With over 10,000 apps available to download from iTunes, which 16 deserve to be on your home screen?

I have a modest six pages of apps on my iPod touch, but it struck me recently that I hardly ever venture off the first screen! I seem to be quite happy with my selection, so what I thought I would do is quickly go over the ones that have made their way to page one, and then let you all have your say on which ones you can't live without and can't believe I'm not using on a daily basis! So here we go:

Safari: This is probably a no-brainer, but I love having a decent web browser on a handheld device. A little frustrating at times, but overall a fantastic implementation.

Mail: Again, this is a given. I have 3 IMAP acccunts, GMail, and Exchange on there, and all work very happily together! Full Exchange support is great, but it does mean that I can't escape my work emails as they pop up straight away!

Calendar: OK, another boring but essential app. I guess it's good to know what meetings I should turn up to when I check first thing in the morning.

Maps: I love having Google Maps on my iPod touch, and has come in very handy when figuring out how to get around Auckland (I'm new here!). As I am too cheap to get an iPhone at this stage, I am not able to take advantage to the built-in GPS or the newly unveiled Street View, but it still deserves a place in my top 16 nonetheless.

tvGuide: I don't end up watching a whole lot of TV, but it's great to know whats on. This app by NZ company Orsome is pretty slick and covers most, if not all, TV stations we can get. They can only display the next two days programming, but that is generally all you need.

NetNewsWire: For all my RSS feeds I use the NetNewsWire desktop application, both at work and home, so it was great when the iPhone app was released. Both versions sync to a central database at newsgator.com, so no matter where I read the latest news from, all my devices will keep up with what I have and haven't read. Very handy indeed!

Facebook: Yes, I use Facebook. Just like you do, and you over there, and just about everyone on this planet by the looks of it. And being able to quickly catch up/spy on your friends at the tap of a finger is actually quite good, and they've done a great job at slimming it down for this device. And no Facebook apps to annoy you with either! What I would like to see added is a birthday page, as I hardly ever log in to the Facebook website and keep missing people's big days! If someone can point out a solution (as in there already is a list of birthdays and I'm just blind) then let me know!

Twitterrific: I don't use Twitter a whole lot, but it is great to keep up with what other people are talking about. And of course I have to read the latest from @Orcon!

Kiwi: Despite it's name, this is not an app about our national bird! It's actually a Wikipedia client, and a very nice one at that. All the entries are formatted to be easily read on an iPhone, and it keeps track of all the pages you've read, as well as being able to tag your favourites. Much better than using Safari to view wikipedia.com.

AOL Radio: I often get bored of my own music collection, so being able to tap into radio stations from around the world is pretty cool. Nice UI too. However, it looks like this isn't available in the NZ store, so an alternative could be FlyCast which I also have.

AirSharing: I managed to pick this up for free when it first launched, and is great. Basically it turns your iPhone/iPod touch into a wireless drive which you can transfer files to and from your computer.

App Store: Without this, I wouldn't be able to download more apps on the go!

Tap Tap Revenge: I'm a fan of Guitar Hero, and this is the next best thing. Beats coming flying down the screen which you have to tap in time with the music. You can download more tracks from their servers, and even compete with others to win prizes. It's also great that some well-known artists are getting behind these guys and starting to distribute their music via the app, so that you can tap along!

WiFinder: As I am on an iPod touch, my connection with the Internet has to be through WiFi. This app does a good job at listing all the open wireless hotspots as you wander the streets (or your neighbour's back yard!).

And finally... Orcon Usage Meter! Not technically a standalone app, but close enough! If you go to http://www.orcon.net.nz/usage in Safari and save the page to your Home Screen, it will show up just like a real application, logo and all. It will even launch in its own fullscreen browser window. It's only useful if you are sitting at home using your Orcon broadband connection, but it's amazing how often I end up checking my usage!

So that's me, now what about you? What apps are so useful or fun that they have made it to page one? Are you like me and have pages and pages of useless apps, but just can't bare to delete them?

Looking forward to your comments!