SAN JOSE, California - On the cusp of its voyage into public trading, Google's initial stock price was set at $85 and its market value calculated at $23 billion - less than originally expected, but still impressive for a 6-year-old dot-com dreamed up in a garage.

By Lucas van Grinsven, European technology correspondentLONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) -- Investors, brace yourselves -- 2004 is gearing up to be the year of the technology IPO.After a lengthy drought, investment banks are making bold predictions that as many as a dozen European companies will go public in 2004, ranging from software and Internet to mobile phone firms.The successful initial public offering (IPO) of Scotland's Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF), trading some 33 percent above its October issue price, has helped make bankers confident there is pent-up demand for new technology stocks.And, a recent frenzy for Chinese dot-coms and speculation mounting about the IPO ambitions of Web icon, Google, and U.S.