Inspired by Michael Arrington's 2009: Products I Can't Live Without, here are my vital tech products of last year:

• iPhone 4S — specifically the 8 megapixel camera, iCloud, and Siri. I take a LOT more pictures now. iCloud has saved me a couple times when I had to hard reset my iPhone while on the road. Siri has allowed me to move several apps off of my homescreen, including Phone, Find My Friends, Reminders, Notes, Clock, Weather.

• iPad — to save money, I limited my traveling and stopped paying for the 3G data plan. The iPad became more of a household device that I'd use in bed or on the couch. I also started using it as I stretch before my morning runs to make the stretching routine more enjoyable.

• Google — Chrome, Gmail, Reader, Voice

• Flipboard for iPad/iPhone — still, by far, the best way to stay up-to-date with Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now Tumblr.

• Trillian — Replaced Adium as my default chat client because of its seamless chat syncing and chat logging in the cloud. While chatting, I could easily switch to a different device and not worry about missing any IMs.

• Instagram — started using this even more when I got the 4S (8 megapixels, baby!)

• Tweetbot — the best Twitter iPhone app out there; its push notifications replaced my Boxcar app

• Facebook

• Instapaper — because I was overseas for 10 weeks in a country with spotty internet, I started downloading articles and blog posts to read offline. Also kept me amused on my 16 hour flight.

• Tumblr

• Skype — absolutely necessary for sharing intimate moments with someone that you can't be with physically.

• Dropbox — came in really handy when I constantly needed to share large files with my friends.

Honorable Mentions: Backblaze, Find My Friends, PostMate for iPhone (shameless plug), Slingbox

Heating Up for 2012: bitcasa, iTunes Match, Siri, Voxer

Cooling Down: BlogTV, Foursquare, Path

Dismissed: Adium, Boxcar for iPhone, Mozy, TokBox, Twitter for iPad, Hootsuite