On May 3 Apple said that it was very close to hitting 50 billion app download mark on its App store. Today the company announced that its App Store has surpassed the milestone - which they point out does not include re-downloads of apps or updates by users. While we do not know the exact data and time this milestone was met, we do know who the person was that downloaded the 5 billionth app: Ohio's Brandon Ashmore. Apple awarded him a $10,000 App Store gift card, and his app of choice - the word game Say the Same Thing by Space Inch.

An investigation examining 400 apps conducted by Develop shows that there is a lack of consistency in the way in-game purchases are presented on digital stores. The investigation follows the UK government agency the Office of Fair Trading’s recent announcement that it would investigate in-app purchases in children’s games.

Courthouse News reports that Apple's plan to settle with parents over its failure to get parental consent before minors made purchases in various apps has been approved by a federal court. Apple's settlement would provide all class members with a minimum $5 iTunes store credit (or cash payment for those who no longer have an iTunes account), according to court documents.

Apple announced today that its app store is nearing the 50 billion app download mark. Since its launch, the Apple App Store has seen almost 50 billion downloads of various apps for its iOS devices. Apple also announced that the person who downloads the 50 billionth app will receive a $10,000 App Store gift card, while $500 gift cards will be given to the individuals who download the first 50 after that milestone.

Game Developer Vlambeer can't seem to catch a break when it comes to other developers cloning their games. Their latest game to be cloned on the Apple App Store is Vlambeer's upcoming title Luftrausers. SkyFar is very similar to Vlambeer's game - in fact, except for a few minor aesthetics it looks identical to Vlambeer's game.

When Apple applied for a trademark for the smaller sized iPad last year, the US Patent and Trademark Office replied to its request by saying that the description for it was not enough to warrant approval because it would be covered under what it already holds for the iPad.

Apple has refused to include Auroch Digital's Endgame: Syria on the Apple App Store and has removed Sweatshop HD - a collaboration between U.K. studio Littleloud and Channel 4, according to this Polygon report. Both games, it seems are a little too controversial for Apple.

Ridiculous Fishing and Serious Sam: Random Encounter developer Vlambeer says that "non-evil" free-to-play game design is almost impossible and that game developers should not be afraid to price their games at $3. Vlambeer's Ridiculous Fishing, which almost saw the studio go under during development, went live last week on Apple's App Store and garnered strong sales and critical acclaim from fans and critics.

Indie strategy developer and publisher Slitherine has signed a licensing deal with Games Workshop to develop a new strategy title set in the popular Warhammer 40,000 universe. While Slitherine says that details of the deal (including the content and features of the game) have not yet been announced, development is already underway on multiple platforms.

Polygon has an interesting interview with Plague Inc. developer James Vaughan, who reveals to the publication that he has been asked to speak to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Plague Inc. is a unique strategy game for iOS that lets the play take control of a deadly pathogen and infect one person - patient zero - with the end goal being to spread the plague to every corner of the globe.

It looks like Apple has just gotten its hand slapped away from Samsung's cookie jar - according to a report this morning on AllThingsD. Judge Lucy Koh, the judge overseeing the Apple-Samsung patent trial threw out part of the billion dollar verdict Apple had previously won in the long-running case and ordered a new trial to determine damages for patent infringement.

Your young son or daughter comes home and asks the one question you worried that you would inevitably have to answer since the day they were born into this world: "Where do babies come from?" Well as Apple used to be fond of saying, there's now an "app for that." It's called Birdees, and it is an educational app for iOS devices created by Vancouver-based educational entertainment software developer GoTo Educational Technology Inc.

Apple has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit related to children inadvertently making purchases in the Apple Store for iOS devices, according to Reuters. The class action lawsuit concerned customers who were charged when their children downloaded applications from the company's online store.

Popular crowd funding platform Kickstarter has launched an app for iOS devices today that allows users to have more streamlined access to their favorite projects. The app promises the community the ability to "discover new projects, watch project videos, and get updates from projects and your friends." For project creators looking to get some funding from the community the app allows you to "stay connected with your backers, track your project’s progress, and post updates from wherever you are."

The Tetris Company announced that the New Jersey District Court has delivered the company final judgment in its case against game maker Xio. The company filed the lawsuit in 2009 alleging that Xio's game Mino for iOS infringed on the copyrights and trade dress rights of Tetris. The court ultimately sided with The Tetris Company, which owns the licensing rights to the popular franchise.

The designer of an iOS game that focuses on Syria's ongoing civil war is defending his game and explaining why he created it in the first place: to inform those people around the world who might be ignorant about the conflict. The game, Endgame Syria, is decidedly pro rebel forces and gives players choices like negotiating peace with President Bashar Assad's regime or sending jihadist fighters to kill the pro-government military forces.

