Apps

This past week has not been a good one for Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Reports of the company preparing for a bankruptcy filing have been all over the news. On the bright side of things, uSirius StarPlayr, which allows you to listen to all of your favorite satellite stations streamed directly onto your iPhone, is on the horizon.

Apple released the iTunes App Store on July 11, 2008. Now, 7 months later TUAW reports they've hit 20,000 apps. For those tracking the darn-near-exponential growth at home, it took 5 month to hit 10,000, so they've doubled again in less than half the time. Scary.

With Windows Mobile still in stasis, Android only sound and fury thus far, the Pre still pre-mature, and BlackBerry blocked by its small on-board memory, is there anything on the horizon that can slow this juggernaut down? (Aside from developer complaints and infinite fart apps, of course).

Unlike the snow, TiPb's 2008 Holiday Gift Guide has come and gone, but while festivities pass, the gift of giving lasts all year long -- especially when loved ones are expecting them some Valentine's gift love! So, TiPb once again comes to the rescue with our 2009 Valentine's Day iPhone Gift Guide!

Need something special for that someone special? We got'cha covered after the break!

There are no demos available in the App Store, we know this. No try before you buy, no download now, pay later. According to Erica Sadun at Ars Technica, even mentioning demo in your verbiage, like beta, will get you a swift kick in the rejection button. Free "Lite" versions are the only way to go.

Zach Epstein over on the Boy Genius Report wonders out loud why Apple, in its infinite usability, can't create a mechanism where Apps get downloaded free, and then expire after a short period of time unless you decide to buy and keep them.