One of the main benefits of Google’s just-launched eBookstore is that you can read your free and for-pay eBooks on a wide range of devices, ranging from the iPad and the Nook to a laptop or any phone with a modern mobile browser. Don’t count on reading any purchased digital volumes from Google on your Kindle, however, reports Yahoo News. The long-awaited Google eBookstore finally opened its doors Monday, boasting hundreds of thousands of titles from big-name publishers like Penguin, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette Book Group, as well as thousands of independent and individual book publishers. Prices for bestselling books typically fall between $9.99 and $14.99, about what you’d expect to pay on Amazon’s Kindle store, iTunes, or Barnes & Noble’s online Nook storefront. Millions of free eBooks are also available.The big difference between Google and its competitors, though–well, besides the fact that Google won’t be selling its own dedicated eReader (unless, I suppose, you count Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab)–is that you can read free and purchased eBooks on just about any device with a Javascript-enabled web browser, from basic “feature” phones to laptops and desktops. Google is also releasing custom eBook apps for iOS devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone, as well as for Android handsets (naturally)…
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Google to start selling electronic books
Google on May 4 said it will soon begin selling electronic books that people can read on any internet-connected device, including Apple’s hot-selling iPad tablet computers, AFP reports. Google will launch an Editions online digital bookstore by the end of July, and its virtual shelves will be stocked with in-print works with the permission of publishers owning copyrights. “This eBook service will be device agnostic,” Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker told AFP. Books bought from Google and its partners would be available to any device that has a web browser, from smart phones and the growing number of eBook readers to personal computers. Google books will be able to be read by Kindle readers but also will support the “epub” open standard format backed by the International Digital Publishing Forum and which many publishers now use. Editions is separate from a controversial Google Book Search project to make all the world’s written works, including out-of-print titles, available online. The move brings another heavyweight contender to the increasingly competitive eBook market; Apple and Amazon each run online digital book shops, but those companies also sell eReader devices and have a stake in offering eBooks only in formats compatible with their devices…
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