McDonald's (MCD) isn't the only company tapping into the "billions" game. In a bit of chest-thumping while Google (GOOG) announced its new cell phone, Apple (AAPL) let the world know that iPhone and iPod Touch users have pulled down 3 billion applications from the company's App Store since its launch a year and a half ago.

Steve Jobs, the company CEO, said, "This is like nothing we've ever seen before." He didn't reveal how many of these apps were free -- and whether billions and billions of downloads translate to billions and billions of dollars.

The online push from Black Friday continued into Cyber Monday. Coremetrics, a web analytics company, found that sales were up 19.6% year-over-year as of 1:00 PM Monday. Online may account for only 10% of spending during the holiday season (7% overall), but it remains the bright spot in what has been a lackluster kickoff to the holiday season.

Black Friday spending was up only 0.5% this year, though Black Friday online spending jumped 35%. For Friday and Saturday, ShopperTrak reports that retail sales were up 0.9% to $16.77 billion, while customer traffic dropped 2.7%.

Tired of the prudes over at Apple (AAPL), who keep a tight leash on filth in iTunes? Well, it seems like the folks at Google (GOOG) are keeping an open mind. Even though its Android Market isn't playing in the adult space, Google isn't preventing adult-only content from getting on its devices, while Apple has made it a point to keep its iPhones and iPods clean from the start.

The latest entrant into the Android experience is a company called MiKandi (say it, "my candy"), which provides mobile access to the hot stuff you can enjoy on a screen of any size. MiKandi has no connection to Google other than the use of its technology.

RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) is profitable again! The online media company that provides music and other entertainment cut its way into the black, getting rid of the costs that were getting in the way. It wasn't much of a profit, only $1.5 million for the third quarter, not even a full cent per share, but it's a hell of a lot better than the $4.5 million loss it sustained in the third quarter of 2008.

Revenue fell 8% last quarter to $140.3 million, just shy of the analyst average of $140.9 million. This trend is likely to continue through the fourth quarter. Music, technology product and game revenues were down. The profit was instead eked out of the supply chain and headcount.

In an interesting move, RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) has decided that it wants to kick off another potential controversy with Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and its applications (apps).

RealNetworks has developed an app for the iPhone that will bring the company's Rhapsody music service (a pay-to-listen service) to the iPhone and the iPod touch. The question is, will Apple allow the company to do this? RealNetworks has stated that it will submit its application for Apple's approval this week.

In the United Kingdom, retailers have "urged the music industry to drop piracy protection for online downloads after new figures showed the average Briton has bought fewer than three digital tracks in the past three years" according to the Financial Times. The Entertainment Retailers Association also states that anti-piracy methods have inhibited growth in the digital market and are "working against the consumer interest." The three tracks in three years figure is slightly hard to believe, but another point in the article made me think about the upcoming holiday season and digital music players.

The Financial Times remarked that the ERA is urging the music industry before the Christmas season because hopes are that digital sales could grow tremendously in January for consumers that want to load up their new players. While the average user might not be able to tell the technological benefits of Digital Rights Management (anti-piracy) free tracks, they can certainly enjoy the ability to easily transfer said track without having to worry about the tedious protection measures. Unfortunately, anti-piracy protection seems to inevitably require the consumer to sign in and confirm purchases, no matter the length of time since it has occurred.

DRM-free technology (anti-piracy) software has come under fire since February when Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Steve Jobs challenged the music industry to drop usage of the technology. So far the challenge has only been partially successful with London-based EMI the only music company to fully drop DRM and offer higher quality tracks for sale in various digital stores, including iTunes. The other music companies have not been as quick to adopt a DRM-free position, with Universal Music Group the only other label even beta testing files without it.

This post was part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007 feature. The voting has now closed and readers have chosen Apple's iPhone as the hottest gadget of the year. Be sure and let us know in the comments if you are pleased with this result.

2007 was definitely the year of the gadget. Every year, personal electronics get sleeker, attain more cutting-edge technology and functionality, and make their way into the the pockets and homes of millions of consumers. So, let's decide on which one was the biggest hitter this year, shall we?

First up, the Apple iPhone. Arguable the largest and most anticipated cell phone launch in history was in the news constantly form its January announcement until its June launch with partner AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL) shined again as a marketing machine and hyped the iPhone as much as it could while tech blogs and the news media seemed to have a lust for the device months before it ever hit a single hand. What the iPhone lacked in features it made up for in style and user experience. The device sold more than a million units in the first three months it was sold, and has helped Apple maintain its aura as the coolest tech company on the planet this year.

Next, we have the Nintendo Wii. This $250 gaming system is the size of a large hardback book but has great graphics and a whole new way to play games. It's not nearly as cutting edge as the Sony PlayStation 3 or Microsoft Xbox 360, but that's not what it's about. The Wii was meant for everyone (not just gamers), and the way it makes players physically interact with games has been hailed as brilliant. Consumers think so too, as the Wii has outsold the Xbox 360 almost every single month in 2007, and is way ahead of the more expensive PlayStation 3 in unit sales as well.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will begin selling newer versions of its Zune digital media player as of today at national retailers like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT). The world's largest software company will, again, try to compete head-to-head with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iPods, current the planet's most popular line of digital media players.

In addition to replacing the original Zune player with a newer, sleeker unit, Microsoft's releasing the slimmer Zune player in 4GB and 8GB capacities to compete more directly with Apple's most popular iPod product, the iPod nano. After five years, is the world tiring of the iPod and seeking another, equally capable device with more features and an online media store to boot? Many would answer "yes" to that question, and that's the market Microsoft wants to recruit to this new line of Zune devices.

When Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) engaged with telecom dinosaur AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) to partner with it in launching one of its most ambitious products ever -- the iPhone -- many saw it as a gambit to partner with the leading wireless operator instead of partnering with a more advanced and "hip" wireless carrier. Apple of course knew that to get the iPhone into as many hands as possible, it would have to go with the largest. There's probably other reasons as well. But the partnership between these two companies has been labeled as odd at best by many, including me.

Apple knows marketing, knows its customers and has the flash to sell gadgets and computers unlike any other company. AT&T is an aging brand trying to re-invent itself for the younger, everywhere-connected generation who won't even know what a landline telephone is in a decade. But with 60+ million wireless subscribers, no company could walk away from that statistic when launching one smash wireless handset. When Apple unveiled the iPod Touch a few weeks ago (which is basically an iPhone without the phone), AT&T execs must have cringed.

As I was following Apple. Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) "The beat goes on" event yesterday, I caught myself wondering this: can Apple roll out incremental features to its iPod line and get the market excited once again? I'm not sure that happened, as Apple shares remained stagnant during the event and then closed down almost nine points. This on a day when the company refreshed its entire iPod lineup with new "models." Ehh.

Did Apple just suffer along with many other tech stocks in yesterday's downtick, or was it something more? Apple CEO Steve Jobs has a wonderful way of making the world think each 'new' Apple product is somehow a first or one-of-a-kind, but most aren't any longer when it comes to the iPod line (save the iPhone, which is easily a revolutionary product).

Basically, Jobs trotted out the same products -- from the iPod Classic to the iPod Nano to the iPod Touch -- with incremental feature upgrades and more marketing glitz than a glazed donut. The market seemed unimpressed, all things considered. But, there's more.