Disqus
Today Google launched their own e-book store with dedicated shopping and reading apps for iPhone and Android. Currently, the store is limited to the U.S., but offers over 3 million titles to anyone with an Android 2.1 device or iOS 3.0 device and up. You can do searches within an e-book, adjust text formatting for optimal reading, store e-books locally for offline reading, look up background information on e-books, and seamlessly sync where you leave off reading so you can pick up again on either your computer, tablet, or smartphone. The e-books will be sold in ePub and PDF format, making for easy portability and sideloading, though that kind of thing will be limited by publisher-mandated DRM.
I suspect through tighter integration with the native OS and services, the Google eBook store will quickly become a more palatable choice than Kindle for anyone buying e-books on an Android tablet, but a big part of the pitch is the matter of choice, so Google probably won’t completely sideswipe Amazon or the other e-book stores. I’d definitely like to see this app find its way to the BlackBerry PlayBook for launch, seeing as Kobo and Kindle are already lined up. As for dedicated e-reader devices, the Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and Sony’s Reader will be able to play nice with the new store.
You can find the Google eBook store app in the Android Market or iTunes App Store, or head on over to the Google Books home page for more info.
[via Google]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
