mediajunk

Speculation is mounting that Google is planning to launch its own web browser. The New York Post reports that "based on the half-dozen hires in recent weeks, Google appears to be planning to launch its own Web browser and other software products to challenge Microsoft."

Possible clue: certain bloggers have reported seeing an as-yet unidentified browser from the Google domain visiting their sites.

Another clue: a WHOIS search on the domain Gbrower.com reveals that the name is registered to Google.

Some in the internet industry have been crying out for Google to create a browser -- as a serious challenger to Internet Explorer, the first since the demise of Netscape -- for years. See usability consultant John Rhodes's article on the subject, written in 2001.

More recently, Jason Kottke wrote:

Google could use their JavaScript expertise (in the form of Gmail ubercoder Chris Wetherell) to build Mozilla applications. Built-in blogging tools. Built-in Gmail tools. Built-in search tools. A search pane that watches what you're browsing and suggests related pages and search queries or watches what you're blogging and suggests related pages, news items, or emails you've written.

Personally, I think we'll see the gBrowser soon. I expect it will follow HTML and CSS standards more closely than it's Microsoft rival, and will probably come with a few bells and whistles that nobody else has yet thought of.