Nokia to offer Google Search to mobile customers worldwide

Nokia and Google today announced that Google’s popular search engine will be integrated with the Nokia Search application, it was announced at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona.

The integration will begin in select markets with the N96, N78, 6210 Navigator and 6220 classic. Google search will be extended to additional Nokia handset models in the future. Ultimately, Nokia will make Google search available to its customers in over 100 countries around the world, serving mobile owners speaking more than 40 languages.

Nokia Search, now with Google, offers fast and easy access to web information from the handset. It also makes it possible for users to search content on their device and use local search engines for a complete search experience. Nokia Search is available on many devices and provides direct access with one click from the active standby screen, saving users time and steps in their searching. Once users have found the information they are seeking, Nokia Search enables users to act on that information by engaging device assets such as maps, messaging or the browser with just one click.

“Adding Google to Nokia Search provides mobile users with fast, relevant and comprehensive search experience that will be familiar to the people who use Google to search the web from their desktop,” said Google’s VP of Engineering and Products for Mobile Vic Gundotra. “Google search combined with the high quality applications on Nokia devices help make information available to Nokia device users wherever they are and provide an excellent overall experience.”

The collaboration builds on previous cooperation between the two companies. Google search has previously been available on Nokia Internet tablets, and last year the N95 8GB became the first mobile device to fully support YouTube, the video-sharing platform owned by Google.