So long 2009... Year of the App Store?

People would be forgiven for thinking that 2009 was the year that the Application Store was invented. It is certainly true that Apple's iPhone made App Stores and Apps the big mobile story of the year, but there have been many App Store before, and the grand daddy is probably GetJar.

GetJar is the world’s largest cross platform app store with over a half billion downloads since launch in 2005. The site provides more than 50,000 mobile applications across all major handsets and platforms to consumers in more than 200 countries. The name of the site refferes to the JAR (or Java ARchive) file format that is used to distribute Java applications.

So why not give the site a try and see what they have for your phone... first you'll need to set your handset so that you get the right apps.

Just click on the phone icon (top right) and select your device. The selection process is very slick, and much better than many other sites. If you browse to http://www.getjar.com/ on your mobile it will auto detect your handset.

There are lots of free applications, and plenty of pay ones too, for pretty much every handset, just remember to ensure you are on a data tarrif before downloading them all. If you try one may be you could post a comment about the download, and if it was any good.

Happy New Year.