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Google Chrome, Firefox Coming To Apple iPhone?* (AAPL)

ChromeScreen.pngIn a somewhat surprising move, Apple (AAPL) has opened the door to third-party iPhone Web browsers. (Sort of. See update below.) Several Web browsers have recently appeared in the iTunes store with submission dates dating back to October, MacRumors' Arnold Kim reports.

These include apps like Edge Browser, which has no address or nav bars; Incognito, which lets you browse "without leaving a history of any kind;" etc.

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What we're more interested in: Whether Mozilla will develop an iPhone edition of Firefox, or whether Google (GOOG) will port its Chrome browser to the iPhone.

Why bother? Chrome might possibly be able to offer better performance for Google Web apps, while Firefox could bring its heritage of browser add-ons to the iPhone.

Update: A commenter -- and Gizmodo -- note that all of these browsers are based on MobileSafari, which is built into Apple's software developer's kit. So while Apple now seems to be allowing apps that are marketed as browsers, there's still no evidence they'll let in other browsers like Firefox, which use competing browser engines -- a key technical difference. So we still don't know if they'd allow other browser flavors, or browsers with add-ons built in like Adobe Flash. The consensus from commenters seems to be "probably not."

See Also:
Why Firefox Is Thinking Small: Mobile Browser Market To Explode
Google Swaps Firefox For Chrome In Software Bundle
Why Google Chrome Needs Add-Ons: Firefox Users Download 1 Billion

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

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