App Store applications top 10,000 mark

iPhone owners have now downloaded more than 300 million mobile applications in the five months since computing giant Apple launched its App Store virtual storefront on July 11. Apple did not issue a formal press announcement to celebrate surpassing the 300 million download benchmark, instead burying the information at the bottom of full-page print advertisements taken out in Friday's editions of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. In addition, Apple reports the number of iPhone applications available via the App Store now exceeds 10,000, although it did not distinguish between the percentage of free apps and premium apps. The App Store topped the 200 million download benchmark on Oct. 22, just over 100 days after its launch--at that time, the store boasted about 5,500 different applications in 19 categories including Games, Navigation and Music.

Last week, Apple published its list of the year's most downloaded iPhone and iPod touch applications. According to Apple, games dominate the top 10 premium iPhone apps--the list includes Apple's own Texas Hold ‘Em, Freeverse's Moto Chaser, Vivendi Games Mobile's Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D, Sega's Super Monkey Ball, and Pangea Software's Cro-Mag Rally and Enigmo. The Blimp Pilots' Koi Pond, Shinya Kasatani's PocketGuitar, Retronyms' Recorder and Hottrix's iBeer round out the premium apps list. As for the free iPhone applications, the list includes two social networking apps--Facebook and AOL's AIM--as well as two travel apps, Google Earth and Urbanspoon. The list also features a pair of entertainment apps, Apple's Remote and The MacBox's Lightsaber Unlimited, along with two music apps, Pandora Radio and Shazam. And, of course, there are games: Tapulous' Tap Tap Revenge and Codify AB's Labyrinth Lite Edition. To learn more about 2008's most downloaded iPhone apps, click here for a slideshow.

For more on the latest App Store benchmark:
- read this Wall Street Journal article