Handango Inc. claims that it will be the first smartphone applications retailer to offer both paid and free apps for the first Android smartphone device anticipated to launch on Oct. 22.

Handango is also sponsoring a contest to award the best free Android app and the best-paid Android app uploaded to the Handango catalog by Nov. 7. Each winner is eligible to receive a $25,000 advertising allowance within Handango's various marketing initiatives, which include email marketing, featured products on Handango.com, paid and natural search keywords, online advertising, PR and promotion on affiliate programs.

"Handango has always been agnostic to OS, we want to support all smartphone operating systems, and we've been selling Linux apps for many years, so it's a natural extension to open the door to developers who want to sell Android apps," said Melanie Angermann, vice president of marketing for Handango, Las Colinas, TX.

"We looked up winners of Google's Android apps contest -- many of whom are smart young people, college students -- and let them know that we have a store available for them to distribute their apps," she said.

T-Mobile estimates that more than 1.5 million Android G1 devices have been pre-sold.

"People have been shopping with us since 1999, early adopters and the early majority, and they want to try out this new handset," Ms. Angermann said. "It sounds like, from what we understand, we are the first retailer to help developers monetize the premium apps they want to monetize right out of the gate."

Developers can visit http://www.handango.com/Blank.jsp?CKey=AndroidAppContest for entry guidelines and rules. Winners will be awarded on December 15, 2008.

Developers can now add Android applications directly to their Handango developer accounts and sell them in one of three ways: give the application away for free, sell the application for a one-time purchase fee or sell the application for a monthly, quarterly or annual subscription fee.

Ad-supported models are another possibility, but each individual developer will need to explore that on their own.

Select titles will be made available on Handango for the first highly anticipated Android smartphone, including the following:

Monopoly: Here & Now and Tetris, both by EA Mobile;

The Weather Channel for Android by the Weather Channel Inc.;

Voice on the Go, letting consumers use their voice to listen to, compose, reply, forward and delete your emails, by Voice on the Go Inc.;

ShopSavvy, letting consumers scan a product's barcode with their phone's camera and view all the best prices online and at nearby local stores, by Big in Japan, Inc.;

EzQuote financial portfolio tracking software by iambic;

GoogHelper utility to quickly launch Internet searches using sites such as Google, Yahoo!Finance, Amazon, Wikipedia and more, by iambic;

Tipper, a calculator for splitting the tip that saves time when it comes to paying the bill, by iambic;

FitSync, letting consumers log workouts, track their progress, compare and share with a worldwide community, by FitSync Corp;

Par 72 Golf II, a realistic 3D golf game with three 18 hole courses, by RESETgame;

Vegas Pool Sharks, a 3D pool game played against four predatory casino hustlers with increasing skill levels, by RESETgame;

Accutracking, letting consumers see real-time locations, the speed and headings of your family members or cars or other vehicles, by AccuTracking Inc.; and

FotMob, featuring live coverage of most major European football leagues, by Score Service.

After much anticipation from the mobile industry, T-Mobile officially announced that the first Google Android-powered handset -- called the T-Mobile G1 with Google -- will be available to the carrier's subscribers in the United States and Europe (see story).

The release of the T-Mobile G1 with Google signals that it's rumble-in-the-jungle time for Apple, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft in the quest for extending their computer and Web dominance to mobile (see story).

Various applications have already been announced for the Android platform.

Google Maps for the T-Mobile G1 takes advantage of the phone's hardware such as touch screen, accelerometer and GPS, as well as the phone's system integration (see story).

With the impending release of Android handsets, Google has announced two key components of its Android mobile platform: the Chrome browser and the Android Market content distribution system (see story).

Handango is a global provider of smartphone applications for Research In Motion's BlackBerry, Palm, Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and Android platforms.

Leveraging its 140,000-plus apps, network of 23,000-plus content partners and vast distribution network, Handango delivers top-selling mobile applications including games, business and entertainment apps and productivity tools to millions of consumers.

Applications can be downloaded via http://www.handango.com, partner Web sites, SD cards and Handango's proprietary on-device catalog, InHand, a content delivery platform that allows consumers to buy mobile apps directly from their smartphone and download them over the air.

Handango's has numerous mobile industry partners, including Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Alltel, Nokia, Research In Motion, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, AOL and the Carphone Warehouse.

"Developers are developing Android apps for demographics across the board," Ms. Angermann said. "These include weather, stock quotes, GPS, games, quite a broad selection across typical genres and selections being developed for this new platform, which is really exciting.

"We haven't had our hands on a device yet, but we've read a lot of reviews, and I personally think it looks really cool, and would like to try it," she said. "Android supposedly combines the best of all operating systems, the full qwerty key board and the touch screen aspect.

"It looks really exciting, there is a lot of buzz about this one and a new platform is great for the marketplace."