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10. Currency – There are many currency converters in the Apple AppStore, but this one by Jeff Grossman is my favourite. Simple to use, you can fit your favourite ten or so countries straight on the homepage that automatically update every time you load the application and happen to be connected to the internet. Plus, you can put the desired monetary figure into one of these currencies and it automatically shows you the equivalent in the rest.

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9. a2z Pro Conversions – Again, there are many of these, but this one is excellent, having pretty much every known method of measurement to man divided into categories such as length or volume. Plus, should you need to download additional categories you can, or even invent your own Pangalactic Gargleblaster to earthly Cubre Libres conversion. It also does currencies, but the previous one mentioned is much easier to use for this one useful function.

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8. Accuweather – Not much to say here; it’ll give you forecasts, humidity, wind and more; allowing you to save your favourite places for quick recall. Always handy when trying to decide between flip flops and thermal underwear.

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7. Google Earth – The famous application that gives you points of interest, satellite imagery and solves many simple arguments on just which country borders where. Would be even better if off-line, and is heavily reliant on a fast internet connection for best usage, but a valuable companion to any traveller’s app-pack.

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6. WiFinder – Incredibly useful application that quickly tells you all available Wi-Fi networks, their strength, their channel, and systematically checks to see whether that open network is actually able to connect all the way through to the internet or not. Helps to eradicate those apparently free but are actually paid for networks! Ever so useful in its simplicity as it is pretty much open the program and wait a few seconds for the results.
Apparently this has been pulled from the appstore pending a change of name or whatnot. Keep checking the website for updates!

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5. Sky News – Shamefully whooping the BBC’s bum in the news category, this application allows you to quickly view a brief synopsis in various categories of news, with videos and more when you drill down. Again, only works when online.

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4. World Factbook Lite – Using data from the CIA database, this application contains an absolute wealth of information on every country in the world including its flag, history, geography, current political status, and standing in the world. Useful for facts such as Latvia’s highest point is only 312m above sea level, and that Bolivia has more money in the bank than the big old US of A. There are even league tables in a plethora of categories if you’re struggling to put together questions for the local pub quiz.

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3. iChess Lite – Gets its own category simply because I love playing Chess, and its the only free Chess application that I have found that allows you two players to hotseat and play Chess on the same iPod Touch/Phone. Alternatively if you’re a Backgammon fan you can go for Backgammon Premium, which at 59p allows you to hotseat on this much loved (but spliced with luck) game.

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2. Games – OK, there are hundreds of free games out there, but I’ll recommend the following as a good place to start; BrainTeaser, Bloons, TapDefense, PapiJump, Tap Quest, JellyCar and Pocket Tanks. There are many blogs out there on this, but those are a cracking start. Particularly TapDefense.

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1. Wiki2Touch – If you’re a fan of Douglas Adams, then you will appreciate the mythical pinnacle of godliness that is the universe’s information at your fingertips. While not actually called The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this is close enough and a must on any travellers app-pack. Exceptionally useful when travelling on a bus to a new location to read about the area, its culture, its treasures and its past. Plus handy for settling arguments in a lively discussion. It takes 3.5GB for the actual English text of Wikipedia, and a further 7GB if you want iPod friendly sized images as well. There are many guides available on how to install this application, it requires a bit of geek flair, in that it isn’t available on the Application Store as you need to first jailbreak your iPod, then carry on with the deployment using this Wiki2touch install guide.