Product Reviews Net » Google Editions http://www.product-reviews.net Information on the latest gadgets, technology, news and product reviews Sat, 26 May 2012 11:39:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Google eBooks: Free preview on eBookstore http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/07/google-ebooks-free-preview-on-ebookstore/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-ebooks-free-preview-on-ebookstore http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/07/google-ebooks-free-preview-on-ebookstore/#comments Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:14:13 +0000 Alan Ng http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=116363 Following on from our initial report on Google’s eBook service, we are pleased to confirm that Google has just made things official. It won’t be called Google Editions though, as the service will simply be named ‘Google eBooks’.

As reported from ComputerWorld, Google eBooks will be a cloud-based system and will allow users to purchase content from a dedicated store online, to read on a variety of devices such as the Nook Color, laptops and smartphones.

One of the biggest highlights of Google eBooks, is the free preview feature, which is likely to become an instant hit with users. If you head over to the Google eBooks page and search for a book that you like, you can simply hit ‘preview this book’ to bring up a fast pdf-style viewer which will let you see the contents of the book before you choose to buy it.

This really is a good feature, as in some cases, you can even preview the entire contents of some books, right there on Google’s eBook page. You can also view books which are ‘trending’ so you can check out what other people are reading as well.

Try it out for yourself and let us know your thoughts on the service. Will you use Google eBooks or not?

More About: , ,

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/07/google-ebooks-free-preview-on-ebookstore/feed/ 0 Google Editions: Will you use the Service or not? http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/02/google-editions-will-you-use-the-service-or-not/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-editions-will-you-use-the-service-or-not http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/02/google-editions-will-you-use-the-service-or-not/#comments Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:35:22 +0000 Alan Ng http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=115998 It looks like Google are ready to enter the world of digital ebooks, as a new report has suggested that Google will be launching their digital ebook store before the end of the year, in the US first.

As reported from BGR, an article published by the WSJ has stated that the name of the service will be called ‘Google Editions’, and that it will give users the opportunity to purchase books directly from Google.

Google is also planning to partner with various online retailers, so that books purchased can be added to an online library which is tied to a Google account. There are also plans for a revenue-sharing model for third-parties too, as websites and blogs that ‘talk’ about a particular book and then link to the purchase on Google Editions would be able to share a cut of the sale.

At the moment, the service is launching in US first, presumably at the end of this month. As for UK users and everyone else, the WSJ report states that it will be available during the 1st quarter of 2011. You can read further details on Google Editions via the WSJ article here.

What are your thoughts on the project? Do you think it is a good idea or not? Would you happily use the service once it is launched, or do you believe that Google are just jumping on the ebook bandwagon like everyone else?

Maybe they feel slightly threatened about Apple and their ebook services on the iPad, although according to the WSJ, Google are calling Editions ‘universal’, meaning that users can read their ebooks on any device which they choose. We’ll let you know once we hear further details on this.

More About: , ,

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/02/google-editions-will-you-use-the-service-or-not/feed/ 0 Google Editions: New E-book Store Will Go Head-to-Head With Amazon http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/01/google-editions-new-e-book-store-will-go-head-to-head-with-amazon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-editions-new-e-book-store-will-go-head-to-head-with-amazon http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/01/google-editions-new-e-book-store-will-go-head-to-head-with-amazon/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:33:23 +0000 Jamie Pert http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=115960 First reported last year, Google have finally lifted the lid on their new universal format e-book store, which is scheduled to launch by the end of 2010 in the U.S., and internationally by the first quarter of 2011.

Initially, Google Editions was to launch back in the summer but suffered some technical and legal issues which prevented the launch. Those issues have now been resolved accorded to an unnamed source via the Wall Street Journal.

Google Editions will aim to disrupt the market share currently dominated by Amazon, who offer e-books to customers who have the Kindle — an Amazon product.

This is where Google come in. They say that Editions will be “universal,” meaning that books purchased will be available to users with all sorts of devices. Namely the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPad, Sony Reader and the Nook by Barnes and Noble.

Editions will be available to all users who have internet access, as the e-books are stored “on the cloud,” meaning that you will have to be online when reading them.

One significant disadvantage Google Editions has though, is that these e-books will not be downloadable per-say. Usually, e-books are digitally downloaded so that they can be read offline.

But Google does not want it to work this way. Instead, they briefly mention that you can still access the e-books via cached versions in your browser, but want to keep each Google Edition personal to the customer who bought it, so that they would not abuse it (share purchased e-books).

Amazon have known this was coming for sometime. But do they have a reason to fear Google Editions? Will it be anywhere as good as Google search, or will it flop like Google Wave?

You can find out more about Google Editions via this Google page here.

Source: PC World

More About: , ,

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/12/01/google-editions-new-e-book-store-will-go-head-to-head-with-amazon/feed/ 1