Apple said Friday that its App Store is on the verge of hitting 10 billion downloads of mobile apps. To celebrate the forthcoming milestone, the iPhone maker has launched a countdown screen and a sweepstakes under which the individual downloading the 10 billionth app could win a substantial prize.
As of 3:15 p.m. Eastern time Friday, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users had downloaded more than 9.77 billions apps. “Download the 10 billionth app, and you could win a U.S. $10,000 iTunes gift card,” Apple said on its web site. “Just visit the App Store and download what could be your best app yet.”
According to the sweepstakes rules, entrants must be 13 or older at the time of entry, as well as a legal resident of a participating App Store country. However, entrants don’t need to download an app to participate. Apple has posted an online entry form on its web site that any qualifying individual can fill out and submit, with entries limited to no more than 25 per day.
A Repeat Performance
Apple is also hoping to eventually achieve stellar results with the Mac App Store it launched last week. More than one million Mac apps were downloaded from the online store on the first day of operations, according to Apple.
The new Mac App Store enables computer users to find and download Mac apps with the same ease as adding a favorite magazine to an iPad or a new game to the iPod touch. “Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store, and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said last week.
Though the Mac App Store only had about 1,000 apps to choose from initially, developers seem enthusiastic about creating offerings. “The Mac App Store will be…