Apple’s App Store is about to hit yet another milestone as the company has updated its website with a countdown to 50 billion downloads. Apple will also be giving away US$ 10,000 App Store Gift Card to the user who downloads the 50 billionth app. The next 50 users who download apps from the App Store could win $500 App Store Gift Cards.

No purchase is necessary in order to be a part of this giveaway. All users in supported countries are automatically entered as they download free or paid apps. Additionally, you can also visit the official promotion page here to fill out a form (limited to 25 entries per person per day) and enter the giveaway.

In January this year Apple announced the App Store had crossed 40 billion downloads and has added another 10 billion in just under 5 months.

The App Store today offers some of the best apps and games created for smartphones and tablets. It changed the way people thought about apps on a mobile device and continues to revolutionise what we can accomplish with them.

Even as the App Store is about to hit 50 billion downloads it’s worth remembering that Steve Jobs was opposed to the idea of having third party apps on the App Store as he was concerned “his team did not have the bandwidth to figure out all the complexities that would be involved in policing third-party app developers.”

Today Apple continues to dominate the mobile app market with high quality of apps available in the App Store and the amount of revenue developers generate from it.

Starting today with Facebook Gifts, you can instantly gift your friends iTunes digital gifts and recommend albums, movies, games, apps, and more available on the iTunes Store.

Search for a specific song or album to recommend, or let your friend decide. iTunes digital gifts are available for $10, $15, $25, or $50.

According to AllThingsD, the partnership between Apple and Facebook includes Facebook into a $260 million dollar business for third-party businesses which equates to about 13% of total sales.

So that adds up to around, say, a $260 million-dollar market size for physical iTunes cards split among participating retailers, of which Facebook will now be an active participant. That pie is small compared to Facebook’s overall revenue ($3.71 billion in 2011), but another digital product with less overhead and high demand is definitely a win for Facebook’s Gifts department

This partnership will help both Facebook and Apple, which have had issues working together in the past, particularly during negotiations over Facebook being integrated into Apple’s iTunes based social network, Ping. Ping was Apple’s failed social media experiment and frayed the relationship between the two companies.

However, the two companies worked together to integrate Facebook into iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion. Now, Facebook can benefit from selling the iTunes gift cards through its service and Apple can benefit from increased sales of the gift cards, as well as more iTunes users.

{Via MacRumors}

Apple’s Passbook is continuing to grow and is now getting more adoption, most notably airlines that are allowing its customers to download their boarding passes onto their iPhones and simply scan and board. PassBook is Apple’s all-in one storage app, allowing users to store boarding passes, gift cards, tickets, and even prescriptions, putting them all in one place for easy access.

Apple has some airlines on Passbook now, including American Airlines and Lufthansa, and most recently Air Canada which added support by updating its app for electronic boarding passes. Now, it seems that British Airways is also onboard to add support for electronic boarding passes on Passbook.

Appleinsider reports that one their readers emailed British Airways customer service about support for Passbook, and recieved an email response, confiriming that the ba.com team was already looking at the new feature.

I’m pleased to confirm that the ba.com team are already looking into our website being able to work with the new Apple app, available with the iOS6 upgrade. Please be assured that we will get our Passbook-compatible functionality live on ba.com as soon as we can.

British Airways already offered digital boarding passes through their iOS app in the past, but did not support Passbook. The integration into Passbook should be fairly easy considering the boarding passes are already digital. According to the report, British Airways has over 249 aircraft and serves 169 total destinations, meaning they have thousands of customers who can utilize the new feature. Passbook support continues to grow with British Airways adding support, and even Apple adding support to its own Apple Store application on the App Store.

Earlier this week, reports suggested that Apple updated Siri in iOS 6.1 to add movie ticket purchases. This would allow users to voice navigate movie theatres, times, prices and ultimately purchase the tickets. Now Apple is working backwards and connecting Siri to its already existing applications. Apple has released an update to the Apple Store app, adding support for Siri and the ability for users to email PassBook enabled gift cards through the app.

Although the two new features appear to be included in the Apple Store app, they have not yet been enabled yet. It is possible that Apple is waiting to include the features in iOS 6.1 alongside the movie ticket purchasing feature. With Siri integrated into the Apple Store app, users can now ask questions such as, “How much is the Macbook Pro?” and Siri will automatically route them to that specific section in the app and will pull up the product page for the Macbook Pro.

