Sony to ship Google Chrome browsers on Vaios

After promising earlier this year that a major OEM would start to ship its Chrome browser, Google has done a deal with Sony that will see all its American Vaio-brand PCs so equipped.

However, there's no news on when or if Vaios outside the United States will carry the new browser, and the PCs will continue to come with Internet Explorer in tandem.

The story was first carried by the FT, which said that other companies were also in talks about Chrome with Google, and that the browser would also be promoted to Internet users who download the RealPlayer media streaming software. Google has previously said that it is in discussions with Dell about bundling the software.

To date, a day before the first anniversary of its launch on Sept. 2, 2008, Chrome has around 30 million active users or around three percent of the global market which makes it the fourth most popular browser after Internet Explorer, FireFox and Apple's Safari. Currently, it is only available in finished form for Windows, although early preview versions for OS X and Linux are available and seeing rapid development.

This article is first published as a blog post on ZDNet UK.