Google keeps track of what types of mobile devices use its search service, and company executives were recently surprised to discover that those with an Apple iPhone were at the top of the list by a wide margin. iPhone users access Google 50 times more often than 50 times any other mobile handset, according to FT.com.

Vic Gundotra, Google's chief of mobile operations, is using this to predict that mobile web searching could overtake searches from desktops and laptops in the next several years.

For this to happen, though, other handset makers will need to follow Apple's lead in making web access on their devices as easy as it is on a fixed computer. There has been some progress in this area, but the vast majority of handhelds and smartphones still ship with a web browser that's years behind what's available on a PC.