5:30 PM -- It's clear that one update that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), and BlackBerry need to make to their mobile applications stores is to find more and better ways to search and classify applications.

Apple now has around 25,000 applications in its application horde, Google had about 2,300 in March, and RIM has about 1,000. Apple now has sold over 1 billion applications, Reuters reports.

I'm quoted in the article, saying that the app choices can be a trifle overwhelming at times, and I do think that the next change that needs to happen with these app stores is to find more and better ways to search for what users want.

For instance: When looking at a new application on the G1, it would be nice to get a list of other applications that users who downloaded that program had also downloaded. I'm sure readers have other ideas on this, too.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung