Nokia warms to Google, offers web search

Finnish cellphone maker Nokia this morning added to its announcements for Barcelona's Mobile World Congress by revealing that it has improved its relationship with Google by adding Google search to its phones. Previously only found on Internet tablets such as the N810, the Google component of Nokia's Mobile Search app lets users find web results as quickly as they would find content from the device itself or through local web searches. The experience will also be familiar to those used to searching from a computer desktop, Google claims.

This upgrade represents deeper integration of Google into Nokia phones, according to the company. The N95 8GB recently became the electronics firm's first device to officially support YouTube videos rather than require a third-party client.

The search service launches first with all the phones announced yesterday, including N78 and N96 smartphones as well as the 6210 Navigator and 6220 classic. Other phones will receive the new search functions in the future, though Nokia does not say whether the upgrade will be applied to previous phones or will be reserved solely for new models.

Filed under: industry, gadgets, software
Other story tags: Nokia, Google, YouTube, N95 8GB, N96, N78