One of the toughest nuts to crack when you’re talking about mobile content is discoverability. Smartphone apps provider Handango is trying to change that in Best Buy stores nationwide.
In what it describes as a first-of-its-kind deal, Handango is offering Best Buy mobile customers a content catalog of apps ranging from business and productivity to entertainment and games for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Palm and Symbian S60 smartphones.
When customers want to move their contacts from their old phone to a new one, Best Buy has a Mobile Genie that does that. Handango content is handled much the same way; if the customer wants to add music or games, for example, they can do that. “It’s a good match,” said Handango CEO Bill Stone.
Handango’s In-Hand client also can be downloaded directly onto each device so customers can continue to buy apps with Handango and Best Buy after they leave the store. Handango sells SD cards in stores, too.
Handango’s move into Best Buy isn’t an attempt to ward off competition from the likes of the Apple Apps store or the Android Marketplace, Stone said. Handango already offers content through the Android Marketplace. Handango works with eight operating systems, but it doesn’t work with the iPhone.
The real challenge right now is educating consumers and building awareness so they know they can add a variety of apps to their smartphones, he said.