Apple is about to reach the significant milestone of one billion iPhone apps downloaded, and has established a countdown clock that amply illustrates in stopwatch fashion just how many apps are being downloaded by the second.
At the time of writing, the countdown clock stood at approximately 931.1 million apps downloaded.
In the last month alone, some 17.1 million iPhone apps, from business software tools and widgets to games, were downloaded.
Apple has launched a competition open to anyone who downloads an app between now and the momentous one billion milestone, with the opportunity to take home a prize of a S$10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro.
Downloaders can enter the competition up to 25 times a day.
All, it seems, is well at Apple in the absence of CEO Steve Jobs (pictured), who has taken time off for medical reasons.
However, it emerged in recent days that the innovative executive is still a driving force at the company, even in his absence.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Jobs has continued to be involved in the company’s most important products and strategies, working from home.
He is understood to have been personally involved in the launch of the iPhone’s new operating system last month, and regularly reviews products, product plans and services.
Jobs is expected to return to the helm of the company in June to drive its product strategy forward, and involve himself in the launch of the forthcoming next generation iPhone 3.0, which is expected to be futureproofed to have wireless networking compatibility with present and future wireless network standards, including 3.5G, Wi-Fi, WiMax and LTE.
In related news, the success of the mobile application for paying for apps on the iPhone is expected to be implemented across all Apple retail stores.
According to AppleInsider, store staff will abandon the traditional Windows-based point of sale (POS) system on PDAs in favour of the Apps Store payment technology on iPod touch devices.
The upgrade is expected to follow the launch of the iPhone 3.0 later this year.
By John Kennedy
PIcture credit: Matthew Yohe