Google to release IE, Firefox rival with Chrome

Google has confirmed it will imminently release a new open source browser to rival Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox.

A beta version of Google Chrome, confirmed in a blog post from the search engine giant, is due to be released later on Tuesday UK time.

Google's vice president of product management, Sundar Pichair, said that the new browser had been created to reflect the multimedia-heavy content of most websites.

He said it would "add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web".

Google engineering director Linus Epson added that Chrome would be a "modern platform" for web pages and applications, describing the new browser as "streamlined and simple... clean and fast".

"This is just the beginning - Google Chrome is far from done," they wrote in their blog.

We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust."