Google hit the 25 billion download milestone in a little under four years while Apple took three years and eight months to reach that mark. To celebrate, Google is offering 25-cent discounted apps and games and is creating collections of 25 standout games, books, movies and magazines, all at discounted prices.

Google still has a way to go in matching the quality of Apple’s App Store. And it doesn’t have nearly as many tablet apps compared to Apple, which fields 250,000 iPad applications. Flurry last year said that Google Play still lagged Apple’s App Store in revenue, with Google Play’s revenue per active user 23 percent of Apple’s App Store revenue.

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App-o-Day, through its iOS app, website and Facebook and Twitter accounts, offers consumers a daily way to discover and download a paid iOS app for free. The app is selected by the staff of Iddiction, the company behind App-o-Day and only one app is featured a day. The idea is is to create a high quality, focused destination to help bring together app users and developers, kind of like a Groupon for apps.

But if this sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because there are plenty of other services offering similar help. Amazon offers a free app each day in its Appstore for Android. Tapjoy launched a portal to help discover new apps and Fiksu launched FreemyApps, which allows users to download sponsor apps and get paid apps for free. This is in addition to other established app discovery services like Freeappaday, AppsFire, AppBrain, Zwapp, Quixey and others.

Nabergoj tells me that App-o-Day will stand out because of its focus on the best apps and its ability to bring one new app deal to users each day. That should keep consumers coming, said Nabergoj, and should also be attractive to developers, who have trouble maintaining their place in the paid ranks of Apple App Store.

I agree that there’s a need to help paid app developers out. While many apps go freemium, developers who want to get paid for a download are increasingly challenged to drive downloads. And with more than half a million apps in the App Store, it’s a tough job for consumers to find new apps.

That’s apparently why Apple bought app discovery engine Chomp, because even with features like Genius and other ways to highlight apps, Apple seems to understand that discovery is still an issue for consumers and thus its developers. But the challenge for App-o-Day is to keep providing the apps that people actually want. Today’s free app is Baldify, more of a novelty app that I’m not sure people are clamoring for.

But as long as we keep developers keep riding the app boom, we’re going to keep seeing more of these services aimed at better discovery. There’s so much money being invested in apps, it’s hard to stay away. Juniper Research forecast app revenues could hit $32 billion by 2015. That’s likely what’s motivating Iddiction’s investors Comcast Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, IDG Ventures and Playdom founder Rich Thompson, who plunked down $3.5 million in November.

Will all of these discovery services survive? No. But it’s just like the app game for developers. Many are diving into the app bonanza but a small minority actually make big money. But with more and more developers and companies piling into app stores, there’s going to be more services touting their ability to make sense of it all.

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Lion’s system information

Right in your computer’s Apple menu (under ), the first item in fact, is the “About This Mac” utility. Clicking on it will bring up a small window that prominently says which version of Mac OS X you’re running, which processor your system has, how much RAM, and the name of the startup disk (the drive the computer boots from). There are two clickable buttons in this window: one takes you to Software Update, and the other, which we’ll be using, is labelled “More Info…” and takes you to the System Information app.

The System Information app provides you with the type of Mac you’re using (iMac, MacBook Pro, etc.) and also the specific size and original release timeframe of the computer. In the screenshot below, you can see that I’m using a 27-inch iMac from mid-2011 here.

Other information provided on the “Overview” tab of the System Information app includes your processor speed and type, the amount of memory or RAM installed on your system, the graphics card your computer has, and the machine’s serial number and operating system version.

Listed along the top of the System Information window are different tabs where you can find out more. “Displays” shows you the number and type of screens currently being used by your Mac, including the built-in display and any external monitors you have connected.

“Storage” provides a breakdown of any drives either connected to or built-in to your Mac, including a visual breakdown of what type of content and how much of it can be found on each drive.

“Memory” tells you how much RAM you have installed, and lets you know if you have any free slots available for more. You can also access Memory Upgrade Instructions from this tab for your specific model of Mac, if the memory is user-upgradeable.

Also available from the System Information app are Mac OS X and Mac hardware support resources, under the “Support” tab listed in the far right upper corner of the window. These provide useful links to Apple’s online help database, support contact information, and user manuals and specifications.

You can also check whether your Mac is still eligible for service, and check your authorized repair options under the “Service” tab.

Back under the Overview tab, you can click “System Report…” to get a more detailed look at your system and the hardware installed, but for most users, what you need to find should be listed in one of the tabs mentioned above.

Mactracker and EveryMac.com

If you’re still curious about your Mac or any other Mac out there, then there are a couple useful resources you can check out. Mactracker is an app on the Mac App Store that’s available as a free download. You can use it to browse or search for any Mac model ever built, as well as Apple-made peripherals, iOS devices, servers and even discontinued product like the Newton. It’s like a virtual Apple museum that’s both searchable and customizable.

EveryMac.com offers similar information, but in a website instead of in an app. It’s a little bit harder to navigate, but once you find what you’re looking for, it provides much more detailed information, including lengthy contextual descriptions of the Macs themselves, as well as Geekbench performance comparisons, and links to helpful articles about specific components and their uses.

Knowledge is power

For a lot of people, the motivation for moving to Mac can be that users simply don’t want to think too much about the system they’re using — hence Steve Jobs’ affinity for the phrase, “it just works.” But knowing at least the basics about the system you’re using means you’re that much likely to be able to handle problems well when they do occur. For most people, all that means is opening System Information once in a while to refresh your memory. For others, though, the deeper dive provided by Mactracker and EveryMac.com will be a rewarding experience.

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Exxon, an oil company, has seen its market cap steadily drop from a high of around $500 billion in 2009, while Apple’s has grown exponentially in that same time frame, thanks to successes like the iPhone and the iPad, along with a computer arm that has seen steady increases in sales. Market cap tends to reflect performance, and there’s little denying that Apple has been putting on quite a show in recent years, including a very successful last quarter.

Apple managed to handle the U.S.’s recent credit rating downgrade by the S&P with a bit more resilience than most, which probably helped it achieve this milestone today. But despite a bit of a resurgence yesterday for Apple, performance wasn’t so hot today for either company. Apple closed down 2.76 percent compared to yesterday, while Exxon fell further with a 4.41 percent drop.

Now that Apple’s on top, it just has to stay there. Continuing to do what it has been doing should be a pretty good way to accomplish that, but the company also appears to be hedging its bets with expert legal maneuvering. Considering that most analysts still have very ambitious target prices, it should stand a good chance of staying ahead for the near future.

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After only a few days use, Syncomatic has already become one of my most-used apps, since it lets me keep my iPhone’s camera roll clear and uncluttered, while also making sure I don’t lose a worthwhile clip or snapshot in the process. It works by monitoring your iPhone’s on-device photo and video library, and automatically grabbing new photos and videos when you’re near your Mac, putting them in either a folder of your choosing, or your iPhoto or Aperture library. Photo Stream in iOS 5 will do something similar, but Syncomatic is available now, is only limited by the size of your hard drive, and also offers multiple destination syncing options instead of just one. Here’s how to get it up and running yourself:

1. Install the Syncomatic iOS app to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.
2. Download and install the Syncomatic Mac companion client (direct link to download file).
3. Click on the Syncomatic icon in the Menu bar on your Mac and go to “Preferences.”
4. Choose whether you want Syncomatic to launch automatically, and pick a destination for your synced iPhone photos and videos. You can choose a folder, sync to either iPhoto or Aperture, or choose a combination of all three.
5. In the iOS app on your iPhone (or other iOS device), click the gear icon in the top right corner to enter the Settings menu.
6. Choose your destination Mac from the “Mac to Sync With” menu. If you have the Mac client installed correctly and are on the same Wi-Fi network, it should automatically appear.
7. Your Mac will display a four digit PIN. Enter that PIN into the iOS app when prompted.
8. Turn Sync on.

Now, whenever you’re within range of your Mac and connected to the same local Wi-Fi network, photos and videos will automatically be transferred to your Mac from your device. Syncomatic will also display a badge number with a count of how many photos or videos remain to be synced since it last connected, so that you know when everything’s been moved over to your Mac.

If you’re looking for a similar option, but would rather save the $2, PhotoSync offers similar functionality, albeit without automatic background syncing. For me, the set-it-and-forget-it aspect of Syncomatic justifies the extra expense.

My iPhone camera roll has always been a mess, but thanks to Syncomatic, I have little excuse not to get in there and clean it up once in a while. This is a must-have for mobile photo geeks, especially until iOS 5 arrives this fall, and likely beyond because of its customization options.

