A billion served — almost

Apple is about to sell its one billionth app, and if you are the lucky person to download app number 1,000,000,000, you will get a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod Touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro.  Visit this page on Apple’s website for more information, including the opportunity to enter the contest for free without even downloading an app.

But it is a lot more fun to just download some apps.  So what have other people been downloading?  Apple has a page on the iTunes store listing the all-time most downloaded apps.  The top paid apps of all time are:

1. Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D ($5.99)

   

   — a racing game
2. Koi Pond ($0.99)

   

   — interact with fish in a pond of water
3. Enigmo ($3.99)

   

   — a puzzle game in which you direct drops of liquid
4. Bejeweled 2 ($2.99)

   

   — the classic game in which you get three or more jewels in a row to make them disappear
5. iBeer ($1.99)

   

   — a visual gag in which your iPhone appears to contain beer (or mouthwash)
6. Moto Chaser ($0.99)

   

   — a racing game
7. PocketGuitar ($0.99)

   

   — a virtual guitar
8. Flick Fishing ($0.99)

   

   — virtual fishing
9. Tetris ($4.99)

   

   — the Tetris game
10. Texas Hold’em ($4.99)

    

    — the only iPhone game sold by Apple, this poker game includes great graphics
11. Super Monkey Ball ($5.99)

    

    — a game in which your monkey rolls through mazes
12. Pocket God ($0.99)

    

    — control the ongoings on your island to either help or hurt your islanders
13. Cro-Mag Rally ($1.99)

    

    — a racing game
14. Ocarina ($0.99)

    

    — a virtual flute
15. Fieldrunners ($2.99)

    

    — a tower defense game
16. iFart Mobile ($0.99)

    

    — a productivity app
17. Touchgrind ($4.99)

    

    — a skateboarding game
18. iHunt ($0.99)

    

    — a hunting game
19. iShoot ($1.99)

    

    — an aim-and-shoot game
20. Monopoly Here & Now ($4.99)

    

    — a new version of the classic game

Arnold Kim at MacRumors.com has an interesting analysis of how many times some of these top 20 apps have been downloaded and how much money each has made for the developer.

The top free apps of all time are:

1. Facebook

   

   — nice client for the social messaging giant
2. Google Earth

   

   — 3D version of satellite and aerial images of Earth
3. Pandora Radio

   

   — start with a song you like and Pandora will stream you the audio of similar songs
4. Tap Tap Revenge

   

   — tap scrolling dots in time with the music
5. Shazam

   

   — identify a song by just letting your iPhone listen to it for a few seconds
6. PAC-MAN Lite

   

   — the first stage of the classic game
7. Backgrounds

   

   — thousands of iPhone background images, updated daily
8. Touch Hockey: FS5

   

   — air hockey game
9. Labyrinth Lite Edition

   

   — the wooden maze, steel ball game you played as a kid
10. Flashlight

    

    — fill your screen with white
11. Urbanspoon

    

    — pick a restaurant with a fun slot machine interface and get reviews
12. Movies

    

    — see what is playing and more
13. iBowl

    

    — a bowling game
14. Lightsaber Unleashed

    

    — admit it, when were a kid you would have done anything to have a lightsaber with you at all times
15. Sol Free Solitaire

    

    — Klondike and more
16. MySpace Mobile

    

    — client for the social messaging giant
17. Virtual Zippo Lighter

    

    — Freebird!
18. The Weather Channel

    

    — one of the better weather apps
19. Bubble Wrap

    

    — pop the virtual bubbles
20. Remote

    

    — Apple’s app to remotely control iTunes on your computer or an Apple TV

Download an app, help Apple reach the one billion mark, and maybe you will be the lucky person who brings Apple into the 10 digit download number range.