Google Editions said to have backing of 'almost all' US publishers
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 10th 2010 5:36PM
posted May 10th 2010 5:36PM
Well, it looks like Google will be kicking off its forthcoming Google Editions e-book service on a high note -- Japan Today is reporting that the company has managed to score the backing of "almost all" publishers in the United States. That apparently brings the total number of publishers and authors on board to over 25,000, and the total number of books set to be available to somewhere in the neighborhood of two million -- or over four million if you include the public domain books that Google already makes available for free. As far as we can tell, however, Google itself still isn't saying any more on the matter publicly than it did last week, when it confirmed that the service would be launching in late June or July.
[Thanks, Legendary1022]
[Thanks, Legendary1022]
Let the war between iBooks and Google begin!
@Stevenk
you get excited when you noticed there were no comments or something?
@Stevenk
iBooks: 60000 books
Google: 2000000 bokks
Which war?
@Stevenk
Thats exactly what i thought when I read that. The tablet wars are about to take off this fall and it wouldn't surprise me to hear more about this next week at Google I/O. When froyo coming around the corner and you know HTC is working on a tablet, Android is coming into its own. If the report is true and the number of books is available, game over for Apple's ibooks and amazon's kindle. Still no kindle app for android though, where's the love?
@legendary1022
Even more disruptive.. Publish the PD books as ePub PDF and Mobi, so be available for practically every device. And use the Adobe DRM (not dependent on any single book store), which is available on all the Sonys as well as quite a few others.
I vaguely remember Google giving Sony a few million PD books for their store some time ago. So a collaborative venture with as many makers as possible is not unthinkable.
If they play it right.. Google could really shake everything up. Hopefully for the better.
@Stevenk Google promises that every books (majority) will be for free. Isn't this great or what? Review: http://j.mp/google-edition-ebook-service
@(Unverified) If they do it right, and have international distribution rights, I can't wait until Google gets more information on me. (no sarcasm, I'm close to a fanboy).
Let the war between iBooks and Google begin!
@Stevenk Didn't mean to post that so many times, comments were down for a little while.
fiiiirst
Let the war between iBooks and Google begin!
Should that really surprise anyone?
If you have to be online to access this then I don't like it, if not then I do.
@d0mth0ma5 They are selling the books, I highly doubt 24/7 connectivity is required, but I guess you never know...brave new world.
If you have to be online to view the books then I don't like it, if not then I do.
@d0mth0ma5 Bloody comment system.
good.
Google almost on top
I hope it works out well for Google.
Whether it was long-market foresight or altruism - they have invested heavily in the scanning of books for years and I think it benefits everyone.
I am not so poly-anna as to think that everything google does it does from a sense of goodness as a gift to mankind.
But all-in-all, I do rate them as one of the good guys.
If you have to be online to view books then I don't like it, if not then I like it.
Book Em Danno!
Google is on a roll today!
Anyone know if they will be viewable on phones? Android app?
@robertxkills
I don't see why not. I don't think it would take that much to port. It seems that it would just have to be reformatted/resized to provide an enjoyable experience.
Once again Google have found another market to monopolize...
Once again Google find another market to monopolize...
GoogleNet......... It just doesn't sound right for when they take over the world, anybody got suggestions?
@Lubing The Tube
We should rebrand Google into something positive sounding, like 'Sky'.
Google does not play! But this is good, spread the knowledge and make learning cool.
Google does not play! But this is good, spread the knowledge and make learning cool.
Google does not play! But this is good, spread the knowledge and make learning cool.
interesting...
Wow Amazon and Barns & Nobles are in trouble.
Google is here to stay. But I see the goodness in what is being done. They are spreading knowledge, something all the people need. Let knowledge spread and let us all learn.
This on Android = WIN
Well, let's just hope they have a good mobile web interface, because I don't see Apple approving an app for that.
This on Android = WIN
Why can't I see the comments? i can only post.... HELP SOS
Shocker.
Shocker.
Shocker.
first first time! :P
Doh!
"to score the backing of "almost all" publishers in the United States" what does that mean?
First!
....to be downranked.
@John52
Damn you Engadget...telling me there were no comments!
I'm stoked. More competition in this sector is going to be good for all of us!
Awesome. Now we will have a good ebook app on android...and its more tablet ready perhaps?
Comments on this post are a FAIL
Good now we'll have a great ebook app on android. More tablet ready perhaps?
Wow. I can't wait to move into the age of the eBook. No more $150 textbooks