Google will begin offering electronic versions of mass-market books by the end of the year, according to a published report.
The move would put Google into competition with Amazon as one of the leading vendors of electronic books, a trend Google has flirted with in the past, according to The New York Times. It's not known how many books Google would choose to sell or be able to sell under the new plan. Google already supplies about 1.5 million public-domain books to consumers , which can be read in a browser or mobile phone. So far, Google has not indicated any plans to offer a dedicated e-book reader, although an e-reader application or function could almost certainly be built into its mobile operating system, Android.
Google's new push would be different than its book-scanning initiative, known as Google Print, which has attracted the ire of publishers concerned about copyright infringement.
Google will reserve the right to alter “exorbitant" pricing dictated by the publishers, according to the Times. The paper noted that many of Amazon's $9.99 e-books are sold at a loss.
The move would put Google into competition with Amazon as one of the leading vendors of electronic books, a trend Google has flirted with in the past, according to The New York Times. It's not known how many books Google would choose to sell or be able to sell under the new plan. Google already supplies about 1.5 million public-domain books to consumers , which can be read in a browser or mobile phone. So far, Google has not indicated any plans to offer a dedicated e-book reader, although an e-reader application or function could almost certainly be built into its mobile operating system, Android.
Google's new push would be different than its book-scanning initiative, known as Google Print, which has attracted the ire of publishers concerned about copyright infringement.
Google will reserve the right to alter “exorbitant" pricing dictated by the publishers, according to the Times. The paper noted that many of Amazon's $9.99 e-books are sold at a loss.
