Internet search services provider Google, Inc., US, has launched Google eBooks, its digital bookselling enterprise. The service features about 3 million titles for free and hundreds of thousands for sale. Publishers include HarperCollins Publishers and Random House Group Ltd.
Through this venture, Google seeks to compete for a share of the digital books business, valued at about $1 billion and expected to grow in the coming years.
Google eBooks, formerly called Google Editions, has been designed to be open. Many devices are compatible with Google eBooks - everything from laptops to netbooks to tablets to smartphones to e-readers. The new Google eBooks Web Reader allows readers to buy, store and read Google eBooks in the cloud. In addition to a full-featured web reader, free apps for Android and Apple devices will make it possible to shop and read on the go.
According to Google spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung, the service will work on some e-readers as well, including Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook. It is, however, not accessible on Amazon's Kindle, she said. The new service claims to be an extension of the controversial Google Books search project that aims to make all of the world's written works available online. Google will now sell books directly through an online store, and will allow independent booksellers to set up digital stores to sell Google eBooks on their own sites and get a share of the revenue.
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