchase easier. These changes seem to have worked. "Since we re-launched InHand for UIQ, it has been the most down loaded InHand client," says Clint. "Overall, the UIQ version has been the most consistently downloaded client from Handango's website."

The range of applications InHand can host has been increased by a new feature that allows the devices IEMI number to be captured. "The early versions of InHand could only deal with applications that either had no registration code or used codes based on something other than the phones IEMI number," says Clint. "The new feature means we can we generate registration codes dynamically. As a result, we have doubled the potential catalog of application we can offer through InHand."

Selecting applications for the InHand client is the responsibility of Anna Philips, the InHand Content Manager. Before any application is considered for InHand there are some criteria it must meet. "One obvious criteria is size," says Anna. "Most customers don't yet have access to 3G networks, so it is important to limit the application size. Downloading a two megabyte application is not a good experience on GPRS, and it could cost a customer quite a lot. We have a cut off point between 500k and one meg for InHand applications. We might forego the size limit for a superstar application but would warn the customer about the size in the description." Symbian Signed is another important criteria as it is "a seal of approval on quality content." Beyond that, selection is down to Anna's editorial judgment. "I look at information such as: what are customers buying through InHand, what sells well on the website, what do we think customers want more of," say Anna. "Fortunately, because we see sales from so many different sources for UIQ applications, we have a lot of quantitative data that we can use. Sometimes, however, it is just what we think is cool."

So what sells well? Anna points to games as the most popular type of application, followed by network aware software titles, such as messenger applications or any type of communication application. One of the keys to InHand's success has been the accessibility of applications. "On a recent trip I had InHand on my P910," says Clint. "I was able to downloaded trial versions of games to my phone, play them and then buy the ones I liked. All directly on my phone."

In choosing the content for InHand does Anna ever find gaps in the applications available? "Truthfully no, but that does not mean there are not new opportunities for developers to exploit. We know our customers are hungry for new types of applications," says Anna. "Multi-player games is certainly one emerging category. If you look at the top search term for Symbian OS applications, it's GPS. GPS-enabled applications are a very exciting category. Music and video applications are also very popular."

InHand also has a number of other enhancements for the user, such as a differential download of the catalog that only downloads the changes and the ability to share applications over infrared or Bluetooth. One of the more significant changes is support for integrated billing with Premium SMS. Clint claims that InHand is the first on-device storefront with this feature. It is a core component of Handango's operator focused InHand offering. "InHand is designed to allow operators to re-brand it as their own," says Clint. "We also cover all the major mobile platforms so operators can present a unified interface for application discovery and purchasing across their entire line of smartphones. For an operator InHand not only drives application sales and data traffic, which directly improve revenue, but it helps increase customer retention and loyalty through the usage of those applications and gets the customer more actively engaged with their device."

So how does the new version of InHand work in practice? InHand provides a set of categorized lists of available applications, which leads to a screen shot and application description. A regular prompt asks users if they want to download updates.

If an application has a trial version, it can be downloaded before the application is purchased. On the public client an application can be purchased with a credit card or using a Handango GoPass account.

Once the purchase has been confirmed the application is automatically downloaded and made available for installation. While this process works smoothly, even if interrupted, the final step of application registration is a little cumbersome as any application registration keys are still delivered by email.

In addition to the InHand improvements, a change of interest to all developers will be Handango's Symbian Signed service. Unlike other Symbian Signed services, Handango offers flexible payment options, such as the ability to pay for signing from sales revenue. Because Handango is a strong supporter of Symbian Signed, offering a signing service is a natural step. However, Clint also explained that "it is to streamline the process for developers. We see certification as a necessity to provide the customer, who is increasingly a person who may never have bought software before, with the reassurance they can use an application with confidence. Obviously, it is an extra cost for developers. Therefore, when offering Symbian Signed we want to make it as simple and cost effective as possible. It's about keeping the barriers to entry as low as commercially possible for our application development partners. It also means we can now take developers though the entire life cycle so once they have got an application ready we can help them get it signed, up and for sale."

Handango has already been operating its own certification scheme, called Handango Mobile Ready, which has been a requirement for applications entering operator and OTA channels or being placed on InHand. Clint pointed out that applications which are Symbian Signed are automatically Handango Mobile Ready.

Interestingly, despite Handango's support for Symbian Signed, InHand is not signed. When we asked Clint about this he laughed, "That is a gap in our thinking, isn't it? It's just that this version of InHand is a new product. It will be Symbian Signed in the near future."

For more information on InHand or Handango's corp.handango.com.