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Last week, Apple announced that its App Store is approaching 50 billion app downloads. In celebration of the milestone, Apple is giving away a $10,000 App Store gift card to the lucky person who initiates the 50 billionth download.

As part of the celebration, Apple listed the top 25 apps -- both free and paid -- for iPhone and iPad. None of the apps listed is particularly surprising (especially to someone who studies the most-popular list every day), but one thing that did strike me is that a lot of the all-time best sellers still sit near the top … Read more

Yahoo's app spending spree continued Thursday with the acquisition of to-do app Astrid.

The to-do-list and task management app "will continue to work as is" for the next 90 days but will not accept new premium subscriptions, Astrid CEO Jon Paris said in a company blog post announcing the acquisition. Terms of the acquisition were not revealed.

"To make future changes as easy as possible, we'll be in touch with users shortly to share how to download data," Paris wrote in the blog, adding that Yahoo would issue refunds to eligible users who have … Read more

Yahoo is apparently abandoning plans to secure majority control over video site Dailymotion due to objections from the French government.

According to Reuters, plans to secure a 75 percent stake in the video site -- owned by telecommunications company France-Telecom Orange -- fell apart after the French government objected to the idea that the "country would lose control over one of its biggest Internet industry successes in such a deal."

The French government sought to persuade Yahoo to acquire a 50 percent stake instead. However, this apparently wasn't an option the tech giant was willing to entertain. … Read more

To sum it up: First came the new Yahoo app for iPhone, then came the one for Android.

Just over a week ago, Yahoo brought out an iPhone app that features news summaries delivered using the natural-language algorithms and machine learning technologies from the company's recent Summly acquisition. Now, Yahoo brings us word of its similarly equipped new Android app.

And what a difference that eight days seems to have made in the excitement level for Yahoo.

The announcement of the iPhone app came in a posting from CEO Marissa Mayer and it made sure to name-drop Summly, a … Read more

Yahoo's bid to take a controlling stake in French video-sharing site Dailymotion has reportedly been killed by the French government.

Dailymotion, which is owned by France-Telecom, was in talks to sell a 75 percent stake to Yahoo, according to a report last month by The Wall Street Journal. The deal was expected to give Yahoo a much-needed boost in the overseas video-sharing space, which is mainly dominated by services like Google's YouTube.

While Marissa Mayer purchased a recommendations startup late last year to fortify Yahoo's presence on mobile, Dailymotion would be her first big acquisition since she … Read more

Working to fulfill Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's promise to make Yahoo a place where users will want to come every day, the company announced Monday that it will debut six new original Web shows in 2013.

The shows range from Ed Helms playing a miniature crime fighter to chef Megan Mitchell giving tips on outdoor grilling to actor John Stamos interviewing celebrities about losing their virginity.

"In the last year, we have more than doubled the original video programming on Yahoo! to become one of the Web's largest content publishers," Yahoo vice president and head of … Read more

As Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer continues to work to reformulate the company as a modern mobile-forward search engine with new products and features, she's also thinking about earning revenue the good old-fashioned way -- advertising.

The company launched two new ad features on Monday. One is a new way of introducing ads called Yahoo Stream Ads, and the other is a redesigned Yahoo Billboard.

"As we continue to build products and features that inspire and entertain our users, we're committed to delivering engaging and effective advertising opportunities," Mayer wrote in a blog post Monday. "Over … Read more

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is said to have joined the board of directors of gadget maker Jawbone. According to AllThingsD, sources familiar with the matter said that Mayer has been familiar with Jawbone for some time and has already sat in on one of the company's board meetings.

Jawbone is a San Francisco-based company has been making colorful tech gadgets for more than a decade, such as the Jambox wireless speaker and the Jawbone Up fitness bracelet that tracks users' physical activity and syncs the data to mobile devices.

Yahoo Weather is a weather app that displays stunning Flickr photos as a backdrop to a wide range of weather information on your iPhone -- more than you get with Apple's weather app. There are certainly other options with more weather information, but for a quick look at what's happening in your area, Yahoo Weather is a good-looking and well-made app.

When you launch Yahoo Weather, you'll be asked immediately if the app can use your location so it can give you information on the weather around your area. From there you'll be presented with a … Read more