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]
@kpenning
ya i can't wait to get $150 etextbooks
@kpenning
lol exactly
@kpenning
pirate it.
@Inect
used ebook anyone? 80% off
Now I can watch Lord of the Rings while I read Lord of the Rings. win.
Editions could become really handy for specialized and/or out-of-print books. What I'm curious about is the user experience. Will it have its own app like Earth, or will it be browser-based like nearly everything else? And if there is no app, how will the browser experience be optimized to make reading eBooks something that approaches the Kindle or even iBooks?
Google is seeming increasingly like Buy 'n Large.
One day they're gonna run the planet I swear.
Then Wall-E's gonna have to clean it all up
Shit man.
Shit.
@Kaz Pinkerton Google is SkyNet
I dont know what else to say other than it sounds incredible.
One thing i dont understand is will Google Editions only be accessed via a web enabled device or will one be able to take the book along with them on a Kindle, Nook, or iPad without needing an internet connection?
where did this come from?? if google puts this e-book service on Android, they could pretty much destroy iBooks and maybe even Kindle (in raw numbers at least).
@MrHashbrown
iPhone OS still has 5x the market share that Android has, don't let one quarter of sales fool you. Come June/July, there will be around 40m iPhone OS devices ready to download iBooks, not counting the iPads sold by then... Wake up and smell the coffee.
@jellotime91
Where were you the last 20 years? Have we not seen this story unfold over already? PC vs. Mac ring any bells? Its just common sense that more carriers + options = more market share. Don't get me wrong Apple is welcomed to the market and is good for competition because it gives us better products, but to say a ignorant comment like that is baffling. Count in the fact that froyo is being announced next week and how Google and manufactures can simply innovate quicker. Look at the past 6 months for Android. Droid, Nexus One, Incredible, Evo 4g and its easy to see why market share is in 2nd place now. With the tablet wars coming this fall, it will be very interesting to see who will come out on top. (any casino taking action on this? my money is on android)
@jellotime91 Well, there are currently about 4 billion computers (or whatever ridiculous number) out there ready to break into Google Books so...
@MrHashbrown
with iPads+iPod touch+iPhone, there's about 100m devices out there which will get iBooks very soon.
If there were anywhere NEAR that amount of Android devices on the market, Moleman would be personally filming "Nah nah nah nahnah" videos in his Molehouse and putting it on primetime TV. Get real.
PS. The NPD is based on SURVEYS not real sales data. That's why it excludes business customers..
the smartest google has done is get education envolved. I we are using google services here and are loving it. Apple wants you to buy there hardware to use their services and thats cool they need to make money but google is better in this case..they can deliver these services across platforms.
I'm waitin for Bing Books
Finally, I can get a copy of "The Poop That Took a Pee"!!!
Nice logo... vomit
I thought the nook supported epub and PDF so why wouldn't all of google's books work on the nook.
~ Finish Him! ~
Google creates an Android e-Reader App!
~ Fatality! ~
~ Flawless Victory! ~