Smartphone content provider Handango has released the 2007 Year-end Handango Yardstick. For the first time since the company has been tracking the market, entertainment content led the pack, moving up from third place a year ago. This, the company handily points out, signals a consumer shift in using smartphones not just as a business and productivity tool, but also as a way to keep themselves entertained.

Overall, entertainment content was responsible for 17% of total sales, followed closely by business & professional content at 16%. The entertainment category may have been helped by the fact that more than 11,000 new BlackBerry applications were added to the Handango network last year.

The BlackBerry Pearl and Motorola Q, both more mainstream smartphones, were among the top sellers in terms of revenue and units sold.

In addition to its overall tracking, Handango also breaks things down into the top 10 apps for each of the five major smartphone OSes: BlackBerry, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows Mobile Standard and Windows Mobile Professional. To see the lists, click continued.

BlackBerry: Despite the fact that Business & Professional applications ranked highest in overall sales, the top 10 applications sold for BlackBerry in 2007 included Games, Communications software and travel applications. The BlackBerry Pearl was the most popular device for mobile content in 2007, both in terms of revenue and units sold.

The top 10 best-selling applications for BlackBerry in 2007 were:

1. Ringtone Megaplex (ringtone library)
2. Sudoku (puzzle game)
3. Colour Your Trackball (trackball customizer)
4. IM+ (instant messenger)
5. Ascendo DataVault (password manager)
6. WorldMate Live Gold Membership (travel assistant)
7. Aces Texas Hold'Em - No Limit (poker game)
8. IM+ for Skype (instant messenger)
9. SplashID for BlackBerry (information security)
10. Crackberry Ringtones Deluxe (ringtone library)

Windows Mobile Standard: Windows Mobile Standard users focused on play in 2007, as Entertainment applications topped the sales chart at 36% and Business & Professional applications landed in distant second place at 12%.

The top 10 best-selling applications for Windows Mobile Standard in 2007 were:

1. Ringtone Megaplex (ringtone library)
2. SBSH Facade (home screen plug-in)
3. MobiTV (streaming television)
4. HandiTV (streaming television)
5. Fizz Weather (weather monitor)
6. SmartphoneNotes (note manager)
7. Agendus Standard Edition (calendar manager)
8. Agenda One (calendar manager)
9. PocketStreamer (streaming media)
10. IM+ (instant messenger)

Palm OS: Although Palm released few devices in 2007, the Palm Treo 650 remains one of the top devices for applications available from Handango.

The top 10 best-selling applications for Palm OS in 2007 were:

1. PocketMirror Standard Edition (Outlook synchronization)
2. Agendus Professional Edition (personal information manager)
3. SplashID (information security)
4. Ringo Pro (ringtone player)
5. Agendus Premier Edition (Outlook synchronization)
6. Snap (data entry tool)
7. Agendus Desktop Edition (Outlook synchronization)
8. Diet & Exercise Assistant (fitness assistant)
9. PocketMirror Standard Upgrade (Outlook synchronization)
10. SplashWallet Suite (personal identification manager)

Windows Mobile Professional: Business & Professional applications remained the number one category in terms of sales for this operating system at 19%, with Entertainment apps coming in second at 15%.

The top 10 best-selling applications for Pocket PC in 2007 were:

1. Spb Pocket Plus (today screen plug-in)
2. Spb Mobile Shell (today screen plug-in)
3. Pocket Informant 8 (today screen plug-in)
4. MobiTV (streaming television)
5. Spb Backup (file backup)
6. Microsoft Voice Command (voice control)
7. Spb Diary (today screen plug-in)
8. Spb Time (clock)
9. Spb Phone Suite (phone features)
10. Spb Brain Evolution (brain trainer)

Symbian OS: The top device for Symbian OS is the Nokia N95, which launched in 2007 and entered the top 10 device list for the first time.

The top 10 best-selling Symbian OS applications in 2007 include:

1. SBSH Papyrus (time manager)
2. Handy Calendar for S60 (calendar manager)
3. LCG Jukebox (music player)
4. ProfiMail (e-mail viewer)
5. Quickoffice Premier (document manager)
6. Handy Weather for S60 (weather monitor)
7. Advanced Call Manager (call manager)
8. WorldMate Professional (travel assistant)
9. Ultimate Voice Recorder (voice recorder)
10. IM+ (instant messenger)