What’s New in Version 2.4

– Buy new gift cards and email them to friends and family right from the app. These gift cards are easily integrated with the new Passbook app (U.S. only, iOS 6 required).

– Ask Siri to help you find prices and shop for Apple products. (Siri-enabled device required.)”

The Apple Store app with the new update is now available on the App Store [Direct Link].

{Via MacRumors}

Late last month, following the release of iOS 6, Starbucks promised its customers that Passbook support would be arriving at the end of September. Although the Seattle based company was slightly late on its promise, support for Apple’s Passbook was added in an update to the Starbucks iPhone app.

Customers can now store gift cards and use QR codes on the phone to quickly pay for food and drinks. Although this was already a feature in Starbuck’s app, it will now be synced with all of a user’s gift cards and boarding passes, allowing them easy access to them at any moment.

Passbook gives Starbucks customers updates when they are near their favorite stores and automatically puts up a notification with a link to the gift card for payment. Other apps that use the Passbook feature include Ticketmaster, American Airlines, Fandango, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Major League Baseball, Eventbrite, and McDonalds.

The Starbucks app is available in the App Store [Link] as a free download and can detect when iOS 6 is installed, prompting the user to install the app on Passbook.

{Via MacRumors}

Last August, Apple launched a buyback program for old iPhones, iPads and Macs and partnered with its long term recycling partner PowerON. The program offers users an Apple gift card for the value of the device, which can be used at any of the company’s retail locations as well as the online store.

The Cupertino company also gives users the options to recycle the device without any charge or compensation if they choose. On Wednesday, ahead of iPhone 5 release date, Apple updated their Reuse and Recycling page to include the iPhone 4S, offering up to $345 for the device. A slightly used black iPhone 4S would receive about $280 in the form of a check.

According to AppleInsider’s report, the addition of the iPhone 4S comes only weeks before Apple is expected to announce the release date of the next generation iPhone 5 on September 12th and release on the 21st. Although the online prices for the recycled devices are estimates, most device owners are receiving more than the initial $200 the put in for the 4S. PowerON also recycles newer PCs for Apple Gift Cards through its recycling program.

If you’ve been waiting to upgrade to the sixth gen iPhone then this recycling program is a great option to get a good deal on your used iPhone. Apple’s all-new iPhone expected to launch in the coming month.

Over the past year, Apple added a number of new applications to its App Store and ported over some of its existing Mac applications over to the iOS platform, such as iPhoto, GarageBand, and iMovie. Late Tuesday, Apple posted updates for all of the following apps: iPhoto, GarageBand, iMovie, and Cards.

iPhoto received a minor update for bug fixes and enhancements, as well as a minor UI tweak, adding a button to allow users to send out journals uploaded to iCloud. This would allow users to share the journal with one click. Cards, a rather simple Apple app, allows users to amake and send physical cards, straight from the app and integrates into Apple’s iOS ecosystem with the use of iTunes gift cards and such.

Any noticeable changes for the Cards app is currently unknown. iMovie received a minor fix allowing users to add their own personal movie soundtracks to a project, as well as minor stability improvements. GarageBand received the most stability improvements, fixing a bug that crashed the app when users tried to upload songs to iCloud or attempted to connect to SoundCloud.

These stability and UI improvements will likely continue over the course of several months, and as iPad and iPhone generations pass, until the mobile app operates very similar to that of the desktop.

{via CNET}

Apple’s App Store was released to the public in 2008, and started off with only a handful of apps. The App Store has since grown to become one of the largest online services in the world, suppling millions of iOS users with fun and intuitive applications. On Friday, Apple’s App Store finally hit the 25 billion downloads mark, making it the highest number of apps ever downloaded.

The winner of the promotion, who has not yet been announced, will be awarded a $10,000 gift card valid for App Store, Mac App Store, or any other iTunes Store content. Apple has conducted similar promotions in the past, for the App Store and iTunes Store and offered a range of products from iPod touch to Macbook Pro. The prize for 25 billion downloads is a $10,000 giftcard for online purchases with no hardware.

Apple has approved a total of nearly three quarters of a million apps for the App Store, with over 550,000 of them currently available in the store.

After its introduction in 2008, it took roughly two and a half years to reach 10 Billion downloads, and another six months to 15 billion downloads. With the latest 25 billion milestone, the iTunes Store acheived over 10 billion of the 25 billion mark in only 8 months, the fastest downloading period ever for the App Store.

The winner of Apple’s App Store promotion is expected to announced in the coming week once the company has verified the results and contacted the winner.

