LG Electronics and YouTube have announced a partnership that will see the two companies work together to develop software for LG mobile phones to enable users to interact with the Google-owned video sharing site. YouTube-enabled LG handsets, which should be available worldwide starting at the end of this year, will feature a new user interface designed to make it easy to browse content and upload videos directly to the site.

Following a similar partnership with Apple (for its iPhone), along with the launch of a mobile version of YouTube’s site, it’s clear that parent company, Google, is stepping up its mobile strategy. For months there’s been speculation that the search giant would release its own handset, though I think this is becoming less and less likely. Instead the company is adopting more of a Microsoft-esque strategy — and in doing so, challenging Redmond head on — by forming partnerships that will see its software and services appear on multiple companies’ hardware.