Microsoft Corp. unveiled the “beta” test version of Internet Explorer 9 on Wednesday, the first of a new generation of Web browser programs that tap into the powerful processors on board newer computers to make websites load and run faster.

IE9, which is free, also arrives with a more minimalist look and a few new tricks that start to blur the distinction between a website and a traditional desktop application.

Following the lead of Google Inc.’s stripped-down Chrome browser, Microsoft’s IE9 comes with far fewer buttons, icons and toolbars cluttering up the top of the screen. Its frame is translucent, and as people browse the Web, IE9 can be subtly adorned with small icons and signature colors of the websites being viewed.

If you’re thinking of buying a 3-D television set this year based on the belief that you’ll be able to purchase a lot of the 3-D movies that have hit theaters in the past few years, think again.

U.K. research firm Screen Digest says more than 70 percent of the 25 3-D movies expected to be available this holiday season will be tied to the purchase of a TV from a certain manufacturer.

For example, a Sony 3-D TV buyer won’t immediately be able to watch DreamWorks Animation’s “How To Train Your Dragon” because that movie will be tied to the purchase of a set from Samsung Electronics Co. Meanwhile, the Walt Disney Co. said last week that home copies of its 3-D movies “Alice in Wonderland” and “Bolt” would be available exclusively to people who buy certain sets from Sony Corp.

Screen Digest says that so far, only three Hollywood movies, including Disney’s “A Christmas Carol,” and three documentaries will be available on retail shelves without being tied to a specific TV brand.

Google Inc will launch its service to bring the Web to TV screens in the United States this autumn and worldwide next year, its chief executive said, as it extends its reach from the desktop to the living room.

CEO Eric Schmidt said the service, which will allow full Internet browsing via the television, would be free, and Google would work with a variety of programme makers and electronics manufacturers to bring it to consumers.

Google Inc’s Android software will become the world’s second most popular operating system for cell phones this year, leapfrogging rival offerings from Microsoft Corp, Research in Motion and Apple Inc, according to a new report.

By 2014 Android will account for nearly 30 percent of all cell phone operating system sales, according to research firm Gartner, putting it in position to challenge Nokia Corp’s Symbian software, which has reigned as the top mobile operating system for years.

Symbian will have a 30.2 percent share of the global market in 2014, according to Gartner, compared to Android’s 29.6 percent.

Internet domain name registry GoDaddy.com has put itself up for sale, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The privately held company could fetch more than $1 billion in an auction, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

GoDaddy has hired investment bank Qatalyst Partners, the Journal reported. Private equity firms are expected to bid.

The company declined to comment.

GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain name registrar. The company was founded by Bob Parsons in 1997, and says it has more than 43 million domains under management.

Google is set to unveil a new feature to its Gmail service that aims to separate a user’s important emails from the ones that do not get read often.

The new feature called “Priority Inbox” will help users focus on messages that matter without having to set up complex rules, Google said in its official blog.

The Priority Inbox application splits the inbox into three sections: ‘Important and unread’, ‘Starred’ and ‘Everything Else’.

“As messages come in, Gmail automatically flags some of them as important. Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important, including the people you email most and which messages you open and reply to,” the company said.