{via Mac Rumors}

Apple has posted a new page on their website, counting down to a total of 25 billion App Store downloads since its introduction in 2008 with iOS 2. The user who downloads the 25 billionth app or who submits an entry form during that time will win a $10,000 Apple Gift Card which can be applied to any of Apple’s online media, including the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store.

As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card. Just visit the App Store and download your best app yet.

The winner must download the app after the 24,999,999,999th app download or submit the form, whichever comes first and will later be announced on the web page if they are the winner. Apple has done such promotions in the past, including ten billion App Store downloads taking place just over a year ago and another one for ten billion iTunes Music Store downloads, as well as one billion song and app marks and at the 100 million song milestone.

Apple changed the prize to a $10,000 gift card last year after giving away big time prizes including Macbook Pros, iPhones, and iPod Touches in the past. Apple’s countdowns have gained much attention over the past few years and have become a part of Apple’s massive success with their online stores and online sales. The 25 Billion App countdown is expected to end early tomorrow, with App downloads about 500,000 away from 25 Billion.

The holiday season sends iOS Developers scrambling each year in order to finish up their apps for submission before Apple stops accepting new submissions for the year. However, over the last three years, its become obvious that during this time, app developers experience much higher sales. This could be due to one of two things, either people are downloading more of the old apps because there is less to choose from during this time or because of Apple’s App Gifting service, accessible directly through the App Store.

During this time, popular game devlopers such as Gameloft and EA push out as many apps as they can to flood the market, in order to increase the number of downloads. EA and Gameloft apps often show up under the featured list, claiming #1 and #2 spots, and even App of the Week on many occasions.

Camera+[App Store] developer’s TapTapTap revealed their download numbers with MacRumors early Thursday, describing a significant increase in sales. Camera+ moved up and down the list between 4-8 and settled at position #8 in the Top 200 list during the holiday freeze. Camera+ typically experiences about 18,000 downloads on any given day, but jumped to over 73,808 sales on Christmas day.

Camera+ sells for $0.99 in the App Store, which means that after Apple’s 30% cut, TapTapTap received $51,665 in revenue only for the day of Christmas. That’s a significant increase, but not surprising considering the number of iPod Touches, iPhones, and iTunes gift cards being activated and given as presents on Christmas. The App Store is the basis for numerous success stories, about small developers making a hit with their apps and becoming millionaires overnight, some making anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 dollars in one day.

Best Buy recently announced that they will match Apple’s $100 App Store credit for the ‘Back to School’ promotion with its own $100 gift card. Apple announced their annual Back to School promo only last week and replaced the typical iPod touch giveaway with a $100 App Store credit. Many customers were unhappy that Apple was offering very little for the purchase of a Mac.

However, many also argued that the $100 credit alongside Apple’s educational discount on the computer is a deal that is definitely worth taking. Best Buy will be matching this promotion with a $100 Best Buy gift card for the same qualifying customers although there has been no word on any further discounts. This promotion is unadvertised, and cannot be found on Best Buy’s online store, but instead must be asked for in person. It seems that Apple’s App Store credit of $100, plus the discount is worth more to a college student than a $100 worth of Best Buy products.

Apple’s Back to School promotion is open to college students, students accepted to college, parents buying for college students or faculty/staff at any grade level. Qualifying computers include the MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac Pro. Best Buy’s promotion is also only available to those mentioned above.

{via MacRumors}

Want to be the first one to redeem a promo code? Not close to iTunes on your iMac? With iPhone OS 3.0 now you can Redeem promo codes from your iPhone/iPod touch!

With more than 65,000 apps in the App Store developers are constantly looking for ways to promote their apps. Promo Codes and iTunes gift card giveaway are great ways to get users and blogs talking about apps, reviewing it and recommending it to friends.

iPhone OS 3.0 makes redeeming codes easier and fun to participate in twitter contests even when you are in school, office or waiting for that last contest tweet from Touch Reviews before you go off to sleep!

You can redeem promo codes on your iPhone/iPod touch in two ways:

iTunes App

Launch the app and select the Music Tab and scroll down to view the redeem option, tap it and enter the promo code (use cut/copy).

and then tap ‘Redeem‘ option on the top right

App Store

Launch App Store and select ‘Featured’ tab and scroll down for Redeem option, enter code and hit redeem.

Previously, only the iTunes app had the Redeem option under ‘More’ tab.

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