According to a recent Compete Smartphone Intelligence survey, with insights into how consumers are using their iPhones and other “smart” devices, smartphone owners agree on their favorite types of applications; entertainment, games, music, social networking and weather are the most popular across platforms.

The survey data shows that smartphone owners prefer personal and social apps to business applications and are relatively open to targeted ads. iPhone owners, more so than other smartphone users, were more likely to spend money on apps., while 83% of all smartphone users preferred apps $5 or below. Key findings include:

•       73% of Blackberry owners have downloaded 5 or fewer applications; in contrast, 72% of iPhone owners have downloaded 10 or more applications

•       Facebook is hot among iPhone owners: 71% of iPhone users report accessing Facebook from their mobile device, 37% listed Facebook as one of their top three most utilized apps and 18% claim it’s their favorite app.

•       30% of all smartphone owners are either comfortable or very comfortable receiving targeted marketing on their device

•       Despite Twitter’s ever-increasing mobile popularity, 85% of smartphone owners still prefer to access the site from the computer, while 26% of iPhone users tweet from their device, only 15% of Palm owners and 10% of Blackberry devotees report accessing Twitter on the go

•       Of the smartphone owners who do access Twitter via their phones, 41% use the application to keep track of what their friends are doing, 32% use the service to keep up with current events and 19% tweet from their handset to build a fan base or promote their company

•       Nearly half of smartphone owners are receptive to location-based targeted ad offers at restaurants and offers to save and pursue at their leisure, and 45% would use mobile grocery coupons

Danielle Nohe, director of telecommunications and media for Compete, notes that“…  the iPhone has taken an early lead in getting owners to adopt app functionality and make popular applications a part of their daily lives… once users are hooked, they’re very unlikely to give up their device… “

Facebook is the most heavily trafficked social networking site among smartphone owners, says the report, and iPhone users are twice as likely to use the mobile Facebook app as their Palm counterparts. In fact, iPhone owners are the most active mobile social networkers, with the highest percentage of respondents reporting mobile use of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and from their mobile devices.

Despite Twitter’s ever-increasing mobile popularity, 85% of smartphone owners still prefer to access the site from the computer:

•       26% of iPhone users tweet from their device

•       15% of Palm owners access Twitter on their smartphone

•       10% of Blackberry owners report accessing Twitter on the go

Of the smartphone owners who do access Twitter via their phones:

•       41% use the application to keep track of what their friends are doing

•       32% use the service to keep up with current events

•       19% tweet from their handset to build a fan base or promote their company

Impulse and leisure purchases tend to be offers that make the best candidates for marketers trying to reach networked consumers rather than big, highly considered ones. Nearly half of smartphone owners are receptive to location-based offers at restaurants and offers to save and pursue at their leisure, and 45% would use mobile grocery coupons.

To learn more about Smartphone Intelligence please visit Compete here.