# Handmark

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Developer & distributor of mobile content

Handmark Inc. Type Private Industry Mobile Applications Founder August Grasis III, Douglas Edwards and Jesse Devitte Defunct 2013; 13 years ago (2013) Fate Acquired by Sprint Successor Sprint Headquarters United States Area served Global Key people Augie Grasis (Chairman), Paul Reddick (CEO), Terry Carlton (CFO), Evan Conway (EVP Marketing, Support & Ecommerce) Products Pocket Express, TweetCaster, ZAGAT TO GO(SM), Oxford Reference, see full client portfolio: www.handmarkapps.com Number of employees 100

**Handmark Inc.** was an American developer and distributor of [mobile](/source/Mobile_phone) content, based in [Kansas City, Missouri](/source/Kansas_City%2C_Missouri). The [company](/source/Company) was created in 2000[1] by the merger of Mobile Generation Software[2] with Palmspring Software.

## History

The company's original intention was to sell [software](/source/Software) and content for the [Palm Operating System](/source/Palm_OS),[3] and in 2001 handmark purchased the Palm-related [MemoWare](/source/Memoware) repository. The company's scope has since expanded to include [Windows Mobile](/source/Windows_Mobile),[4] [Java](/source/Java_(programming_language)),[5] and other mobile [computing](/source/Computing), [smartphone](/source/Smartphone) and [mobile phone](/source/Mobile_phone) platforms.

The company's Pocket Express wireless service offers users access to news, reference and [infotainment](/source/Infotainment) content on [BlackBerry](/source/BlackBerry), [Palm Treo](/source/Palm_Treo), Windows Mobile, and other [wireless](/source/Wireless) handhelds.[6] In addition to the Pocket Express wireless service bundle, Handmark distributes a number of wireless entertainment titles including [Warfare Incorporated](/source/Warfare_Incorporated) ([RTS](/source/Real-time_strategy)) (Palmsource Powered Up award winner).[7]

In January 2008 Handmark and Astraware announced a new business relationship in which Astraware became part of the Handmark group. Astraware was subsequently bought out by its management team in January 2010 and returned to being an independent game developer.[8]

In early 2009, Handmark acquired FreeRange Communications, makers of FreeRange WebReader, a free [RSS](/source/RSS_(file_format)) based [feed reader](/source/Feed_reader) and content service for mobile phones and [PDAs](/source/Personal_digital_assistant).[9] FreeRange Communications was founded by Jon Maroney and located in [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon), and the core technology was incorporated in other products including [NewsGator](/source/NewsGator) Go!, Attensa Mobile and [VersionTracker](/source/VersionTracker) mobile products.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Versions were produced for [BlackBerry](/source/BlackBerry) phones, [Windows Mobile](/source/Windows_Mobile) and [Pocket PC](/source/Pocket_PC), [Palm OS](/source/Palm_OS) devices, [Symbian](/source/Symbian) and [Java ME](/source/Java_ME) phones. The FreeRange reader was folded into Handmark's Pocket Express product line, while FreeRange's content service was branded the Handmark Mobile Publishing Platform. The Mobile Publishing Platform was subsequently spun off as a separate company Freerange 360,[10] which in 2012 was renamed to Storycode.[11]

London-based [commuter newspaper](/source/Commuter_newspaper) *The Evening Standard* launched a mobile app with Handmark in May 2010.[12]

## Acquisition

Handmark was acquired by [Sprint](/source/Sprint_Corporation) on April 4, 2013 and became a subsidiary of Sprint.[13]

## See also

- [List of mobile software distribution platforms](/source/List_of_mobile_software_distribution_platforms)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Case Study The Problem: Handmark had 50% of the market for software for PDAs. Unfortunately, fewer people are buying PDAs"](http://www.inc.com/magazine/20041101/casestudy.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Corporate Profile for Mobile Generation"](http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_August_11/ai_64053952). *Business Wire*. August 11, 2000.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Brown, M. Steele (February 4, 2001). ["Palm Potential"](http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2001/02/05/smallb1.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Handmark Announces New Applications for Windows Mobile-based Smartphones"](https://web.archive.org/web/20031208171534/http://gobizkc.com/news/news_details.asp?ID=2311). Archived from [the original](http://www.gobizkc.com/news/news_details.asp?ID=2311) on 2003-12-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["An Express Route to Multiplatform Success"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060920200128/http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Developers/Success_Stories/Case_Studies/Entertainment/Entertainment_pdfs/sc_pro_handmark_A4c.pdf/sc_pro_handmark_A4c.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Developers/Success_Stories/Case_Studies/Entertainment/Entertainment_pdfs/sc_pro_handmark_A4c.pdf/sc_pro_handmark_A4c.pdf) (PDF) on 2006-09-20.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** *www.cleveland.com* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311070017/http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fbusiness%2F115433484687080.xml&coll=2](https://web.archive.org/web/20070311070017/http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fbusiness%2F115433484687080.xml&coll=2). Archived from [the original](http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business/115433484687080.xml&coll=2) on 2007-03-11. {{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: Missing or empty |title= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#citation_missing_title))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["PalmSource | Press Room"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061016132524/http://www.palmsource.com/press/2004/021004_powerup.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.palmsource.com/press/2004/021004_powerup.html) on 2006-10-16. Retrieved 2006-09-25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Keith Andrew (29 January 2010). ["Handmark sheds Astraware as company shifts away from games"](https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/18138/handmark-sheds-astraware-as-company-shifts-away-from-games/). *pocketgamer.biz*. Retrieved 2020-05-28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Handmark Acquires FreeRange Communications to Expand Mobile Media Offerings"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120318002038/http://www.handmark.com/company/about/press.php?id=194). Handmark. 2009-02-05. Archived from [the original](http://www.handmark.com/company/about/press.php?id=194) on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2013-04-25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["The Only Complete Mobile App Solution for Media and Content Publishers"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130602123714/http://www.handmark.com/company/development/mobile-publishing-platform.php). Handmark. Archived from [the original](http://www.handmark.com/company/development/mobile-publishing-platform.php) on 2013-06-02. Retrieved 2013-04-25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Top 5 Learnings from Running a Mobile App "Startup""](http://mobileportland.com/events/top-5-learnings-running-mobile-app-startup). Mobile Portland. 2012-09-21.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Deans, Jason (2010-04-24). ["London Evening Standard launches smartphone app"](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/may/24/london-evening-standard-smartphone-app). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 2018-10-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Timeline shows long engagement led up to Sprint-Handmark union"](http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2013/05/17/timeline-shows-long-engagement-led-up.html). Kansas City Business Journal. 2013-05-20.

## External links

- [Official site for Handmark](https://web.archive.org/web/20100105035221/http://www.handmark.com/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Handmark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handmark) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handmark?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.