Google has rolled out its long awaited digital ebooks program, the next step in the company's ambitious but controversial project to scan and make searchable the estimated 130 million books that exist in print versions. "The next logical iteration for us is to open up a bookstore," said Scott Dougall, product management director for Google eBooks. This means that Google is now in direct competition with other ebook sellers, such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony and others—with one significant difference: While ebooks for Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook and other ebook dev [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Book Search | Google: Editions | Top News

Google will launch an online bookstore called Google Editions this summer. That's the word from Chris Palma, Google's Strategic Partner Development Manager, who confirmed the company's plans today at a publishing industry panel in New York. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google Editions will launch in late June or July, and will let shoppers purchase digital copies of books found through Google's book search. The WSJ also says Google Editions will provide a way for brick-and-mortar book sellers to make some money selling digital books: [Google] will also allow book retailers -- ev [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Editions

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Google revealed its plans to launch Google Editions, an online store to sell e-books. The company says the store will launch in the first half of 2010 with about half a million e-books. The e-books will come from publishers with whom Google already works, and unlike Amazon's Kindle e-reader/store, the Google-hosted e-books will be readable on any device with a web browser. That places Google's plans in line with Sony's Reader, which also supports open standards-based e-books. From the Reuters story: Forrester media analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said Google would not [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Editions