Ohio Man Downloaded Apple's 50 Billionth App and Was Suddenly $10K Richer
Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio, hit the app jackpot Tuesday afternoon when he pressed the download button on a word game app called Say the Same Thing and sent Apple over the 50 billion app download mark, winning the $10,000 prize.
Earlier this month Apple announced that it was nearing 50 billion iPhone and iPad app downloads since the launch of the store in 2008, and that it would award the person who downloaded that milestone app with a $10,000 gift card for the App Store.
According to Apple, the 50 billion download number does not include redownloads of apps or updates. Steve Jobs announced the launch of the App Store in the summer of 2008 with 500 apps. It now has more than 850,000 iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch apps, with more than 350,00 iPad specific apps. Earlier this month, Apple also celebrated the 10th anniversary of iTunes.
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But the store's closest competitor, Google's Android store, isn't far behind. During its Google I/O conference two days ago, Google announced its very own milestone: 48 billion Android downloads from its Google Play Store. Google also announced a host of new features and services for app developers, including ways to build apps that take advantage of the phones' sensors and how to translate apps into other languages. The company also announced new consumer products, including Google All Access Play Music service and its new Hangouts Messaging app.
Apple will hold its developer's event on June 10. The company is expected to detail the next versions of its iOS operating system, which is said to be getting a major design overhaul.