US search engine Google Inc yesterday launched a Chinese-language voice search service, in an effort to lure users from domestic rival Baidu Inc in the world's largest mobile market.

The new service is expected to help Chinese users use Google's existing search services such as Web search and Google Maps via mobile phones.

Google said the Chinese version voice search is currently only available for Nokia's S60 series, which includes 46 models of handsets. But Vic Gundotra, Google's engineering vice-president, said at a press conference in Beijing last month that the service will soon be expanded to other platforms such as Apple Inc's iPhone and Android-based handsets.