So it makes sense that our friends in Silicon Valley have been keeping an eye on how we like things done, specifically our fixation with mobile “Googling,” their numbers showed that Google Mobile searches increased 130 percent year-over-year in Q3 2010. What does that mean for Google Mobile? It means that it is getting a bit of a facelift with the addition of Seller Ratings ads, for the convenience of its users, but a more likely story; Google wants to capitalize on an already billion-dollar mobile search market.

The ads themselves have a star rating and links to reviews of the specific seller that is advertising a product or service. The ratings are taken from merchant review sites and Google says that the ads will only show when a seller’s online store has a rating of four stars or more and has at least 30 reviews. This means no getting sent to dead end domains or ad-filled web pages. Either way, there is no denying the convenience of having the power of Google at your mobile fingertips.

The post Google mobile searches up 130% appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

If you’re using Google Mobile to search for things on your smartphone, there’s a good chance you may be interested in two new special features.  Google Mobile on the iPhone now has “iPhone Apps” under the “more” pull-down menu. Using that, you can find whatever apps you want for the Cupertino-sourced device. I’m thinking that it’ll only show the official stuff, but who knows? Maybe it’ll expand into Cydia and other jailbroken-only apps too.

For the more Google inclined, Google Mobile for Android has the suitable “Android Apps” category tossed in for good measure now. This does the same thing as the iPhone version, except it looks for applications being offered through Android Market.

Is this addition redundant? Yeah, a little, but if you’re going to use Google to look for everything on the Internet, you may as well look for your apps on there too. I wonder if they’ll do the same for Windows Phone 7? Or does Bing have that cornered?

SOURCE: Android Police via Giz

The post Google Mobile adds search for iPhone and Android apps appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Google Search by Voice has been available in the Google Mobile App for the iPhone and BlackBerry for a while, but folks with a Nokia smartphone have been left out in the cold. This is a shame, really, considering that the Nokia S60 platform is still among the most popular internationally.

In a nutshell, you boot into the updated Google Mobile App as you normally would, but then you can hold down a key and speak into your phone for any Google search. This works for finding pictures, nearby eateries, currency conversions, and more. The search results are swayed by your physical location too.

Watching the video demo below, you can learn how you can use your search to initiate search queries, looking for French restaurants in Brighton and pictures of the Queen’s coronation. That’s what we all want, right?

Source: Googleblog

The post Nokia S60 Smartphones Get Google Search by Voice appeared first on Mobile Magazine.