Google Books

App Makes Readers’ Thoughts an Open Book

Katherine Boehret in The Digital Solution on January 24 at 3:26 pm PT

Katie looks at Subtext, a free iPad app designed to enable and encourage conversations among readers within digital books themselves.

Microsoft to Google: Quit Whining Ya Big Baby

John Paczkowski in News on February 26, 2010 at 4:00 pm PT

Microsoft may be quietly chuckling over the European Commission’s decision to look into antitrust complaints against Google, but it’s not going to take credit for it. In a post to the company Web site, Dave Heiner, Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel, took issue with Google’s suggestion last week that two companies with ties to Microsoft are driving this thing.

DOJ on Google Book Settlement: Get Me Another Rewrite

John Paczkowski in News on February 5, 2010 at 5:05 am PT

The Department of Justice still isn’t sold on the Google Books settlement agreement. In a brief filed late Thursday, the DOJ said that significant legal problems remain despite the considerable changes Google, publishers and authors have made to it.

Voices

Google Seeks a Deal on China Book Scans

Loretta Chao, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm PT

Google Inc. sought to calm anger in China over its book-scanning project, saying it aims to work out a new agreement with Chinese writers for the rights to publish their books in its digital library.

Will Nexus One Be a Hit? Maybe. But Not Every Google Launch Lands Well.

Drake Martinet in Social on January 6, 2010 at 12:05 am PT

Google has big plans to reinvent the mobile business, introducing its Nexus One smartphone yesterday. But the search giant has shaken up other industries before (ask any newspaper publisher). The flip side: While Google does launch lots of stuff, many of its products are now on the shelf with other dusty tech curios. Our latest slideshow illustrates this topic.

Google Books Settlement Proceedings to Drag on Until Mid-February

John Paczkowski in News on November 20, 2009 at 6:53 am PT

The latest revision of the Google Books settlement has been granted preliminary approval by a New York district judge, though it will be some time before that approval is finalized–if it is finalized. Judge Denny Chin of the Southern District of New York said Thursday that he will hold a hearing Feb. 18 on the new agreement, which will restore access to millions of out-of-print books, but may also one day give the company a monopoly on the largest digital library in the world.

Google’s Chrome OS: “It Just Works”

John Paczkowski in News on November 19, 2009 at 9:51 am PT

Speaking at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans this past July, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said of Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS, “Who knows what this thing is?” Today, he found out. The operating system, a direct challenge to Microsoft Windows, was on display at a media gathering at the company’s HQ this morning, and in the words of Sundar Pichai, Google’s vice president of product management, it is intended to make computing a “delightful” experience.

Google’s Mission: To Digitize the World’s Books and Make Them Universally Monetizable by Google

John Paczkowski in News on November 16, 2009 at 12:40 pm PT

Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers have submitted a new version of their digital book settlement, and while it makes concessions to the Department of Justice and others who have raised concerns about how it may violate antitrust laws, the new proposal doesn’t seem to have appeased all of its opponents.