Doodle Jump is out and Angry Birds is in, but ESPN ScoreCenter, CNN and WeatherBug managed to stay on this iPhone user’s playlist.

Editor’s Note: The following article was posted at www.wirelessweek.com in December 2010.

Last year around this time, I posted a piece about my favorite apps for the iPhone entitled "10 Apps with Staying Power," That piece served as a kind of best-of-the-year list and featured everything from games to utilities that I found myself using on a daily basis. This year, I decided to refer back to that list and see if my claim of "staying power" actually held true, while also featuring a few newcomers to my trusty smartphone's catalog of go-to applications.

As I said last year, the folks over at Pinch Media claim iPhone users only develop a long-term relationship with 1 percent of the apps they download from the App Store. At the time, I considered a couple of months a "long-term relationship" with an app. After looking at last year's list though, very few of those apps were able to prove useful/entertaining for a full year. So here's a little homage to what's out, what's still hanging around and what's new in my iPhone app catalog.

WHAT'S OUT

Doodle Jump
As much as I love this game, Doodle Jump from developer Lima Sky has jumped itself right off my iPhone. While it's a classic and will continue to attract new fans, I had to break the habit. Rightfully billed as addictive, Doodle Jump is still available in all of its new themes and levels at the App Store for 99 cents.

Simplify Music 2
Simplify Music 2, from Simplify Media, allows you to access your iTunes library from anywhere for just the price of the app download. Using Simplify Music 2, you can access your entire iTunes library from anywhere (so long as your computer back home is on). Unfortunately, Rhapsody for iPhone came along and captured my heart with a nearly unlimited catalog of music and offline playing. My iTunes library seems paltry in comparison to what I can now get through Rhapsody.

Dragon Dictation and Search
Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search, from Nuance Communications, are two incredibly accurate voice recognition apps that I just don't use anymore. Dragon Dictation does what it says it will do; it dictates what you say into your phone. The text that is generated can then be sent as a text message, email or simply kept as a note. Dragon Search uses the same technology in a voice-activated search application. Still, I discovered that I don't like talking into my phone to search for things or to take notes. It just doesn't seem natural and the occasions where it might are few and far between.

Slacker Radio or Pandora
Everyone knows these two streaming radio services, and I have to say that I still use both of them on my Mac at home. However, Rhapsody has given even these services the boot.

Sure, I might occasionally use one or the other but in general, they've become more once-every-couple-of-weeks apps than they are put to everyday use.

WHAT'S HUNG AROUND 

ESPN ScoreCenter
I'm still a sports fan and still using ESPN ScoreCenter. The Packers play every Sunday this time of year, and as I said last year, ignorance of how they're doing can do bad things for your reputation in these parts. The ability to run ESPN's Gamecast right from the app is a major plus. ScoreCenter is still available for free at the App Store.

CNN
CNN is not my favorite news source, but this app continues to provide the nuts and bolts of the day's news. They did a good job with this app, and push notifications of breaking news events are a great thing (although some of the superfluous items I could do without). The app is still $1.99 at the App Store.

WeatherBug
Still the most accurate weather app on the market, and Wisconsin continues to serve up some of the most unpredictable weather on the planet. I have to say that WeatherBug has struggled some with updates to their app, but when it's working right, it's the best meteorological source in the App Store. Also, they've changed some of what's available on the free version and paid version of the app. The free version will still get you a pretty good look at what's coming your way. 

WHAT'S NEW

Photo Apps: Hipstamatic, Toon Paint, Pano
So the iPhone 4's amazing new 5-megapixel camera paired with a veritable storm of new photo apps has created some interesting images over the past year. I rarely take my DSLR or smaller digital camera with me anymore. I covered my favorite photo apps for the iPhone back in May after a trip to Portland, Ore. You can read more about that here. I'm guessing these aren't going anywhere, but judging by those apps that already have been booted from last year, you never know.

Viber
I just added Viber in the last couple of weeks and I'm sold, sold, sold on this free VoIP app, which has allowed my wife and me to cut our AT&T family plan from 1,400 voice minutes to 550 minutes. Viber features deep integration with your native contacts, excellent call quality and no registration, which means there's no assigned number and those that you call will see your own mobile number. All you have to do is train yourself to hit the purple icon instead of the green icon every time you make a phone call.

Angry Birds
Angry Birds is this year's Doodle Jump and I make no claims that I'll still be playing it next year. It's highly addictive and the company has gone so far as to start merchandizing fluffy little stuffed recreations of all your favorite characters from the game. Given that Electronic Arts just bought Chillingo, the company that owned the game (not the developer Rovio), this could become the beginning of game franchise, much the way Mario Brothers spun off into many different lands. While I may not be playing Angry Birds next year, I might be playing some kind of spin-off (think MarioKart). The original Angry Birds, as well as Angry Birds Seasons, are available at the App Store for 99 cents.

Inception
I won't say this app has staying power. I won't say I'll even be playing around with this app next week. I will say that this free app (which is a plug for the DVD release of Leonardo DiCaprio's movie Inception), is one of the most unique concept apps I have ever experienced and could be a hint at some of the things that will be coming in future iPhone games. You probably don't even have to see the movie to really appreciate what's happening here, but it would give the app some context if you did see it. You'll need a pair of headphones to get the full experience. By combining ambient noise with the movie's soundtrack, as well as employing the iPhone's accelerometer and gyroscope, this app creates various audio dream states that users can unlock. It's an extremely difficult app to describe, so go watch the movie and then download the app.

Epicurious
I do most of the cooking in our house and Epicurious' new app has been a huge help. Loaded with recipes, as well as an automatic grocery list creator for any recipe, Epicurious provides this free app in style. Users can save and share favorite recipes straight from the app, and Epicurious is pretty good at updating categories with seasonally appropriate features. I'll probably be using this one for awhile.

Instapaper
Instapaper is an invaluable tool for anyone who does research for a living. Available for free through the App Store, Instapaper provides a cloud-based service that allows you to save articles you find on the Web for later viewing. Because it is cloud-based, that means you can pick up where you left off on your smartphone, PC or tablet. Occasionally I'll run across something totally unrelated to what I'm looking for and just want to put it aside for later. Instapaper does that quite handily. I'm guessing this one will stick as well.

Rhapsody
I recently DJ'd (well, I mean kinda) a party with my Rhapsody account on my iPhone. With suggestions from attendees prior to the party, I was able to put together a 4-hour playlist that met just about everyone's needs. At $10 per month for limitless access to Rhapsody's seemingly infinite catalog of music, this service (or at least one of the many like it) is a must for every music lover. The app is free at the App Store. For a more extensive rundown of this space, check out a past review that covers a number of other players in this space.

The world of apps is growing by the day. These are just a few that came across the wires and caught my attention over the past year. I'm sure there will be more in 2011. Given that so many apps these days employ push notifications and use location information, I'm finding that keeping my iPhone clean of unused apps has a beneficial effect on my battery life. With that in mind, I'm not as concerned about staying power any more as I am with usefulness. Those that stuck around for a whole year have proved their worth and those that didn't... well, those developers are probably hard at work on 2011's killer apps.