Search engine giant Google is to release an application for Apple’s iPhone smart phone device, the company announced this week.

The functionality is inauspicious – it unites the company’s search, email and calendar services on to a single interface. But it may be the start of a significant power shift in computing.

The adoption of smart phones such as the iPhone, which give users the ability to surf the web, watch video and run applications while on the move, is predicted to increase the number of people connected to the web exponentially.

Google is positioning itself to become a powerful force in the mobile web. Earlier this year, the company announced that it is developing an operating system for smart phones named Android, and last week it said it would bid in an upcoming auction for wireless spectrum in the US.

While it may not have had much success in dislodging Microsoft’s monopoly on the desktop, Google has less of a disadvantage in the mobile realm.

Further reading

Can speech recognition ignite the mobile web?

Google brings GMail to the enterprise

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