Let the competition begin!

It took McDonalds years before it could flip the sign to 2 billion served. In late September, a different kind of Mac passed the 2 billion mark.

Apple released its statement that over 2 billion mobile apps had been downloaded to the iPhone and iPod touch. Now it’s been a whopping menu of apps for smartphones – and across all platforms, including Blackberry, Google Android, the Palm Pre, and Windows Mobile, and Nokia. The apps range from the mundane to the sublime. Which are which?

Enter Mobile Apps Showdown — from the same folks who bring you the perennially popular Last Gadget Standing at the Consumer Electronics Show each year. Mobile Apps Showdown will feature the top 10 apps in five categories, chosen by tech vet Robin Raskin, a team of mobile experts from the NetShelter Technology Media network of sites, and their vast communities of smartphone enthusiasts.

All entrants will be acknowledged with write-ups, screenshots and a “Download Now” button on this site, so you can try them, too. The seminfinalists will demo live from the Mobile Apps Showdown stage in the North Hall at CES 2010 when it begins on Jan. 7.

The top ten apps will be finalists in a live demo competition in front of a live and online CES audience and a winner will be declared based on audience applause o-meter and online vote.

The end game? Let the best apps rise to the top, with you as one of the judges. Applicants from all platforms have been entering their prize apps. We’ll keep posting them on this site, starting right now.

Check in early and often as we set out to separate the best from the rest.

Now, drum roll please, as we present the first contestants in this year’s Mobile Apps Showdown.