In addition to Google investing in the Clearwire joint venture upon which the future of Sprint's communications plans may rest, today Sprint says Google will be its valued partner for mobile services as well.

Sprint and Google today announced the two companies will share their properties with one another, mentioning numerous times the value of openness. The Mountain View search company becomes Sprint's default mobile search provider, and new Sprint handsets will offer Google's local search (for GPS-enabled devices), Google Maps Mobile, and YouTube accessibility.

The two companies have worked amicably together for several years, with Sprint making Gmail available through its portal in 2006, then joining the Open Handset Alliance one year later. Google last year endorsed Sprint's WiMAX portal, which was today unveiled as the new Clearwire joint venture with Sprint, Google, Intel, Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House.

All of the Google features depend upon the particular handset in use, with some -- presumably Windows Mobile devices -- receiving a home screen Google search bar as early as the beginning of summer.

With the first Android phone waiting to surface, Sprint's choice to liberally use "open" as an adjective describing its upcoming Google services seems a deliberate move to get customers thinking about the open mobile platform.