Google is on the verge of launching its long-awaited eBook store.
The search giant had originally planned to launch Google Editions in the summer, but it has been beset with legal and technical delays. But according to Google's product management director, Scott Dougall, the eBook store will launch in the US before the end of this year, and internationally in the first quarter of next year.
"Because of the complexity of this project, we didn't want to come out with something that wasn't thorough," Dougall told The Wall Street Journal.
Google has reportedly signed deals with many leading publishers, and is expected to offer hundreds of thousands of paid-for and free titles, which will be linked to a user's Google account. Google claims the majority of titles available on other eBook stores will be available "at launch or shortly after".
However, it's not clear whether the titles will be accessible on two of the biggest eBook reading devices on the market: Amazon's Kindle and the Apple iPad, both of which funnel readers through their own stores.
Google's paid-for eBooks are expected to be similarly priced to those on the Kindle. It's not known what share of the revenue Google will command.
This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk
