Content providers added over 11,000 new software titles to the Handango catalog last year. The fastest growing application library, BlackBerry, grew by 81 percent over 2005. The Pocket PC platform added the most titles, 3,627.

The average selling price (ASP) for a mobile application grew from $20.03 in 2005 to $21.16 in 2006. Medical applications cost the most, selling for an average of $49.26, followed by Development Tools ($43.62), Recognition & Languages ($31.23), Translation ($26.91) and Business & Professional ($26.58).

Smartphone users bought more software in the Business & Professional category than any other, followed by Productivity, Entertainment, Games, Travel, Utilities, Communications and Multimedia.

As in 2005, more people added software to the Palm Treo 650 than any other device; demonstrating that the moribund Palm OS is still hanging in there. The Cingular 8125, Motorola Q, BlackBerry 8700c and Palm TX followed the popular smartphone. According to Handango, while they didn't make the top of the list, late year arrivals like BlackBerry Pearl, Palm Treo 700p, Samsung BlackJack, T-Mobile Dash and Nokia N73 also saw a quick rise in the amount of downloaded content.

Top Applications By Platform

RIM BlackBerry
In addition to the astounding growth in number of applications available, BlackBerry saw an 87 percent increase in content providers. BlackBerry owners were willing to pay more than other smartphone owners, as the ASP for the platform was $39.87. The BlackBerry 8700c, 7100i, 8700g, 7130e and 7290 topped the list of BlackBerry devices adding content.

Best-Selling BlackBerry Applications:
1. Ringtone Megaplex
2. Ringphonic Lite
3. VoiceControl
4. eSpell
5. IM+
6. WorldMate Professional Edition
7. Ringphonic*
8. Aces Texas Hold'em - No Limit
9. RepliGo Professional
10. Ascendo Photos

Check out our collection of free BlackBerry downloads.

Palm OS
Interestingly, while the rate of growth slowed for the Palm OS, the ASP grew from $19.32 to $22.74. Productivity titles were the most popular, followed by Games and Entertainment. Ringtones accounted for the largest number of searches for the Palm OS, 18 percent of the top 100 search terms. The Treo 700p, now defunct Palm LifeDrive, and Tugsten E2 followed the Treo 650 and Palm TX as the most common Palm OS devices adding software.

Best-Selling Palm OS Applications:
1. Agendus Professional Edition
2. Treo Voice Dialing
3. PocketMirror Standard
4. RingoPro
5. AOL for Treo 650
6. PocketCopy
7. SplashID
8. Diet & Exercise Assistant
9. Agendus Standard Edition
10. mRing for Treo

Check out our collection of free Palm OS downloads.

Windows Mobile Pocket PC
The number of available Pocket PC applications grew by 19 percent in 2006, with the addition of 27 percent more content providers. The top three categories were Business & Professional, Games and Entertainment. Medical titles had the highest ASP at $41.91, followed by Translation ($29.60), Databases ($28.34), Reference ($26.90) and Travel ($24.61). Owners of the Dell Axim X51v downloaded the most software, followed by the Palm Treo 700w, Cingular 8125, Audiovox PPC 6700 and Verizon XV6700.

Best-Selling Pocket PC Applications:
1. Spb Pocket Plus
2. Microsoft Voice Command
3. Spb Diary
4. Pocket Informant
5. MobiTV
6. Spb Backup
7. Agenda Fusion
8. SBSH PocketBreeze
9. Spb Time
10. eWallet Professional Edition

Check out our collection of free Palm OS downloads.

Windows Mobile Smartphone
With an influx of popular devices like the Motorola Q, T-Mobile Dash and Samsung BlackJack, as well as more mature models like the Cingular 2125, Motorola i930 and Qtek 8310, the Windows Mobile Smartphone saw a healthy increase in popularity. 130 new content providers developed Smartphone applications and over 1,200 new titles appeared.

The ASP grew by more than 15 percent to $15.70. The Business Professional category topped the list at $24.58. Hobbies, which had the highest ASP in 2005, did not even make the top 10 in 2006. Entertainment content represented the most popular software, followed by close second Utilities, Multimedia, Productivity, and Business & Professional.

As with the Palm OS, Smartphone owners searched for ringtones more than any other type of software. That category made up 20 percent of the top 100 searches.

Best-Selling Windows Mobile Smartphone Applications:
2. PocketStreamer DELUXE
3. SBSH FaAade
4. SmartphoneNotes
5. IM+
6. Photo Contacts
7. SBSH Papyrus
8. Aces Texas Hold'em - No Limit
9. HandiTV
10. Jeyo Mobile Extender

Check out our collection of free Windows Mobile Smartphone downloads.

Symbian OS
The Symbian OS category grew by over 3,000 titles, an increase of 14 percent of 2005. And yet, while the Symbian platform is the most popular smartphone platform worldwide, the number of content providers, 258, stayed about the same.

Productivity software accounted for the greatest percentage of Symbian OS sales, followed by Utilities and Communications. ASP grew by a modest 5 percent to $20.35. The Medical and Document Management categories reported the highest ASP at $32.44 (down from $57.81) and $30.46 (up from $30.24), respectively.

Best-Selling Symbian OS Applications:
1. SmartMovie
2. ProfiMail
3. Handy Weather S60
4. WorldMate Professional Edition
5. Media Studio for Nokia
6. Handy Safe S60
7. Advanced Call Manager S60 Third Edition
8. WorldMate S60
9. IM+ S60
10. Media Studio for Sony Ericsson

Check out our collection of free Symbian OS downloads.