Apple has passed yet another milestone in App Store downloads since its launch in 2008 with the iPhone 3G. The Cupertino, California company announced that the App Store has surpassed 40 billion downloads, with 20 billion of those downloads in the year of 2012 alone. In December 2012, Apple surpassed a new record of 2 billion downloads in a month, adding to the total.

Apple also mentioned that they now have over 500 million user accounts on the App Store and as the number of accounts increase, more apps are being downloaded. Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue commented on the company’s new achievement:

It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community. Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world.

In its press release, Apple also noted some of the developers and over 775,000 apps that contributed to the success of the App Store and its increase in downloads. The company quoted the developers behind the hit game Temple Run.

In 2012, the husband and wife team at Imangi Studios saw their game Temple Run downloaded more than 75 million times

Other apps and companies highlighted by Apple in the press report included Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Autodesk, Marvel and Major League Baseball, JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Interactive, Bottle Rocket Apps, and Backflip Studios. Apple’s App Store has experienced massive growth over the past several years, with the company holding a “1 Billion App Countdown” contest in 2009 and later announcing the winner, a 13 year old who downloaded the free app, Bump.

{Via MacRumors}

On Monday, a press release from News Corp noted that their news and entertainment division would be spitting up and there would a new CEO for the publishing division. In this separation of businesses, News Corp has proposed a plan to entirely shut down its iPad-focused newspaper, The Daily.

The Daily launched on February 11th last year, in an attempt to focus on online publishing, specifically for tablets such as the iPad. The news division will keep the name News Corps, while News Corp’s entertainment division will split and be named Fox Group. Also in the separation the editor-in-chief of the Daily,Jesse Angelo will become publisher of The New York Post. Angelo was Executive Editor at the New York Post, and will now be moving up.

As part of a digital restructuring initiative, the company will cease standalone publication of The Daily iPad app on December 15, 2012, though the brand will live on in other channels. Technology and other assets from The Daily, including some staff, will be folded into The Post.

From its launch, The Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation. Unfortunately, our experience was that we could not find a large enough audience quickly enough to convince us the business model was sustainable in the long-term. Therefore we will take the very best of what we have learned at The Daily and apply it to all our properties. Under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Col Allan and the business and digital leadership of Jesse, I know The New York Post will continue to grow and become stronger on the web, on mobile, and not least, the paper itself. I want to thank all of the journalists, digital and business professionals for the hard work they put into The Daily.

The Daily was a sort of test to try out digital publishing aimed specifically at tablets, however, it seems that it has not yet reached the level of popularity as expected by News Corp. News Corp notes that much of its staff and technology from The Daily will be moved over to The Post, which will allow the company to retain its employees and the ideas proposed with The Daily. With this split, and major transitions, it will be interesting to see what News Corp plans to do in the future as their next big project.

{Via iMore — Image Credit: TabTimes}

Apple on Wednesday announced that they are planning to rollout the iPhone 4S to 22 countries around the world on Friday, January 13th with China as the featured addition for the debut. The Cupertino based company has been experiencing heavy adoption rate and positive sales in China and other countries in Asia.

Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.

The iPhone 4S currently operates on China Unicom in China, however, Apple has not specified whether they will be adding any new carriers to the iPhone 4 and 4S. In big markets, such as the US, Apple is constantly looking to expand to more networks. Currently, China has only one carrier for iPhone 4S.

Alongside China, Apple is also rolling out the iPhone 4S in 21 new countries, including: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

{via MacRumors}