It’s almost Valentine’s Day, which means you’re probably out spending all of your extra money on stuff you probably don’t need. That’s okay, you can still get some apps for free. This week there’s a new free online multiplayer Battlefield game from EA. And I found a plethora of limited time freebies. So get to it.

Plastic as a design material is apparently right out, yet nostalgia will have its way despite the relentless march of minimalist aesthetic. Schreer Delights, an offshoot of Schreer Design, has developed a line of iPhone 4/4S cases designed to mimic vintage Apple designs. Get ready to dress up your iPhone like it’s 1984, 1999, or 2001!

Reports are surfacing that Apple’s iOS 5.1 software update will be released publicly about one month from today. Leaks of operator profiles set to be sent out to various iPhone carriers point directly towards a March 9th release date.

The developers behind Tweetbot—a Twitter client for iOS that is a favorite among many—bring some exciting news with the release of version 2.0 of its iPhone/iPod touch client and the initial release of its iPad client. Tapbots’ Tweetbot 2.0 brings with it some new features and improvements for the mobile Twitter client, while Tweetbot for iPad brings the app onto Apple’s tablet in a way that iPad owners will surely appreciate.

Consider it a tough day when you sneeze so hard that your very soul is hurled out of your body. Consider it even tougher when you learn the only way to get it back is to scare the various citizens of Monster Town. Sound like a fun game concept? It is, but that’s not this game. That’s Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove for Nintendo 3DS. This is Gabrielle’s Monster Match for iOS, a match-style game that manages to retain the charm of its predecessor despite its more basic gameplay.

A privacy concern over iOS app Path uploading users’ address book contact information to its server has caused the developers to take action and explain why it has done so. Dave Morin, CEO of Path, has apologized today for his company’s actions in this matter, and assured users within his apology that Path is committed to protecting its users’ privacy.

Just as Mass Effect 2 got its own iOS game to tie-in from Electronic Arts with the traditional console counterparts, Mass Effect 3 will be going down the same road. This game in development, entitled “Mass Effect Infiltrator,” will reward the player within the console versions of Mass Effect 3 rather than just telling a character’s background story, as the Mass Effect 2 tie-in did.

Napkin Studio’s David Stanfill has been hard at work developing an OS X client that will allow for AirPlay mirroring from iOS to OS X, something that is currently unsupported. Stanfill’s decision to develop such a client and the technology behind it came from his desire to find a better way to demo his iOS applications during online meetings and to be able to record live video of the apps as they are being used.

Users of the iOS app Path should be concerned about the app’s newly discovered privacy issue, in which it sends a .plist file full of the contacts in your address book over to their server. Included in this .plist file are the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of these contacts, and they are sent upon registering for an account with their service.

Halliburton will phase out thousands of Blackberrys in favor of the iPhone over the next two years. According to an internal newsletter obtained by AppleInsider, Halliburton conducted “significant research” and came to the conclusion that “the iOS platform offered the best capabilities, controls and security for application development.”