Samsung cuts deal will Google for mobile surfing

New Samsung handsets will offer Gmail, Google Maps and Google search

Samsung and Google have announced a deal to produce a line of mobile phones equipped with Google software. 

The devices will feature access to special versions of Gmail, Google Maps and Google search.

Samsung has already launched a device that features the mobile versions of Google search and Gmail. The addition of Google Maps will allow users to view maps, search for local businesses and obtain driving directions.

Both companies hope that the partnership will go further towards blurring the lines between mobile devices and PCs when it comes to accessing content and communicating with others on the internet.

Kitae Lee, president of Samsung's telecoms network unit, said that the integration of Google software is part of a larger effort to lead what he called "the evolution from the fixed-internet era to a mobile-internet era".

Lee hopes that the integration of internet content into mobile phones will usher in "a ubiquitous world where mobile enables our customers to access information about anything, anywhere, anytime".

Samsung is also rumoured to be working with Yahoo on a deal to put the company's search software in Samsung's mobile devices.