Google unveils browser, acknowledges debt to Apple

By Eric Auchard

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept 2 (Reuters) - Google Inc's (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) new browser software is designed to work "invisibly" and will run any application that runs on Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Safari Web browser, company officials said on Tuesday.

The company said the new Web browser, dubbed Google Chrome -- a long-anticipated move to compete with Microsoft Corp, Mozilla Firefox and other browsers -- is now available for download at www.google.com/chrome/.

The public trial of the Google browser will be available in 43 languages in 100 countries, Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management said at a news conference at the company's Mountain View, California headquarters.

"You actually spend more time in your browser than you do in your car," Brian Rakowski, group product manager for the browser project, said of the significance of offering a faster browser and forcing greater competition in the market.

Google unveils browser, acknowledges debt to Apple....

Microsoft to Buy Greenfield, Adding Shopping Sites

By Phil Serafino and Dina Bass

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp., seeking to catch Google Inc. in the Internet-search market, agreed to buy Greenfield Online Inc. for $486 million to add Web sites that help consumers find product reviews and compare prices.

Greenfield shareholders will get $17.50 a share in cash, Microsoft said today in a statement. Greenfield, which runs the Ciao shopping sites in Europe, ended a takeover agreement with Quadrangle Group LLC for $15.50 a share this week to pursue a higher offer.

Microsoft, which handles about 9 percent of Web searches in the U.S., has an even lower share abroad. The company is adding more services that help consumers find products on the Internet, an area where it says its software is more effective than Google's. Munich-based Ciao provides consumer reviews and ratings along with prices from online merchants.

``Almost all of the revenue from search advertising comes from transactional searches,'' said Charles Di Bona, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. Improving the results for those queries is Microsoft's best chance to make more money, he said.

Microsoft to Buy Greenfield, Adding Shopping Sites....