Google launches web browser

In competition to Internet Explorer and Firefox, Google has announced it will be launching an open source web browser. The beta version of Google Chrome for Windows is available today (2 September).

Sundar Pichai, Google vice-president for product management, says Chrome is designed to be lightweight, fast and able to cope with web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia.

He says: "We believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web. Chrome is not just a browser but also a modern platform for web pages and applications."