The rise and rise of apps

Earlier this year Apple revealed it had breezed past the 25-billion download mark for the many and varied apps that it sells via the hugely popular App Store. Although these small snippets of software haven't been around too long in the big scheme of things, they've enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity and across a variety of platforms, from mobile devices through to home computers.

It's not all about adding convenience to our daily lives or boosting our computing productivity though. The statistics clearly show that, when it comes to apps, most of us still prefer to head down the games avenue, taking in the likes of Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja along the way.

It also seems that many of us don't mind paying for the privilege either, with paid-for apps doing just as good in sales terms as those that can be downloaded for free.