When I became a Realtor in Louisville, I had a standard cell phone but I knew I needed a more powerful communication tool. So I performed some research and eventually purchased a BlackBerry.

This new device was certainly better than my Samsung but it wasn’t incredible. Email was much better, texting was good, but surfing the Web was horrible. It would also crash unpredictably to which tech support gave me the “reboot the phone and try again” routine. Personally, I wondered what all the hype was about. Looking at this survey, it seems a lot of real estate agents have followed this path.

I’m curious to see next year’s survey and how much Android increases. I predict it takes major market share away from BlackBerry with the iPhone inching up as well.

The Smartphone brand holds closely to the OS as you would expect. The phone I own now is a MyTouch from T-Mobile. This phone so much better than my BlackBerry it’s hardly worth discussing. From texting, Web surfing, contact management, calendar integration with Google, and the ability to add new, useful applications, I find it hard to understand why anyone would continue with a BlackBerry. I’m really impressed with my HTC product.

Here are some of the other items of note from the survey. Email remains the top reason for a real estate agent acquiring a smartphone. In fact, email (88.4%) is only slightly behind making a phone call (91.2%) in most used feature. The most used downloadable applications are for social media, with Twitter being the most likely winner in that war.

83.5% of all respondents are either Satisfied or Extremely Satisfied with their smartphone with iPhone owners leading the way in this category.

For the record, the saddest result in the survey is that 17.5% have no interest in getting a smartphone despite the high level of satisfaction among smartphone owners. Just goes to show that new technology is not for everyone.

Home improvement just sounds complicated. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a few handy tools that don’t kill your budget to improve your home improvement? Just whip out your iPhone and get going on that dry wall or cabinet refinishing project. That’s right, for all you do-it-yourself types and iPhone addicts, your have been answered. We’ve compiled a list of 20 handy, dandy apps that make home improvement projects and mundane chores easier (or at least more fun).

1. ConsumerReports.org – A trusted resource for consumer product testing. Check the free mobile news and video app for information on products for home, and to get the best bang for your buck. A must-do before you start any home improvement project.
2. Home Improvement Calculator – A calculator equipped to estimate exactly how much of a certain material you’ll need to complete home improvements. It covers painting jobs, wall papering, tile laying, fences, concrete laying, brick laying, carpeting, gravel and deck building. Enter the measurements for the project’s size and the calculator will do all the work (almost).
3. Home Improvement Store Finder – For 99 cents, find and get directions to nearby home improvement stores. Simple and convenient when you need a quick phone number or address to a home improvement supply store.
4. iHandy Carpenter – A toolkit on your iPhone. This app features five carpentry tools, a plumb bob, a surface level, a bubble lever bar, a protractor and a ruler, to make home improvement a cinch. All the tools can be used in landscape mode, and if you calibrate the plumb bob, level bar and surface level, you can use them together as a clinometer to read angles precisely.
5. Handyman Sidekick – Another easy-to-use calculator for gardening, wallpapering, painting and flooring. It converts and saves units of measurement for easy reference. At $1.99, this app eliminates the need for a contractor on small jobs and saves a few dollars by figuring the amount of needed materials for a project.
6. Home Sizer – A simple app made to calculate the square footage of a room or your home. It can also be used when designing a new home. The app features a file manager to save your data or your “house” plans and a mortgage calculator to estimate monthly payments for your dream house.
7. Palettes Lite – A free app to create color palettes. Use it to repaint and develop a color scheme for your entire home. The company also features an upgrade version, Palettes, with more advanced techniques and options at a cost of $9.99.
8. Warranty – Who knows where to keep all the warranty junk that comes with a new product? This $4.99 app keeps up with it all for you. No more paper stuffed boxes or drawers full of warranty papers. It’s all gathered in one place at your fingertips.
9. Convert Aid/Converter – Two 99 cent apps that calculate units of measurement for you without the algebra book.
10. Drywall Calculator – This app adds up the square footage of a room so you can quickly assess how much dry walling you will need for any room in the house.
11. ConcreteCalc – Similar to the Dry Wall Calculator, the Concrete Calculator app calculates the amount of concrete you’ll need per cubic yard.
12. EZ Loan Calc – Figure up the money needed for a project and get an estimate of what a loan would cost you. It has endless possibility written all over it.
13. Distance Calculator – Convert distances easily with the $2 app. No more memorization and calculations for you.
14. Goal Tender – A nice app to keep your home improvement goals and projects on track. The price is right at $2.99, and it allows you to write down and review your goals and track your success rates.
15. Flashlight – A free app that glows like a tiny flashlight for dark spots. It comes in handy for midnight trips to the bathroom as well.
16. Homelogic Mobile Control – An app designed by HomeLogic to control your home with the touch of a button on your iPhone. Use this free app to adjust electronics and other WIFI-enabled systems from your iPhone or the Internet.
17. Computer Repairs – When you can’t fix the computer yourself despite all the Computer Programming for Dummies you read, use this 99 cent app to look up a professional in you area to help.
18. Trash Day – For those of us that forget home improvement includes the little things like taking out the trash. Program reminders, and never miss a trash pick-up again.
19. Heat – A free temperature converter app. It converts Fahrenheit and Celsius as well as Kelvin and Rankine.
20. Builder Dan’s Toolbox – This toolbox is a reference of building codes for contractors and do-it-yourself folks. Downfalls? The codes are based on Canadian standards, and it’s $6.99 for the download. Keep in mind, nothing replaces the expertise of a professional. If the sink you fixed, with the help of your new iPhone app, is rerouting water to the toilet and flooding the bathroom faster than a tsunami, it may be time to make the call for a pro.