Safari rules the coop

This week Apple began approving third-party web browsing applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Many of them were submitted to the App Store as far back as October, MacRumors reports.

Prior to Monday, the iPhone and iPod touch only supported Apple's Safari browser, which defaults to Google search when opened. By way of justification, Apple claimed alternative web browsers only "[duplicated] functionality" of existing apps that do a competent job.

Freshly approved browser apps include:

• Edge Browser (Free)
• Incognito ($1.99) — a browser that lets users surf without leaving a trail.
• WebMate: Tabbed Browser ($0.99) — this browser queues all the links a user clicks on, then lets him view each at leisure.
• Shaking Web ($1.99) — its algorithm compensates for shaky hands, allowing for easier reading.

The news makes it possible for prominent browsers to seize a share of the mobile web-surfing market. Opera's mobile browser, Opera Mini, may be of especial interest to iPhone marketers and users alike: it includes zoom, panning and flash support. Firefox launched its own mobile browser in late 2007.

Strategic liaisons with certain web browsers may also give search sites an opportunity to one-up Google in mobile search. It is currently the market leader, due in no small part to the iPhone, which generated 50 times more Google searches than other handsets in early 2008.

Like Safari, Opera and Firefox currently also serve Google as the default search site. And if Google launches an iPhone-ready mobile variant of its new Chrome browser, its mobile territory may only grow.