Google ebooks goes live

Google just released their online ebookstore, complete with desktop, Android, and iPhone versions. The service, called Google ebooks, offers over 3 million books for free and for purchase, including classics and new releases alike. It automatically syncs your books between devices, even remembering what page you were last reading.

Your books can be accessed from the desktop, mobile browser, or mobile apps for Android or iOS. The Android version of the app was released today and offers a very nice, smooth interface for reading books. It does redirect to the browser for purchasing/downloading new books, which is kind of a bummer, but it's safe to assume updates to the app will be coming.





The app is free, as are dozens of books. You can browse books on your desktop computer, add them to your account, and then immediately access them from the app. To download the app, search the Market for Google Books, tap here from your phone, or scan this QR Code.

This rocks. I've been doing more book reading on my phone lately, and having it all in one place, safe from bookseller walled gardens is great. I love the web interface for adding books to my account, and the mobile app is really clean and nice to use. A quick browse through the holiday section in the bookstore shows books available from less than $5 all the way up to $15. Not bad at all.

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This is awesome. I tend to read a lot of nonfiction books, which can be harder to find. This has a really nice selection, and at reasonable prices, though not super great. I love that you can sync everything between devices. It would be great to be able to read my current book on my phone, computer, or Android e-reader/tablet. It makes the whole experience very simple. And I agree that it will be a definite bonus when the app can support downloading books without diverting back to the browser. I'm a fan.