Google (GOOG) is taking its campaign to promote its Chrome Web browser up a notch, sealing an alliance with Sony to have the Web browser pre-installed on some Sony (SNE) notebook computers.

A Google spokesman said Monday that Chrome will be pre-installed on some Sony laptops. He declined to comment on financial terms of the deal and the geographic scope of the partnership, which he called a test. Sony didn’t return requests for comment.

Google will need a lot more than Sony’s relatively small computer market share to make a dent. As of July, Chrome accounted for 2.6 percent of the global Web browser market, according to Net Applications.

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Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves released a note this morning with a bunch of data points showing the rising importance of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone in Internet usage. And he implies that the current value of the shares could be closer to $184 than the current $176.15 at which the stock trades.

Hargreaves writes that based on data from privately held Internet measurement firm Net Applications, of Viejo, Calif., the Safari Web browser shipped on the iPhone accounts for .3 percent of all world-wide Web surfing in August so far, double its share in June, prior to the introduction of the iPhone 3G. “iPhone’s rapid share gains in Internet usage suggest potential upside to current estimates,” writes Hargreaves, “and are a strong indicator of what we believe are lasting competitive advantages.” He goes on: “As Web-based software and services become more ingrained in our every-day working and personal lives, Apple’s emerging advantage in the mobile Internet will, in our view, become increasingly valuable.”

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