Wikipedia now available for download on iPhone

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: With a view to open its pages to the booming smart phone users, the online collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia said on Wednesday that it has released an iPhone application.

With this move, Wikipedia is now available for download as an official application on Apple’s iPhone, reports media.

The free application, called Wikipedia Mobile, is published by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, and can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store.

"Everybody recognizes with the growth of mobile tools globally that this is how people access information. Our mission is to spread free knowledge; we want to do everything we can to meet and embrace that audience,” foundation spokesman Jay Walsh was quoted as saying by AFP.

The Wikimedia Foundation said the application was easier to use than having to browse the web on their phone to find a specific fact, and also had the advantage of saving the user's search history.

Several other developers have also created Wiki-style encyclopedia apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. Though the Wikimedia Foundation acknowledged that while its official software lacked some features compared to existing applications, it would add further features in future versions based on requests from users, and welcomed contributions from other developers and programmers.

Wikipedia envisions people eventually being able to use smart phones to edit entries and upload pictures or other digital content to the website.