May 7, 2010 by Andy Russell
After having been locked in a long running court battle in the US regarding their plans to create an online library bigger than any other; Google have finally announced the release of their much anticipated Google Editions e-book store which will go live at the end of June or early in July.
The unique feature of Google’s e-book incarnation that differs majorly from Apple’s iBook store and Amazon’s Kindle store is that any e-books purchased from Google Editions can be used on any device, they are not tied to just one such is the case with the iPad for example. Google Editions e-books can be used on a personal computer or any web-enabled mobile giving them an appeal that is not present with their rivals.
Google claim to have scanned over 12 million books which would give them a significantly larger selection then Apple or Amazon although the search giants have not disclosed how much they will charge per book as of yet.
The announcement is bad news for their competitors especially Amazon who currently control 60% of the e-book market.
A US judge is still deciding as to whether or not it is legal for Google to digitise so many books, the case is likely to end in Google having to pay an £83 settlement to the Authors Guild who issued the original lawsuit in 2004.
After the announcement was made by Google last week their shares jumped by $6.51 to $512.88 per share.
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