Google offers mobile news

Web portal Google further extended its Internet services into the mobile world this week, announcing a wireless version of its popular news portal and extending its wireless handset partnership roster to vendor Sony Ericsson.

Google had modified its news site to deliver news formatted for wireless application protocol/XML browsers, in order to create a much cleaner portal for users viewing the content on small-screen devices. Google news traditionally acts as an aggregator, linking to stories on other media outlets’ sites, not all of which are coded for mobile browsers. But Google has revamped its mobile news portal to offer links only to news sites optimized for mobile browsing. The site will be made initially available over its U.S. portal.

Meanwhile, Sony Ericsson has agreed to begin integrating Google’s search and blog tools directly into its new mobile phone lines. While Motorola announced last month that it would incorporate Google Search into its upcoming handsets, Sony Ericsson said its deal with Google is the first handset vendor deal that will closely meld a mobile blog with other elements of the phone, including digital camera functions. After taking a picture customers have the option of immediately uploading it to a blog. On the search side, Sony Ericsson said Google will now become the default search engine for all of its Internet-capable phones. A dedicated search icon and application will be embedded in every phone, and the mobile browsers in them will allow customers to initiate a new search with out opening up the Google home page.