Just ten days before its much-anticipated first bid in the United States 700 MHz spectrum auction, Google on Monday underscored its advocacy of open mobile networks by upgrading its iPhone applications interface little more than a month after its initial release.

The Mountain View, California-based search giant, a strong proponent of unfettered access to mobile networks for independent application developers, appears to be demonstrating the benefits of its quest by its unusually rapid iPhone upgrade cycle.

Apple's iPhone is one of  the few devices on the U.S. market to be opened up to application developers. The U.S. mobile phone market has been dominated by carriers that tightly control what applications are installed on the phones.

Many application developers, led by Google, prefer an open access model akin to the Internet, where developers of legitimate commercial applications do not have to seek the specific blessing of the carriers to gain access to their subscribers.

"This rapid upgrade cycle certainly helps Google drive home its point that open networks improve the flexibility and functionality of mobile devices," said Joe Nordgaard, director of wireless consulting firm Spectral Advantage.

The operating system-based application upgrade cycle for mobile phones has been very static, Mr. Nordgaard said, and that contributes to the persistently poor subscriber adoption rates of mobile data applications.

"Having frequent application improvements being made could help improve the relationship the consumer has with the mobile device as it did for PCs," he said.

Google, which made its announcement on the first day of Macworld, the annual pilgrimage/trade show for Apple enthusiasts, is also pushing its own mobile operating system which one analyst believes is a superfluous pursuit.

"The fact that Google can independently upgrade its apps for the mobile phone this way makes you wonder why it's pursuing Android (its operating system)," said Sameer Mithal, senior principal at IBB Consulting. "Google does not need Android, which is just another operating system among six or seven out there."

Google said it has streamlined its applications for the iPhone, including search, Gmail, calendar, and Google Reader, making them faster and easier to navigate via touch screen.

New emails will automatically show up without the need for the user to manually refresh the inbox, the company said. A new auto-complete feature for contacts makes composing emails faster. And the new calendar view allow users to see a month's worth of appointments in a single screen.