Apple’s upcoming iPhone OS 4 removes any mention of Google from the iPhone’s search feature, the latest step by the Cupertino, Calif. company to erase any connection with the Mountain View, Calif. Internet giant.
Already part of iPhone OS 3.2 used by the iPad, the elimination of the word “Google” from the iPhone’s Safari Web browser is part of iPhone OS 4, currently in beta stage. The current iPhone 3.1.3 includes a “Google” button in the bottom right corner of the handset’s touchscreen keyboard. The beta software will likely be made public this summer.
Apple also omitted the brandname from its newly-added Web search for the Spotlight search in iPhone OS 4, reports say.
The move reignited speculation Apple may drop Google as the default iPhone search, replaced by Microsoft’s Bing. Google is reportedly paying Apple $100 million a year to be the default search engine.
Apple could also replace Google with a search engine it builds in-house. In March, an analyst suggested Apple could build a mobile search engine within the next five years in order to protect data generated by the iPhone.
[via AppleInsider]