GetJar, the world’s largest independent app store, announced today that more than a half billion applications have been downloaded from its store. The milestone is significant because it proves that consumer demand for apps is becoming a truly global phenomenon. The company, which hosts nearly 50,000 mobile applications available in more than 200 different countries, also unveiled its new logo which is designed to reflect the growing mass market appetite for mobile applications independent of device or platform.

Tens of thousands of mobile applications developers around the world have helped bring about this momentous milestone. GetJar’s success is due to the work of application developers big and small across all parts of the world, but a select few deserve special praise for their achievements to date, namely:

• Google Maps for mobile – over 5 million downloads
• mig33 mobile community – over 10 million downloads
• Opera Mini web browser – nearly 17 million downloads
• eBuddy instant messaging – over 16 million downloads
• Nimbuzz mobile messaging – nearly 14 million downloads

”GetJar’s success to date is the product of the innovation, hard work, and loyalty of our developer community – from small, two man teams in India to large-scale developers in the US or Europe. Making sure these developers have an open, free and quick way to get their content distributed globally is essential to provide the widest offering of quality apps to consumers,” commented Ilja Laurs, GetJar’s CEO and founder.

Regarding the new GetJar logo, Patrick Mork, vice president of marketing for GetJar had this to say, “We changed our logo to acknowledge that apps aren't simply for technology enthusiasts or Smartphone owners. With over 50% of our consumers downloading content at least once a week, our research clearly shows that apps are for consumers of all ages, regardless of where they live, the handset they use or the platform their handset runs on. The new logo embodies this fact through a look that's irreverent, edgy, open and screams APPS!”

Adobe® Flash® technology based applications have also been successful on GetJar – some doing up to 20,000 downloads in one week. In fact, GetJar awarded premium placement to winners of the Adobe Flash Mobile Developer Contest.

“We’re glad to see that apps created with Flash technology contributed to GetJar’s milestone,” said Tom Barclay, senior product marketing manager, Adobe Flash Platform Business. “It’s important for Flash developers to look at services like GetJar to distribute their content to users across different mobile platforms and devices.”

”Mobile is beginning to define its own unique format and applications are the start of that,” said Scott Seaborn, head of mobile technologies, Ogilvy Group UK. “In creating campaigns for mobile as a channel, simply coming up with the right branded application isn't enough. We need to ensure widespread, cost effective distribution of our work and in this respect GetJar has proven to be one of the few players in the market with the scale, ease of discovery and business sense to help brands reach consumers."

"Opera has been working with GetJar for several years and we are most impressed by their success,” said Rolf Assev, chief strategy officer, Opera. “GetJar is one of Opera's most important distribution partners with approximately 17 million downloads of Opera Mini.”

“We congratulate GetJar on this fantastic milestone as they continue to be the premier application download site, globally,” stated Steve Boom, CEO of mig33. “GetJar will continue to grow in importance as the mobile industry evolves, as they enable consumers everywhere to easily access relevant and engaging applications, for their mobile phone.”

“GetJar offers RingRing Media the opportunity to market, in an instant, mobile apps to millions of new users worldwide,” stated Harry Derwhist, CEO and co-founder of RingRing Media. “Their attractive cost per download model eliminates any potential wastage, making the GetJar offering a very attractive one. Scale and value for money is exactly what RingRing Media clients expect.”