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Find My Mac uses known Wi-Fi tower location databases to pinpoint a Mac’s whereabouts, as it doesn’t have access to cell tower triangulation and GPS technology the way an iPhone or 3G-capable iPad does. Still, it seems to still be fairly accurate, and it also provides users whose Macs have gone missing with the option of locking the screen with a four-digit PIN and erasing the contents of the hard drive remotely. Find My Mac also lets Mac owners play a sound through their Mac’s speakers, and display a message of their own creation on the device’s screen. Even if your Mac is off when you send these commands, they will take effect the next time it’s online.

Once Find My Mac is enabled on a user’s Mac, they can view its location on a map using iCloud.com, and also perform any of the actions listed above from the website. It’s very likely that Macs with the service enabled will also eventually show up in the Find My iPhone apps for iPhone and iPad, too, based on how it works in the browser.

Making Find My Mac a part of the free suite of iCloud services is a smart move by Apple. Because of its role as a data security and anti-theft measure, it should help draw even single-device Mac owners who aren’t interested in email and information syncing features to iCloud, and adoption is going to be crucial to the ultimate success of iCloud. Apple is likely hoping that iCloud will not only attract new users to the Mac and iOS platforms, but also keep them there. Having all your data, purchases, email and documents associated with an account designed to work best on Macs and exclusively on iOS devices should provide lots of motivation not to go looking at competitor products.

Business strategy aside, having the ability to remotely track and wipe your Mac, which is a much more expensive loss than an iPhone, and one that is probably more likely to hold sensitive info for most, is a great boon to Apple customers. Look for it to go live alongside the rest of iCloud this September.

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The Good

One thing AOL definitely got right with Editions is the look of the app. Once you’ve connected it to your social media accounts (which is optional) and it generates your first issue, you get a very slick-looking digital magazine, complete with cover and table of contents. Individual section covers also look good, managing to take even relatively low-quality images and sprucing them up with some lo-fi filters to come up with an attractive end product. Animations are nice throughout the app, and the organization of articles, and use of whitespace and fonts all contribute to making Editions very visually appealing.

Navigation is another highlight with Editions. You can either page through the magazine by swiping, or check out a list of all the individual articles gathered within. The section navigator also provides a handy shortcut to each broad category of content, and the app doesn’t hang or stutter while you’re doing any of this, at least on the iPad 2 I was using to test it.

Editions, in my experience, was sexy as well as smart. The link sources it drew from my Twitter feed were all intelligent choices, although it wasn’t as good at sussing out my genuine interests. At least it provides the option of adding both sources and interests manually, thanks to a Profile link in the bottom menu. Also, when you click through to read a full article, you’re presented with both content source and interest options for you to either approve of or deny, which will affect future content delivery choices made by the app.

Finally, the calendar feature, which imports events and birthdays from Facebook and shows them on the first page of your daily Edition, is a nice detail that definitely makes AOL’s approach feel more personal overall.

The Bad

Editions works best when it presents you with the full text versions of articles for inline reading in the magazine interface itself. Unfortunately, it only does this for “Feature” articles, which only account for a couple of articles per section, at most. For all others, it uses an in-app browser to load the full page of the site, after presenting you with a brief excerpt. This is understandable, considering it benefits content sources, but it feels at odds with the app’s attempt to sell itself as a self-contained digital magazine, and it doesn’t work nearly as well as Flipboard‘s stripped-down presentation of articles. Plus, you won’t be able to use it fully offline.

Another major issue with Editions is the fact that it only updates once a day. Why bother with relatively static content when other sources like Twitter and Flipboard have all that content and continue to provide more throughout the day? AOL is probably banking on this being a virtue to some rather than a downside; those just making the transition from newspapers might particularly appreciate it, and it also provides the satisfaction of having completed something upon reading. But average tablet users are more likely to become more comfortable with a constant news cycle, not less, so not even having the option of dynamically updating content seems like a missed opportunity here.

Verdict

Overall, Editions achieves the goal it seems to have set for itself. It provides mostly hits in terms of article choices (with only a few notable misses, including one or two articles that were actually legalese notices of content usage restrictions), and it does so with style and good, usable design. But taken in the larger context of the increasingly crowded news recommendation crowd, it suffers because of a lack of continuous updates, and two conflicting styles of article presentation, where the in-line method makes the other feel a little lazy.

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