When the NRA-branded iOS app NRA: Practice Range launched earlier this week (nearly on the one month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting that took place in Newtown Connecticut on December 14, 2012) it carried a rating of ages 4+.

It's hard to argue against a culture of violence influencing children when you release an iOS app that teaches kids ages 4+ how to aim a gun and more accurately shoot. Not that the newly released NRA-licensed game developed by MEDL Mobile, Inc. will turn your tiny tot into a killing machine - nor does the game include any type of violent content save the ability to fire a handgun at human shaped targets and clay targets. And to its credit, the game also offers plenty of safety tips for players to keep them from doing stupid things - we assume - in real life.

Apple announced that its App store saw 2 billion downloads in December, along with a number of other milestones that happened in 2012. All in all, the numbers show that Apple's app Store had a pretty good year. According to data released by Apple, 40 billion apps have been downloaded since the store opened in 2008; 20 billion of those downloads occurred in 2012; there are now 775,000 iOS apps available in the store; there are over 500 million active iTunes accounts; and app developers have made $7 billion dollars from the 70 percent cut they get of sales - since 2008.

Hackulous closed its doors for good, according to a report from TorrentFreak. The entire community that catered to offering cracked apps for Apple's iOS devices seems to have unceremoniously died or shut down yesterday. This includes Apptrackr, the web-based partner index for cracked apps; and Installous, an app used by millions to transfer those cracked apps to iOS devices.

Zynga will shut down a total of 11 of its social games as it finds new ways to cut costs to fulfill the cost reduction plan announced by CEO Mark Pincus in November of this year. When Pincus made that announcement he said that 13 games would be shut down. The list of games scheduled for closure covers 11 on that list.

On Christmas day iOS and Android device activations were greater than any other day in history, according to a new report from mobile analytics company Flurry. As highlighted by VentureBeat Flurry claims that over 17 million new smartphones and tablets were activated on Christmas day. Compared to the rest of December, new iOS and Android activations rose a whopping 332 percent on Christmas Day.

Just a friendly public service announcement: you can get the first episode of The Walking Dead game on Xbox Live and for iOS devices right now for free. While many claim the free episode of the game will be available until the beginning of the new year, it is probably best to download the game while it's available for sure. Why take chances, right?

The Walking Dead has already won numerous awards for creating a classic adventure game with an intense narrative from the popular comic book series and television series.

Forget about the so-called "fiscal cliff" the country faces in January, the debate over gun control or any other important pressing issues that matter in the United States - what's important to Barbara Walters and ABC seems to be what the President of the United States and the First Lady do in their off time. During the most recent Barbara Walters special, she gets the First Couple to divulge... their favorite iOS app.

Following yesterday's ruling by U.S District Judge Lucy Koh that rejected Apple's motion for a ban on the sale of three older Samsung devices still being sold in the U.S. that infringed on the company's iPhone-related patents, Samsung has decided to withdraw all of its requests for injunctions against Apple products currently pending in European courts.

Here's a not-so-shocking revelation about 2012: games were the most popular software on iOS devices in 2012 according to data released by Apple and collected by Inside Mobile Apps. Seven of the ten highest-grossing iPad apps and ten highest-grossing iPhone apps were games, according to the data.

According to All Things D, Apple has secured the regulatory approvals it needs from China to bring the iPhone 5 to the region, and this morning the company announced a release date for the phone: Dec. 14. Apple will launch the iPhone 5 after it launches the Wi-Fi versions of the iPad Mini and its fourth-generation iPad on Dec. 7

If you have ever thought to yourself "what would happen if Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and actor Danny Trejo teamed up to fight crime?" then the iOS game "Vengeance: Woz With A Coz" may be worth a look. The game turns that "other guy" that helped start Apple into an 8-bit hero in a side-scrolling beat 'em up, alongside popular actor Danny Trejo (Machete, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sons of Anarchy). Woz solicits the help of Trejo after his wife is kidnapped.

According to this Reuters report, Apple is now complying with local warranty laws in Italy after the company was threatened by the Italian government with shut downs of its local businesses and hefty fines if it did not comply. Last week Apple stopped selling its AppleCare warranty plans in its retail stores in Italy. The paid warranty program from Apple offers coverage after the limited warranty on an Apple product expires.

A new research paper from Google reveals what most gamers already know: the majority of tablet users spend more time playing games than anything else on their device of choice - whether it be Android, Windows, or iOS-based. In fact, Google's research found that gaming is the most popular activity on tablets right behind checking email.