View full sizeGoogle CEO Eric Schmidt talks about the Google Chrome operating system in San Francisco, in 2010.SAN FRANCISCO -- Google's Chrome browser can now be used to surf the Web on the iPhone and iPad.
The Chrome application released Thursday is the latest volley in the escalating rivalry between Google and Apple, the maker of the popular mobile devices.
Google's attempt to supplant Apple Inc.'s own Safari browser comes a day after it unveiled its plans to sell a low-priced tablet computer to compete against the iPad and Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire.
The arrival of Chrome on Apple's mobile operating system comes a month after Yahoo Inc. released a browser called Axis for the iPhone and iPad.
Unlike Axis, however, Chrome already has emerged as one of the most popular alternatives to Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer on traditional computers.
Google Inc. revealed Thursday that Chrome now has 310 million active users, up from 160 million a year ago.
Since Google released the browser in 2008, Chrome also has become the foundation for an operating system powering a line of lightweight laptops that debuted last year. The so-called Chromebooks are expanding beyond online sales channels to 100 Best Buy stores in the U.S. beginning Thursday. Google last month announced its plans to rely on Best Buy to sell the devices, which so far haven't made much of a dent in the personal computer market.