Apple used the launch of its new iPhone 5 device last night to tout its dominance in the app store space and talk up new features for developers.

“We’ve recently crossed 700,000 apps in the store,” said CEO Tim Cook. “And 250,000 of those have been specifically tailored for iPad to take full advantage of the larger, beautiful canvas.”

Ninety percent of all 700,000 applications in Apple's App Store are downloaded at least once every month, Cook added. "There's something [in the App Store] for everyone. And believe it or not, every app has its fans." He added that the average iOS device owner uses more than 100 apps in all: "It's a revolution. It's phenomenal."

Cook claimed that over 400 million iOS devices have now been sold worldwide.

Meanwhile the new iPhone 5 features a number of enhancements that will catch the eye of developers. Games developers will focus on the device’s new A6 processor, which Apple says is twice as fast as its predecessor. A “completely redesigned” 8 megapixel iSight camera could improve apps that use augmented reality and barcode scanning techology, while the slightly larger 4-inch screen will house another (5th) row of apps.

Marketing boss Phil Schiller said the iPhone 5 will centre apps that haven’t been updated in their original vertical and horizontal orientations, claiming “they will work just as well until they’re updated to make full use of the screen.” Developers such as CNN and OpenTable were cited as examples of companies that had early access to optimise their apps and make use of the new four-inch display.

App developers will have September 19th marked in their diaries for the rollout of Apple’s new iOS 6 software.

A report in The Guardian suggests that one disappointment “comes in the silence about how app recommendations startup Chomp’s technology is being built into the App Store following its acquisition earlier this year.” The report adds that Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, referred to “improved search results”, but his demo “looked more like Google’s autocomplete suggestions than full-on Chomp-style recomemdnations.”

The report adds: “With 700,000 iOS apps now available in the App Store, though, developers are keen to see what changes Apple has up its sleeves to significantly shake up recommednation and discovery on the store beyond a nicer design. We didn’t quite get that today.”