Apple App Store downloads top 25B; customer in China wins $10K

With each major milestone in its App Store, Apple hands out some serious cash. And this time is no different.After announcing that the App Store reached 25 billion downloads over the weekend, Apple today said that it has awarded Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card for downloading the app that put the marketplace over the mark. According to Apple, Fu downloaded Where's My Water? Free, a Disney game.Apple has given out $10,000 gift cards in the past, including last January when its store hit 10 billion downloads. Although a gift card is nice, the latest prizes haven't come close to matching what Apple handed out for the one billionth download. That time, 13-year-old Connor Mulcahey was given an iPod Touch, a MacBook Pro, and a Time Capsule, in addition to a $10,000 iTunes gift card.Apple announced that its store hit 25 billion downloads on Saturday.

Apple allows cash sales for iPad

When Apple first started selling the iPad, it didn't allow consumers to buy its tablet with cash. The idea, the reasoning went, was that forcing people to buy the iPad with a debit card or credit card would help ensure that no one violated Apple's two-iPads-per-person rule. But all that has changed. Recently a California woman named Diane Campbell went to an Apple store in the hopes of buying an iPad with greenbacks. She was turned away by the store's employees, who cited the no-cash policy. After she contacted KGO, an ABC television affiliate in California, the news outlet ran a story on her ordeal. After hearing the story, in which Campbell asked Steve Jobs to "give a sister a break," Apple decided to reverse policy and allow cash customers."We want to make sure it's as fair as possible for people to get iPads," Ron Johnson, a senior vice president at Apple, told KGO, adding that the company decided to change its policy after hearing Campbell's story. He also had two Apple employees personally deliver an iPad to her house for free.According to Apple, anyone who would like to pay cash for the iPad at an Apple Store can now do so. The only catch is that cash buyers must create an Apple account in the store. Those who pay with a credit or debit card can set up their Apple accounts at home.