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News Byte

Apple’s iTunes App Store Passes 50 Billion Downloads

John Paczkowski in Mobile on May 16 at 12:01 am PT

Apple couldn’t have timed its countdown to 50 billion app downloads more perfectly. Just hours after Google revealed during its I/O conference keynote that app installs from its Google Play store had hit 48 billion, the iTunes App Store countdown clock rolled over to 50 billion, passing another major milestone and surpassing the achievement its rival had announced earlier in the day. The 50-billionth app? Say the Same Thing. Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio, will receive a $10,000 App Store gift card for downloading it.

News Byte

Google’s SMS Search Takes a Dirt Nap

John Paczkowski in News on May 12 at 12:09 pm PT

Another Google product bites the dust. The company last week shuttered its SMS search service, which allowed users to search Google by sending a text message query to the number 466453 (GOOGLE). Seems Google’s second “Spring Cleaning” product purge, which began in late March, continues still. “Closing products always involves tough choices, but we do think very hard about each decision and its implications for our users,” a Google spokesperson told AllThingsD in a message confirming SMS Search’s fate. “Streamlining our services enables us to focus on creating beautiful technology that will improve people’s lives.”