Mobile search company mobilePeople has revealed that its award-winning liquid mobile search platform now supports the iPhone, extending new monetisation opportunities for directory publishers and directory assistance companies. The news follows Apples announcement that the majority of mobile Internet usage in the US is conducted on the iPhone and Googles announcement that it monitors multiple searches from the iPhone, compared to other mobile handsets.
mobilePeople provides a user interface thats optimised for the iPhones Safari browser to search Yellow Pages, White Pages and other content published using the liquid platform. Functionality includes a click-to-call option; the facility to get directions to a desired address; to save any business search to contacts; to send results to a friend; and to see results on a map.
The mapping experience on the iPhone Safari browser is superior to other browser-based map solutions, says mobilePeoples since liquid allows the user to interact with the map. Raster maps, in combination with layering technology, allow for user touch interaction.
The local search experience on the iPhone is now fast and cheap. The search itself requires less data traffic, which means lower costs for the user. Thanks to JAX technology, which exchanges small packets of data with the server, it is no longer necessary to reload entire mobile pages at all times. 
The fact that so many US mobile users are using their iPhones to surf the web is a wake-up call to directory publishers who havent yet got to grips with the handsets monetisation opportunities, says mobilePeople CEO and Co-founder, Jens Andersen. With liquid now available on the iPhone, this is too good an opportunity to miss. The web is an integral part of the iPhone experience; mobilePeople is committed to ensuring that great local search functionality is a part of that iPhone experience.
mobilePeople says it is also set to introduce a client-based mobile local search solution for the iPhone based on Apples recently-announced iPhone SDK. The company notes that its mobile search solution has the largest footprint across all handsets, platforms and operating systems. liquid is platform-agnostic and supported on Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, iPhone, imode, mobile carrier-specific markup languages, and Brew. In addition, liquid runs on the majority of the most popular makes of handset.