Topic: Google Books

Google Books Takes a Hit: Foreign-Language Works Ditched

Google's Book deal is so controversial it makes fascinating news every time the story takes another turn. But for Google, things have just turned pretty sour: Due to huge legal pressure, it's chopping foreign texts from the ...READ»

Are Google Books a Threat to the Kindle?

Google's Book Search has been a controversial background project for most of its four-year life, but its most recent move may see the scheme brought right into the limelight: Google Book Search is now available on the iPhone and ...READ»

Forget Kindle 2: Fujitsu's E-Reader Screen is Bigger, and It's in Color

In all the fuss about the new Amazon Kindle 2 yesterday, it was easy to forget that the "upgraded" device still has a relatively small paperback-sized screen and can only cope with greyscale imagery. And that's where Fujitsu's new ...READ»

Should Google Be Allowed to Monopolize "Orphan" Books?

Google may be guilty of antitrust violations for its Book Search initiative, reported several newswire services on Monday. The Department of Justice has opened an investigation of the search giant's settlement with the Author's Guild ...READ»

Google Books Is Getting Social

Contentious though it may be, Google Books is an undeniably powerful tool. Now Google's given the service a shot in the arm and boosted its search functions. Best of all it now lets you embed previews of texts in your own Web ...READ»

Scribd Launches User-Gen Bookstore

The Scribd Store, which opened this morning in beta, is the latest online venture that could change the way the ailing publishing industry staggers into the 21st century. Scribd has been live for two years now, and until today, has ...READ»

Simon & Schuster Pens Deal With Scribd to Sell Digital Titles, Should Amazon Be Scared?

Book publisher Simon & Schuster will offer 5,000 of its titles for sale digitally via document-sharing site Scribd.com, opening a fresh chapter in Amazon's epic struggle to dominate the e-book market with its Kindle e-reader. ...READ»

Google Takes on Amazon With Online E-Book Store Due in 2010

Google formalized its plans to launch an online store to deliver e-books to any kind of gadget. Google Editions, as it's called, will open for business in the first quarter of 2010 and compete directly with Amazon.READ»

FTC Spurs Google to Change Privacy Policy for Electronic Books

Google Books can't seem to shake off controversy these days. One of the more fraught aspects of Google's all seeing eye is getting a shakedown, though: The FTC's forced Google to issue a separate privacy policy to protect your book ...READ»

How Sony And Google Can Beat Amazon at the E-Book Game (Hint: Not With Out-of-Print Books)

Sony and Google joined forces today to tackle the Amazon Kindle, the current king of e-books...by releasing half a million out-of-print books for the Sony E-Reader from Google's Book Search library. Will it be an effective ...READ»

• The Fast Company 50 - #2 Google

Google Acquires reCAPTCHA

Google has announced on its official blog that it will purchase reCAPTCHA, the company famous for generating those hard-to-read anti-spam filters on every signup page you visit. Google isn't just interested in the company for its ...READ»

News Manipulator Rupert Murdoch Gripes About Google's News Manipulation

Rupert Murdoch is so concerned about the future of traditional (i.e. his) news publishing at the hands of Google, he's launched paid Web newspapers via an online club. But if Google's so evil, why doesn't he block its ...READ»

Google Books Beats Amazon Overseas, In U.K. Bookstore Deal

Google's just signed a deal with U.K. company Interead that means Google's half-million texts from Google Books are now accessible to Interead's customers at its CoolerBooks.com website. It's the first time Books has left the ...READ»

Sony Reader's Edge: Free Books

This morning Sony added to its line of ebook readers with a 7-inch touchscreen device they're calling the Sony Reader Daily Edition. At an announcement at the New York Public Library on 42nd street, Steve Haber, president of Sony's ...READ»

Kindle 2: First Reading and Impressions [video]

As the media huddled outside the Morgan Library in Manhattan this morning awaiting the unveiling of the Kindle 2, the big question was: when can we touch it? Sure, we came to hear Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tell us how skinny it is (25% ...READ»

Google Books Deal Faces Challenge by Tech Giants

Google Books' deal to scan an archive of published books has been controversial right from the start, and now faces its biggest challenge yet: From a powerful coalition that includes Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon. Is it all about search ...READ»

Google Wants to Save Newspapers With a Micropayment Engine

We know Google loves to jab its fingers into many different pies, but this latest effort is interesting: Google's developing a micropayment engine, and looks to be courting the ailing newspaper industry as customers for its ...READ»