2009 is "the year of mobile phones", according to Google's chief executive officer.

In an interview with Fox Business Network, Eric Schmidt added: "From our perspective, this is the year when mobile data takes off, mobile browsing takes off."

Mr Schmidt made reference to the "powerful browsers" that are now available on mobile handsets and pointed out that they are being used by consumers to carry out internet searches.

Apple has recently announced its new iPhone 3G S, which it has described as its fastest smartphone to date.

The features of the new model include voice control for selecting songs to play or a phone number to call, as well as a compass.

Voice control users can state either a number or a name to make the call, or can even ask the phone to tell them the title of the song being played.

In addition to this, the phone carries a three-megapixel camera and owners can also record, edit and share video footage from both landscape and portrait perspectives.