Google and Motorola partner on mobile search
06-01-2006
by Ciara O'Brien

Motorola has teamed up with Google to offer its customers easy access to the search engine's services.

Under a three-year deal, selected handsets will feature an integrated Google icon, allowing Motorola users to connect to Google at the touch of a button.

Motorola claims that it has taken the decision to team up with Google after consumers demanded mobile services integrated with search services. Access to web search is considered one of the most important drivers of mobile web use.

The company plans to have the devices on sale worldwide from early this year, although an exact date has not yet been mentioned.

"By featuring Google on Motorola handsets for those customers, we are making it easier for consumers to connect to the information they need when they need it," said Scott Durchslag, corporate vice-president and general manager of global products for Motorola's Mobile Device business.

"Our relationship with Google provides an opportunity for us to offer a high quality mobile search experience -- one familiar to and loved by millions of users across the globe."

Google has already made efforts to make its services more easily accessible to mobile users; in December, it announced it was releasing a mobile version of Gmail perfectly suited to use on the small screen of a mobile handset. The new mobile service automatically optimises for the size of the screen on the mobile phone, and allows users to open attachments such as photos, Microsoft Word documents and PDF files.

The new deal with Google is the alliance that Motorola has made with a third-party developer; the handset manufacturer has previously made deals with companies such as Apple, which provided iTunes for Motorola's Rokr handset.

There is also talk of a hardware and software agreement with Kodak for Motorola's camera phones, in attempt to simplify their use and allow users to swap photographs more easily.

However, the search giant's rivals are hot on its heels. Yahoo has also announced its plans to move beyond the computer screen by allowing its users to access its e-mail and messaging services on mobile phones and through the television. Yahoo Go was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.