Will the iPhone 5 Be the Death of Google?

We're now just weeks -- if not days -- away from Apple's (NAS: AAPL) iPhone 5, and maybe it's time for Google (NAS: GOOG) to start getting worried.

This isn't a knock on Google's Android. Big G's nascent mobile operating system continues to pad its lead over Apple's iOS in the smartphone space.

The reason for the search engine giant to begin chewing away at its fingernails is that Apple's next iPhone supposedly will offer some pretty nifty voice control features. As a result of Apple's acquisition of Siri last year, speech-recognition "personal assistant" technology is being added to the new line of Apple handsets.

Some of the examples being offered by sources to Apple watcher 9to5Mac appear to be merely evolutionary upgrades. Speak a contact's name and an appointment and it pops into the calendar. There will be no more dangerously fumbling drivers pecking out text messages, as they can also be read out and converted to text before being sent to a contact.

The Siri-powered interface will even allow voice controls to single out individual tracks on an iPhone 5, something that, rather than encroaching on Google's turf, would be more problematic for Pandora Media (NYS: P) and perhaps Sirius XM Radio (NAS: SIRI) .

Let's get to some other examples. Need directions? There's no need to fire up Google Maps, since just asking will deliver routing results based on the phone's GPS.

The platform is also integrated with Wolfram Alpha, the online computational knowledge system. Want to know the mass of Mars, pull up a stock quote, or convert currencies? All the things that you used to "Google" are now a conversation away.

Siri's Assistant platform and Nuance's (NAS: NUAN) speech-to-text dictation prowess are apparently about to make smartphones even smarter.

In other words, you don't need to Google about Google's problem with the iPhone 5 anymore.

If you want to see how the iPhone 5 disrupts the industry, follow the relevant companies by addingGoogleandAppleto your personalized Motley Fool watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Google and Apple.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Google, Nuance Communications, and Apple.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended creating a bull call spread position in Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz calls them as he sees them. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story. Rick is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.

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