Apple's store

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, just back from a medical leave of absence, wasted no time trumpeting the success of the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. The store has had 1.5 billion downloads since its launch a year ago.

Jobs' announcement may be an attempt by Apple to put a lid on recent questions about the App Store's success and revenue. Apple hasn't revealed if it is making huge profits on the store or if the money spent to maintain the venture is more than the revenue from purchased apps.

Nokia is attempting to make a splash this summer with a new phone and a new app store to go with it. Executives from the Finnish phone maker have been teasing about an application store dubbed Ovi for some time, but this week Niklas Savander, Nokia's executive vice president of services, told Forbes it will launch as the largest app store to date, boasting 20,000 apps.

Apple reported Thursday that more than five billion songs have been downloaded from its online iTunes Store.

That milestone confirms a MusicWatch survey from NPD Group that found the iTunes online store is the top music retailer in the U.S., selling more music than retailing giant Wal-Mart. As recently as the third quarter of 2005, the iTunes Store was ranked seventh among major music retailers.