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Annie Gladue
Public Relations
publicrelations@mobihand.com
media inquires only, please
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MobiHand launches independent Blackberry App Store.
New App Store provides alternative to the upcoming Blackberry App WorldTM with a broader app selection, lower prices, and dedicated customer support.
San Mateo, CA. - March 31, 2009 - MobiHand, Inc. a leading provider of mobile content and application stores has announced the beta release of their own on-device app store client for Blackberry smartphones.
The beta-release version of the MobiHand App Store includes over 5000 free and paid applications from hundreds of leading Blackberry developers. Best-selling applications appearing in the app store at launch include QuickLaunch, BBSmart Alarms Pro, TouchBubbles, StormSlots, Aerize Email Alerts, and Empower Email Viewer. The MobiHand App Store also features a "Deal-of-the-Day" - where consumers are offered a deep discount on a different best-selling application every day.
The on-device app store allows users to easily and quickly browse and search applications that are compatible with their specific phone, viewed by best-sellers, new, updated, free, and discounted categories. Once users have registered, they can purchase applications with a single click and have them delivered over-the-air within seconds. Blackberry users can learn more about the MobiHand App Store by visiting http://www.mobihand.com/appstore from their desktop computer or can download the app store immediately by visiting the same url from the Blackberry browser.
In contrast to the up-coming Blackberry App World by Research in Motion, the MobiHand App Store features over 2500 themes -- the top-selling category of applications for Blackberry smartphones. In addition, MobiHand allows developers to price applications as low as $0.99 versus the anticipated $2.99 minimum price point within Blackberry App World. Consumers can purchase using credit cards and soon with Paypal. Augmenting the on-device store, consumers can also purchase from the companion desktop store located at onlyblackberry.mobihand.com with over-the-air delivery of applications direct to the device for easy installation.
MobiHand allows developers to sell their products for a one-time fee or as a subscription with automated re-billing. They can also choose to provide free trial versions of their applications within the store. Developers can sign up, list their applications, and start selling within hours. There are no up-front fees to developers.
In addition to appearing in the MobiHand store, applications within the MobiHand catalog appear in the entire network of MobiHand-powered white-label stores, co-branded stores, and affiliate websites reaching millions of mobile consumers every day. In parallel with the MobiHand App Store launch, Crackberry.com, the leading Blackberry community site on the Internet with over 3.8 million visitors and 45 million page views per month, has launched their own custom branded MobiHand-powered App Store to augment their existing store. According to Kevin Michaluk, Crackberry's Founder and Community Editor, "Our existing PC-optimized store is already a big success, powering millions of product views and several hundred thousand downloads each month. Our new on-device client will make it easier then ever for Blackberry enthusiasts to browse, buy, and download both paid and free apps and themes."
"MobiHand powers hundreds of co-branded appstores for every leading smartphone platform. We've been working with the Blackberry developer community for many years. This is not a new business for us", said Steve Howard, President and CEO of MobiHand. "With the introduction of app stores tightly controlled by the platform vendors, it's important for consumers and developers to be offered alternatives for buying and selling mobile applications on-device. We intend to differentiate our on-device stores through innovative merchandising capabilities like Deal-of-the-Day, maintaining a broader and more open product catalog, and by providing superior customer support."
About MobiHand
MobiHand, Inc. is a leading distributor of software and content for a wide range of mobile devices, including BlackBerry , Windows Mobile , Palm , Symbian and Android . With a catalog of over 15,000 mobile applications, media products, and subscription services from over 750 content providers, MobiHand powers hundreds of co-branded app stores worldwide. The company delivers end-to-end services for the aggregation, marketing, purchasing, and provisioning of mobile content. MobiHand's best-in-class management platform, MobiReach, provides comprehensive tools for catalog management, localization, store design and administration, marketing and ad campaigns, and reporting. The company is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about MobiHand, please visit corporate.mobihand.com.
Copyright 2009 MobiHand, Inc. All other product names, servicemarks, and trademarks mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
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