Internet giant Google announced its new e-book service that will provide mobile phones users with online library where they can choose thousands of reading materials.
Google said it will open more than 1.5 million public domain books across the country to allow users to access mobile e-book service, adding that another 500,000 domains will be opened outside the US to cater to its customers abroad.
The new service was derived from the Internet giant’s Google Book Search (formerly known as Google Print) that was launched in October 2004.
According to Google’s blog, the new service is compatible with smartphones which use Google’s Android Software, Apple iPhone devices, and T-Mobile G1 handset.
Google said it will add more books to its mobile Google Book Search, adding that it will provide the most current titles and best sellers after obtaining permission from the publishers.
Google Book Search product manager Frances Haugen said the company is already expanding the selection of its e-book library. This move can help the Internet giant to attract more users as one major criticism for its e-book service is the lack of book selection especially the current titles and best seller novels (most available books available in Google Book Search are old and have expired copyrights).
Meanwhile, some experts said that smartphone devices will not replace e-book readers (e.g. Amazon Kindle) as most people prefer the latter because of its large screen, bigger storage capacity, and longer battery life.
Another reason why smartphones will not serve as a better substitute for e-book readers is that looking at the small and backlight screen will not be convenient for long reading session, according to Oxford University Press vice president for global business development Evan Schnittman.
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