About 1,000 apps are downloaded every three seconds.

Apple will be awarding one lucky (and timely) person a $10,000 iTunes gift card to commemorate the download of the 10 billionth App Store app.

The easiest way to win the prize is to download the 10 billionth app from the marketplace before entry forms are submitted from Apple's site. In order to make it fair to those who might not want to download more apps to their devices, Apple is offering a "non-purchase method" for entering the sweepstakes. Those folks need to fill out an entry form to join in.

People who opt for the non-purchase method will be able to win by submitting their entry form just prior to the 10 billionth app's download.

There are some limits to Apple's giveaway. For one, entrants must be 13 years of age or older to participate. Apple is also limiting user involvement to 25 downloads or entry-form completions per day.

Apple has established a countdown page for folks to see how many apps have been downloaded so far. As of this writing, the site shows over 9.7 billion downloads, and about 1,000 apps were reportedly being downloaded every three seconds.

Apple's App Store growth has been impressive, to say the least. The company tallied its first billion downloads in 2009, just nine months after the App Store's launch. It announced back in June that 5 billion apps had been downloaded.

But when it comes to giveaways, Apple is starting to fall short. When 13-year-old Connor Mulcahey downloaded the one billionth app, he was given an iPod Touch, a MacBook Pro, and a Time Capsule, in addition to a $10,000 iTunes gift card.