This week’s vein of Online Ore can be found at http://google.com/voice

Google Voice is a free online service that allows you to use a single telephone number to connect with every one of your phones (or any portion of them that you choose).  It also has voicemail functions that allow you to create custom messages for known callers and will automatically transcribe incoming voice mail so that it can send a copy to your in-box.

There are, however, limits to what Google Voice can do.  Google Voice will not automatically disconnect from a phone when you …

Many credit the explosive popularity of the iPhone to the App Store - a single, easy to find, easy to access clearing house of all Apple approved iPhone Apps.  And Apple hasn’t exactly been stingy with their product approvals.

The slogan, “There’s an App for that,” will not and cannot always be true.  However, by making it central to the iPhone’s advertising campaign, Apple is declaring that they wish to encourage developers who will make programs that can run on Apple’s mobile hardware, and that they will put it out there for users to find.

There are exceptions (for example, Apple does …

According to Mobile Internet Report put out by the researchers at Morgan Stanley, there are five elements that identify the onset of a new computing cycle.

• Better Processing Power
• Improved User Interface
• Smaller Devices
• Lower Prices
• Additional Services

This is certainly true of the jump from Mainframes to Minicomputers, from Minicomputers to Personal Computers, and even from Personal Computers to Desktops with Internet Access.  The Researchers at Morgan Stanley even see it in the jump from Desktop Internet to Smartphones (which are already as powerful as the early iMacs).

But why does that matter?

Well because the each computing cycle has been about ten times as big as …

Until Apple’s release of the iPhone and accompanying App Store, Japan was more or less the undisputed leader in mobile technology and innovation.  Roughly 90% of the population owns some form of mobile phone.  Their mobile networks are faster and cover a greater portion of the country.

What’s more interesting, 8 years ago the breakdown of revenue from Japan’s mobile internet looked remarkably similar to the current breakdown of revenues for the rest of the world.  These are just a small number of the many observations to appear in Morgan Stanley’s 424-page Mobile Internet Report.

Japan’s market anticipated the popularity of recreational …

No, this isn’t the 6-Million Dollar Man we’re talking about, but your telephone.

The combined market share of smartphones has been growing, and not even the Great Recession could slow it down.

$6 million is a pittance to this behemoth.  Palm alone grossed approximately $20 million on smart phones last year, and they aren’t even considered the industry leader.

Proof in the Usage

The NPD Group found that smartphones made up 28% of all cell phones purchased in the 2nd Quarter of 2009, up from only 12% at the end of 2007.  On top of that, Gerry Purdy of Frost & Sullivan predicts that …