British mobile operator Vodafone Group, said on Tuesday it has signed a deal with Google to offer search capabilities on its Vodafone live! 3G service to provide customers with the most relevant information, wherever they are and whatever time of day it is. Users will be able to use Google's search engine to find content within Vodafone live and on the wider Web. Search results will be delivered through Vodafone's data networks. Examples of the kind of information that will be available include news, weather and details of restaurants, the company said. Vodafone hopes that the deal with Google will help it increase Internet usage by customers and help it raise data revenues. For Google, the alliance will help it expand its reach into the world of mobile devices.

   Google already has a deal with T-Mobile and already offers a limited Web service, Google Mobile, which lets mobile users access a modified search engine or find information by sending a text message. In January, Google announced a deal with Motorola to put a button with a Google icon on some handset models that will enable users to connect wirelessly to Google's search engine.