Google’s new eBook store: One store, any device

Watch out Amazon and move over Apple, because Google is about to launch its eBook store and it’s likely to change everything, reports ReadWriteWeb. Dubbed “Google Editions,” the store is said to have more than a half million titles that will be readable on nearly any device that can access the web… and it will be up and running before the end of the month.  According to The Wall Street Journal, the wait is finally over and Google’s eBook venture will be in the U.S. this month, with an international launch taking place by the first quarter of 2011. The store was expected to launch last summer, but was held up by several legal and technical hurdles.

The big news here, of course, is that Google’s version of the eBook is web-based and therefore device agnostic. That is, it doesn’t matter if you have an iPhone, iPad, Android, desktop, netbook or whatever else – as long as you can get on the web, you can read a book you buy from Google.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Users will be able to buy books directly from Google or from multiple online retailers–including independent bookstores–and add them to an online library tied to a Google account. They will be able to access their Google accounts on most devices with a web browser.”…Read More

eBook restrictions vex users

"DRM will be no more effective at preventing unauthorized copying of books than it was for music..." said the EFF.
Publishers suggest that eBook restrictions are the result of device makers’ policies.

As more and more eReading devices flood the market, users are beginning to feel the restrictions imposed by copyright and digital rights management (DRM)—restrictions that some fear could hold back the use of eBooks in education.

Imagine this: You’re in the market for an eReader device and decide to buy a Kindle. Books for your Kindle must be purchased through Amazon’s eBook store. You can download the books you buy to your computer and/or your Kindle device.

Now, imagine that you’d like a Barnes & Noble Nook instead: Can you upload your Amazon eBooks to your Nook? Can you lend the books you’ve downloaded on your computer to friends? The answer to these questions is no, leading some to question whether purchasing an eBook for an eReader device is really buying the book at all.…Read More