Callwave recently released a widget to provide free visual voicemail. The idea seems to be that you configure your account to do a conditional call forwarding to CallWave’s servers. From there, the widget provides access to the website to allow you to view your voicemail.

Clever.

Download the widget.

[Random thoughts after the jump.]

You have to test it once to dismiss the activation instructions from the widget. I just Skyped myself.

When you have the voicemail forwarded, the answering message has a viral sell for CallWave. Advertising the the future?

I also received a message on your mobile telling you that my call has been forwarded. The mechanism used (conditional call forwarding) will make this incompatible with the iPhone when it comes out.

Notice how quickly the phrase “visual voicemail” has creeped into our lexicon? Apple’s good with that shit. And when they aren’t (a la the word “widget” itself, the simply steal it.

T-Mobile zeroed out my Voice Mail pin in August when I switched plans, but Callwave forces you to create a pin. I now have my security back. (BTW, nice trick. If you want to listen to most people’s T-Mobile voice mail, find a service that allows you to fake Caller ID and call their phone number as their phone number. You’re in, baby!)

If you are a pre Tiger Mac OS X, Windows, or Windows Vista user, there is a Yahoo! Widget and a Windows Vista Gadget for it located at the same place. Speaking of which, it appears when Apple isn’t good at coming up with a good meme, they simply steal it (a la “widget”). Microsoft uses the sloppy seconds term: “gadget” which has to rank up there with “recycle bin” as a bad idea. And, am I the only person who thinks Yahoo! should make Konfabulator for Linux? It seems like there is a captive audience there.