Morgan Stanley’s latest crystal ball-gazing reveals some fascinating insights into how far we’ve come and where we’re heading with online innovation. Amazingly, we’ve downloaded roughly 4.5 billion apps and, by 2012, smartphone shipments (all those iPhones and Android-powered handsets) will outnumber PC shipments, the new research says. What’s more exciting is what’s ahead in mobile: “faster, cheaper and better” is the message, meaning day-long battery life and super-fast, always-on connectivity. When? Just a few years away. Cannot come soon enough.