Google Editions coming in 2010

"Google is poised to launch its "buy anywhere, read anywhere" digital books programme Google Editions simultaneously in the US, UK and Europe within the first half of next year. Speaking at the Tools of Change conference in Frankfurt, Amanda Edmonds, Google's director of strategic partnerships, said the programme would be rolled out by June. Edmonds said one of the strengths of Google's offering was that once bought, the e-book would exist in a "cloud library", which could be accessed from potentially any device, including laptops, "smart phones" or e-readers. "As long as you can get onto the library, you can access it," Edmonds said. "All books will live in the same library, so it doesn't matter where you buy it or where you read it." Once a book has been accessed on a given device, a cached version will exist, making it possible for readers to access the book offline. "There's a really complex set of offerings out there for the consumer. Our concept is that it should be open: they shouldn't have to pick the device, software or retailer," said Edmonds" - The Bookseller