Something big is happening with the iPhone. No, it’s nothing Steve Jobs will announce today at Macworld. Rather, it’s how iPhone customers are using their phones. On Christmas, iPhone traffic to Google surpassed traffic from all other mobile devices, The New York Times reported Monday.

That’s extraordinary because iPhones represent 2 percent of global smartphones while Nokia’s Symbian platform represents 63 percent. A few days later, iPhone traffic dipped below Symbian traffic but continued to exceed traffic from devices running Microsoft Windows Mobile with 11 percent of the market and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry system with 10 percent.

Google’s findings are borne out by other Web metrics. Yahoo also said a substantial amount of its mobile traffic was coming from iPhones, and mobile advertising company AdMob said iPhone traffic surged around Christmas.

The Pre-eminent Device

The data establishes “without question that the iPhone is the pre-eminent mobile device,” Greg Sterling, principal analyst with Sterling Market Research, said. Case in point: In conjunction with Macworld, Google released a revamped version of its Grand Prix applications for iPhone, making the apps faster and easier to use.

So what’s behind the spike in iPhone traffic? For one thing, the inclusion of Apple’s Safari browser fundamentally changes the mobile Web experience. For another thing, iPhone service includes an unlimited data plan. So there is no incremental cost to use the Web on the iPhone, and for the first time, using the Web on a phone is actually enjoyable.

Mobile Web: A Real Thing

“The introduction of the iPhone was a seminal event and now we’re seeing the fruits of that when it’s in people’s hands,” Sterling said. He believes that a substantial part of Net usage on the iPhone comes from people who didn’t buy the device intending to use it for Web browsing but discovered just how useful mobile Web access is.

And these are still the early days for the iPhone. It runs on Apple’s slow EDGE network, which many users consider unbearably slow. When Apple releases a 3G version, probably toward the end of the second quarter, iPhone Web traffic may explode. “Everybody now feels this is a real thing,” Sterling said. “Internet companies and handset makers are building out services and experiences and getting people to use them.”

Google’s rapid improvement of Grand Prix for Apple’s iPhone is “the rational response,” Sterling said. “They’re building better experiences for the iPhone to reinforce the use of Google apps and integrating the desktop with mobile.” Yahoo, meanwhile, has identified mobile as a strategic area and must make Apple’s popular product part of that strategy.

Whither Android?

What does all this mean for Google’s Android platform? While Android is intended to be an open platform for developers to deploy applications, the proof will be in the pudding when phones are actually released. “It remains to be seen whether the Android phones can match the iPhone,” Sterling said. “It may be that the iPhone remains the best mobile device for years to come. It could really become the iPod of mobile devices, which would be surprising given that consumers are locked into a contract with AT&T.”

The fact that Google released a new version of Grand Prix just six weeks after the first version shows that “a lot of developers can roll out a lot of stuff pretty quickly for this phone,” Sterling added. With the release of the iPhone software developers kit in February, “We may see lots and lots of applications for iPhone, which is what Android was supposed to be.” The iPhone, rather than Android, may turn out to be the mobile third-party development platform of choice.

Via Yahoo Tech