Why does the Android emulator browser just exit to the home screen when I enter a url and press enter?

A couple days ago I installed the Android SDK on my work laptop. I created an AVD for 4.0.3. I ran it with proxy information on the command line. When it started up I ran the browser app and it successfully displayed the Google home page. I then clicked in the URL field of the browser app and entered a public host name that's associated with a web site, and pressed Enter on my PC keyboard. The result is that the browser app just exited back to the home screen. I tried a couple of different hostnames (www.cnn.com was one of them), with the same result.

What am I missing?

The logcat output that I get right about when I press Enter on the new URL is the following:

I/ActivityThread(  485): Pub com.android.quicksearchbox.google:com.android.quicksearchbox.google.GoogleSuggestionProvider
I/ActivityThread(  485): Pub com.android.quicksearchbox.shortcuts: com.android.quicksearchbox.ShortcutsProvider
D/dalvikvm(  444): GC_CONCURRENT freed 243K, 4% free 10706K/11079K, paused 5ms+5ms
D/dalvikvm(  132): GC_CONCURRENT freed 374K, 30% free 9903K/14023K, paused 5ms+14ms
F/libc    (  444): Fatal signal 11 (SIGSEGV) at 0x0000001c (code=1)
I/DEBUG   (   34): *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
I/DEBUG   (   34): Build fingerprint: 'generic/sdk/generic:4.0.4/MR1/302030:eng/test-keys'
I/DEBUG   (   34): pid: 444, tid: 468  >>> com.android.browser <<<
I/DEBUG   (   34): signal 11 (SIGSEGV), code 1 (SEGV_MAPERR), fault addr 0000001c
I/DEBUG   (   34):  r0 00000000  r1 4a19845c  r2 00000000  r3 003d3ba8
I/DEBUG   (   34):  r4 002fdac0  r5 00000000  r6 4a198480  r7 ffffffff
I/DEBUG   (   34):  r8 00000001  r9 00000001  10 00192110  fp 4a198c04
I/DEBUG   (   34):  ip 48696d20  sp 4a198428  lr 482e66df  pc 482e55d2  cpsr 60000030
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d0  00000000cf000000  d1  0000000000000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d2  3ff0000000000000  d3  0000000000000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d4  01e1338000000000  d5  4129f23400000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d6  0000000000000000  d7  0000000000000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d8  0000000000000000  d9  0000000000000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d10 0000000000000000  d11 0000000000000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d12 0000000000000000  d13 0000000000000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  d14 0000000000000000  d15 0000000000000000
I/DEBUG   (   34):  scr 60000013
I/DEBUG   (   34): 
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #00  pc 003865d2  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #01  pc 003876da  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #02  pc 00387aa6  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #03  pc 00172072  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #04  pc 00161898  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #05  pc 00165dc2  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #06  pc 0016b6ba  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #07  pc 0016ef24  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #08  pc 0016ede0  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #09  pc 0016191c  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #10  pc 00164e30  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #11  pc 00166fa2  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #12  pc 001670ae  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #13  pc 0016cea6  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #14  pc 0016d35a  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #15  pc 0026c0f2  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #16  pc 0016d7f8  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #17  pc 00167250  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #18  pc 0016740a  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #19  pc 00167496  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #20  pc 001674c2  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #21  pc 0027bafe  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #22  pc 0001ec30  /system/lib/libdvm.so (dvmPlatformInvoke)
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #23  pc 000590ce  /system/lib/libdvm.so (_Z16dvmCallJNIMethodPKjP6JValuePK6MethodP6Thread)
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #24  pc 0004cbe8  /system/lib/libdvm.so (_Z21dvmCheckCallJNIMethodPKjP6JValuePK6MethodP6Thread)
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #25  pc 00030a4c  /system/lib/libdvm.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #26  pc 000341fc  /system/lib/libdvm.so (_Z12dvmInterpretP6ThreadPK6MethodP6JValue)
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #27  pc 0006ca8e  /system/lib/libdvm.so (_Z14dvmCallMethodVP6ThreadPK6MethodP6ObjectbP6JValueSt9__va_list)
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #28  pc 0006cab0  /system/lib/libdvm.so (_Z13dvmCallMethodP6ThreadPK6MethodP6ObjectP6JValuez)
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #29  pc 0005fbd0  /system/lib/libdvm.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #30  pc 00012e48  /system/lib/libc.so (__thread_entry)
I/DEBUG   (   34):          #31  pc 00012998  /system/lib/libc.so (pthread_create)
I/DEBUG   (   34): 
I/DEBUG   (   34): code around pc:
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e55b0 ff1af59b 1d38e003 f617a909 9809fb11  ......8.........
