A couple of weeks after Nokia announced a partnership with Yahoo! to enhance the search capabilities for its smartphones, the Finnish phone maker has reached a similar agreement with Microsoft to do essentially the same thing. In fact, Microsoft’s Live Search joins Yahoo! as part of Nokia's Mobile Search Platform.

Nokia will integrate Microsoft's Live Search capabilities into its NSeries models and other Symbian-based S60 devices to provide advanced search results directly in 14 languages. In addition, the companies said users will also gain easy access to stock quotes, movie times, and common facts via Encarta Instant Answers.

Mobile Search, according to Nokia, allows users to find search results more quickly than using a wireless browser and discover the web pages directly, since in many cases search will be accessible directly from the menu screen.

   

Nokia plans to offer Mobile Search in select markets and in the standard sales packs of the N80 Internet Edition, N73, N93, N70, N71, 6630, 6680, and 6681. It is also offered as a free download for select S60 devices.

Early data on Mobile Search shows that 86 percent of all image search results are opened, 36 percent are added to the S60 Gallery application and 85 percent of all Web searches resulted in a browser being launched to access the searched for information. The Mobile Search platform also increases consumer discoverability of search on mobile devices, Nokia said.

   

Yahoo! and Microsoft aren't the only search giants partnering with Nokia nowadays. Google's free instant messaging service Google Talk, which also allows users to make Internet-based voice calls, as well as its search services are now bundled with Nokia's 770 Wi-Fi Internet Tablet.

Google looks towards mobility as the future. The company went so far as to tell the Times of London in June that the mobile sector will become the principal driver of growth. And, according to Deep Nishar, the Google's director of wireless products, the search giant is testing dozens of new search technologies in an effort to better present search results on cell phones, smartphones, PDAs and other Pocket-sized devices.