If anyone needed further confirmation that Apple's iPhone is slowly, but surely, winning over the hearts of smartphone fans, comScore carried out this study revealing that, in a single month, "iPhone" was searched on the web almost 7 million times. The Study was conducted in April covering only the US market.

As far as keywords went, most noticeable were searches on "iPhone update" (151,000 times) and "iPhone Web Apps" (some 118,000 searches), iTwire confirms. What surprised the publication (and will probably surprise you as well) was that a total of 43,000 searches were found under "iPhone G3." Just 17,000 more searches (60,000) were for "iPhone 3G" - the correct name of the device. 3G still a mystery to you? Find out more on the third generation of mobile phone standards here.

However, it is worth noting that Apple hadn't confirmed the device in April, a time when speculation practically forced us to make up titles like iPhone 2, 3G iPhone and iPhone 2.0. Also, the source points out to a disproportionate number of iPhone-related search click-thrus delivered by Google.

"Speculation had been rampant in recent months that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was getting ready to introduce a 3G iPhone at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, and indeed he did just that," said Dan Lackner, comScore Senior VP. "Search is frequently a harbinger of purchase intent. The increase in volume of iPhone searches demonstrates just how heavy that interest has been for the next generation of Apple's popular phone - even when its existence was still just a rumor."

According to comScore, these are the popular iPhone search terms they registered:

1. IPHONE (1,488,000)
2. IPHONE UPDATE (151,000)
3. IPHONE WEB APPS (118,000)
4. IPHONE MMS (101,000)
5. IPHONE 2.0 (75,000)
6. IPHONE 3G (60,000)
7. IPHONE 2 (59,000)
8. IPHONE G3 (43,000)
9. IPHONES (38,000)
10. IPHONE SPEAKERS (35,000)

iPhone speakers?! Eh... So, what keywords did (do) you use when searching for the iPhone?