Sometimes it can be tough to be creative. You have so many things to worry about, that taking the time to think outside of the box just isn’t in the cards. Luckily you can have your own deck of cards working for you. The app is called Creative Whack Pack. It’s based on the popular card based creative enhancer. It’s kind of steep at $4.99, but if you’re having trouble thinking creatively then the Whack Pack can help. The proof is in their logo; is that a question mark or a phoenix?

Creative Whack Pack App Page

Music labels are looking to dilute Apple’s influence on the music download market by causing the media giant to charge more for songs in its music store than the competition. At least, that’s the only conclusion to draw from numbers examined by Engadget this morning.

The evidence is pretty damning: of the iTunes top 10 downloads, all but a few carry the maximum price of $1.29, while Amazon’s top 10 list (which is almost identical) holds steady at $0.99 for each and every one. Both stores sell DRM-free files, encoded at 256kbps.

The days of the $0.99-for-everything iTunes store are over. Of course, when Apple introduced the variable pricing feature into the iTunes store, they touted it as a way to get lower-priced songs — as low as $0.69, in fact. But what’s actually happened is the opposite. Thanks to the death of the album (something we can thank iTunes and other music downloading services for), labels are trying to squeeze as many dollars as possible out of the single song hits that get downloaded over and over again.

Now, Amazon has the exact same pricing structure as Apple. There are indeed songs at the $1.29 price point in the Amazon catalog — there just aren’t any at that price in the top ten downloads. The interesting thing about this, though, is that these song prices aren’t set by Amazon or Apple. They’re set by the music labels themselves.

So what’s going on here? If the labels are trying to undermine Apple’s position as market leader — and thus take away some of the company’s bargaining power — this is one place to start. Apple still has the advantage, since the iTunes store is integrated into the music playing software (and in the case of the iPhone, the device itself). People will probably pay a little extra for the convenience, but we’ll have to wait and see if this is part of a concerted effort or just a one-time blip.

Today, you’ll notice an update waiting for you on iTunes (8.1.1). There’s a couple of key improvements. First, is the overall improvement for downloading from iTunes Plus. The major addition is now iTunes will support HD movie rental.

Here are some of the other updates:

–Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation)
–Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ
–Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows
–Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs
–Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods
–Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus
–Includes many accessibility improvements
–Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls

Spring is here, and that marks the start of one of my favorite times of year, Baseball season. The only thing that’s tough about Baseball is keeping track of all the games. The day games are tought to catch because of work. At night, there’s a chance your team might not even be on TV. With the MLB.com At Bat App (ugh half rhymes), you can keep up with all the games throughout the year. There’s stat tracking, live game updates with visual markers for ball and strikes. Also, with your $9.99 you’ll be able to listen in on live audio, which is generally more on other sites. With this you’ll be able to listen anywhere.

MLB.com At Bat 2009 App Page

I’m a huge fan of April Fools Day. Some don’t get into the spirit of it, but I abask the settin of fooled or be fooled. What I don’t like is when someone makes an April Fools joke, but forget to those involved that it really is a gag. That’s what I take away from this TechCrunch article. That or it could be true.

According to Stephen Elop, President of Microsoft Business Division, we coud be seeing Microsoft Office heading to the iPhone. The rumor has been circulating for quite some time now, but nothing substantial to report until now. No details were mentioned in the article, which leaves me with a suspicious feeling.

Also, I don’t understand why a Microsoft Office program would be so useful on the iPhone. Specifically the text editor. The iPhone isn’t exactly known for its writing capabilities.

So, what’s your take on the rumors, real or fake?

For those who are jumping onto the internet phenomenon, Twitter, today’s app is what you need for your iPhone. Everything that you do on Twitter, is availale on the Tweetie app. Handle multiple Twitter accounts at once, manage your favorite tweets. On top of the features, Tweetie has the best interface of all the Twitter applications. Unfortunately, unlike Twitter, Tweetie costs money, $2.99 worth. If you are really addicted to Twitter, and want the ability to tweet anywhere, then get this app.

Tweetie App Page