23 June 2009 | Author: L. Sutherland News Editor

Apple and Google set for mobile summer skirmish

These days mobiles are far more than just phones. With the continued development of smartphones and sophisticated devices, mobile phones are frequently more akin to portable computers than devices used for making calls - so no wonder the biggest names in the computing world are keen to monopolise the market.

Apple is currently at the centre of the media buzz with its latest iPhone incarnation, but search giant Google doesn't plan on letting the competitors bask in the spotlight for long. Reports are emerging that T-Mobile's second Google phone will launch at the beginning of August, a prospect that is undoubtedly causing tremors beneath Apple's feet.

At the moment, Apple claims that the iPhone 3GS is selling like hotcakes. In a press release about the launch, Steve Jobs said: "Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning.

"With over 50,000 applications available from Apple's revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever."

In light of the fact that the new Googlephone - the T-Mobile myTouch 3G - will hit the shelves in less than a month, this could seem like a somewhat pre-emptive attack.

According to the New York Times, the first Google Android phone - the G1 - has sold more than a million handsets since its release in October last year and the new version from T-Mobile has had other big names, such as Motorola and Verizon Wireless, rushing to assure us that they too will offer Google phones in the future.

The fight for the pocket space of the general public isn't in any way restricted to Google and Apple. Just think of Research in Motion's ever popular Backberry and the warm welcome that greeted Palm's Pre device. However, with the myTouch appearing to have borrowed from the iPhone's iconic design and with the two devices sharing many features, you can rest assured that the brawl between the two computing giants will be one of the bloodiest.