Taking Page From Apple, Google Opens Showrooms in 6 U.S. Cities

Google is opening showrooms in six U.S. cities, promoting its latest products and stepping up retail efforts against Apple and Microsoft as the year-end holiday shopping season gets under way. Called Winter Wonderlabs, the outlets feature products such as Nexus 7 tablets, Chromebook computers and Chromecast video-streaming devices, the company said on a new website Monday. Consumers can order the gadgets online after looking at the wares. The stores also feature a large snow globe that lets shoppers take videos of themselves, complete with fake snow.