In a move that is being seen as Apple's retaliation against Google for having invaded Apple's smartphone terrain with the launch of Android OS to challenge the iPhone, Apple has, in its iPhone 4.0 OS, decided to remove references to "Google" in its Safari browser - thereby replacing the auto-complete button from "Google" with a more generic "Search" button.

Even though the Safari browser will still use the Google search engine, the default engine of the iPhone browser will likely be changed to Microsoft Bing - a move that will apparently cut out Google's free branding promotion on the Apple iPhone.

Apple and Google, which were the best of friends at one time, have been at daggers drawn with each other in the recent months. The clear warring moves of the companies against each other include the rejection of the Google Voice app for the App Store; and the stepping down of Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, from the Apple board of directors.

Moreover, with Google having positioned its Android OS as a potential threat to Apple's popular iPhone, Apple is apparently going after Android indirectly by filing a patent infringement complaint against one of Android's steadfast backers, HTC.

Furthermore, both Apple and Google are also competing in the mobile ad market - with Apple's decision to start iAd being a move to contend Google's potential acquisition of mobile ad biggie AdMob.