A typical smartphone customer uses about 671 minutes a month of messaging, 667 minutes interacting with mobile apps, 531 minutes using voice and 422 minutes browsing Web apps, a new study conducted by Zokem has found. In other words, about 23 percent of end user time is spent using voice services, while 77 percent of time is spent interacting with various Internet-supported apps.

That isn't to say the voice function is unimportant. Few would buy a smartphone if it did not handle voice well. But the findings do illustrate that smartphones are multi-function, multi-app devices whose sources of value are complex and varied.

The study, based on Zokem’s smartphone panels, profiled more than 2,200 smartphone users in the United Kingdom and United States in January 2011.

News, search and commerce apps and sites receive much more usage still from mobile Web browsers, with 86 percent, 85 percent and 66 percent of mobile web browser users using them monthly, respectively.

About 22 percent of Web browser users access Web-based e-mail services, and only 18 percent use games through a Web browser. For e-mail, native apps reach 76 percent of smartphone users monthly and games reach 45 percent.

Multimedia related services, like online music and video, are predominantly used through native apps rather than a smartphone Web browser. Those findings suggest a clear difference between mobile Web and mobile app usage. Content is a primary driver of app usage. Gaming likely also is well suited to the mobile app format.

Over time, it also is likely that mobile apps will expand to include all sorts of features intended to enhance the immediate user experience in a location-specific venue. Some point to apps that provide instant information for users who are visiting an attraction of some sort, for example, such as a museum, historical landmark or other similar site.