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e55c0 ff06f59b e8bdb00b bf008ff0 680bb507  ...............h
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e55d0 61c32200 600a680b f841a902 f7ff3d04  .".a.h.`..A..=..
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e55e0 9801ff43 fef4f59b bf00bd0e 4604b510  C..............F
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e55f0 b1286840 30b0f890 4621b913 fa48f000  @h(....0..!F..H.
I/DEBUG   (   34): 
I/DEBUG   (   34): code around lr:
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e66bc 682380ac 685a4620 e0d44790 30bcf8d4  ..#h FZh.G.....0
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e66cc a90ab153 f8416d60 f8c43d04 f7fe20bc  S...`mA..=... ..
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e66dc 9809ff77 fe76f59a 6d606be5 d1014285  w.....v..k`m.B..
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e66ec e0022500 f5db4628 6d63ff4b 2200a90a  .%..(F..K.cm..."
I/DEBUG   (   34): 482e66fc f8414620 65623d0c fb86f7ff f5e99807   FA..=be........
I/DEBUG   (   34): 
I/DEBUG   (   34): stack:
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a1983e8  00000005  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a1983ec  001eb800  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a1983f0  48287dad  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a1983f4  0044edf0  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a1983f8  0048b9f0  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a1983fc  002c07a8  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198400  002fdd20  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198404  48082143  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198408  00000005  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a19840c  48081ebd  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198410  0048b9f0  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198414  48287dad  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198418  0044edf0  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a19841c  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198420  df0027ad  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198424  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34): #00 4a198428  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a19842c  4a19845c  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198430  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198434  482e66df  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34): #01 4a198438  00000001  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a19843c  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198440  48287ea9  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198444  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198448  00000001  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a19844c  482e5771  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198450  00000001  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198454  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198458  002fdac0  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a19845c  003d3ba8  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198460  4a198480  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198464  002fdac0  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198468  00000000  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a19846c  4a198480  
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198470  002b01a0  [heap]
I/DEBUG   (   34):     4a198474  482e6aab  /system/lib/libwebcore.so
D/Zygote  (   37): Process 444 terminated by signal (11)
I/ActivityManager(   80): Process com.android.browser (pid 444) has died.
I/WindowManager(   80): WIN DEATH: Window{4158a718 com.android.browser/com.android.browser.BrowserActivity paused=false}
W/NetworkManagementSocketTagger(   80): setKernelCountSet(10002, 0) failed with errno -2
W/ActivityManager(   80): Force removing ActivityRecord{41402f88 com.android.browser/.BrowserActivity}: app died, no saved state
W/NetworkManagementSocketTagger(   80): setKernelCountSet(10013, 1) failed with errno -2
I/BootReceiver(   80): Copying /data/tombstones/tombstone_06 to DropBox (SYSTEM_TOMBSTONE)
D/dalvikvm(   80): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 237K, 6% free 12091K/12743K, paused 104ms
D/dalvikvm(   80): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 873K, 12% free 11461K/12999K, paused 107ms
I/Process (   80): Sending signal. PID: 175 SIG: 3
I/dalvikvm(  175): threadid=3: reacting to signal 3
I/dalvikvm(  175): Wrote stack traces to '/data/anr/traces.txt'
W/InputManagerService(   80): Got RemoteException sending setActive(false) notification to pid 444 uid 10002
D/dalvikvm(   80): GC_CONCURRENT freed 318K, 11% free 11688K/12999K, paused 6ms+14ms
W/GoogleSearch(  485): Error
W/GoogleSearch(  485): java.net.SocketTimeoutException
W/GoogleSearch(  485):  at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.read(PlainSocketImpl.java:491)

You say that you "ran it with proxy information on the command line". I would recommend you to run the emulator normally without setting the proxy through command line. e.g.

emulator -avd avdname -partition-size 1024

Later, after successful boot up of Android, go to Menu->Settings->Wireless & Networks->More->Mobile Networks->Access Point Names Default configuration is "TelKila" on the emulator. Click on that and set the proxy, port etc here.

Now try to surf the internet and do share the result with us.