Sony PCs to have Google Chrome pre-installed

Some new Sony Vaio PCs will come with Google Chrome already installed, in the first such deal secured for the web browser since its launch last year.

The company is also in talks with other computer manufacturers about similar agreements, the Financial Times reports. Google said the arrangement was “experimental” and part of wider efforts to increase usage of the browser, including a TV advertisement and a deal to make Chrome available for download alongside RealPlayer software.

Brian Rakowski, product management director for Chrome, told the FT that, despite how much internet users rely on browsers “awareness is shockingly low”.

“It’s absolutely a problem that people don’t know what a browser is, or how to evaluate one,” he said.

Chrome’s share of the browser market is little over two per cent, while Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is used by 68 per cent, according to statistics from Net Applications.