Google Gears now works in Mozilla’s upcoming Firefox 3 web browser.

The company hasn’t made an official announcement as yet but the Gears code site lists Firefox 3 support for release candidate two. A Google spokesman also confirmed it to El Reg today.

Originally dubbed Google Gears, the online apps project had its moniker truncated last month because the internet giant wants it to become a Silicon Valley orgy love-in for cloud computing-obsessed web programmers.

The firm said in a blog post last month: “We want to make it clear that Gears isn't just a Google thing. We see Gears as a way for everyone to get involved with upgrading the web platform.”

Of course, with Gears, Google is also aiming to put a sizeable dent in Microsoft’s proprietary software kingdom by punting its range of web-based apps including GMail and Google Docs.

Developers at the ubiquitous search engine have also been working on adding support to Opera and Apple’s web browser Safari. Gears already supports Internet Explorer and Firefox on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.

Meanwhile, Firefox 3 is expected to arrive at some point this month. ®