Google Books was initially started back in 2002 when a group of Google employees pondered how long it would take to scan and archive every book ever written.While the first scan was done manually on a 300 page book and took 40 minutes to process, Google now use cameras capable of scanning at a rate of 1,000 pages an hour and also work with 20,000 publisher partners who provide content directly. They have also been able to provide over 1 million books that can be read in full from cover to cover; these unrestricted works are either books that have fallen out of copyright or have been provided with publishers express permission.As well as simply scanning the books, Google performs OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on the pages, thereby turning them in to pure text which can be entered in to their database. As a result when you do a Google Search you are now not only returned results from relevant websites but also your search terms are checked against a library encompassing millions of... [more]

Imagine, had e-readers not been there what we would have missed? Certainly we would have missed the opportunity to read millions of ebooks. Those who are unable to purchase expensive books in the market, the option of free ebooks gives a good opportunity to satisfy their reading appetite. Whatever subject matter you desire to read is available on Google Book Downloader. You just have to enter your search on Google, your favorite volume will be displayed on screen in either free or paid version. This is main reason why these digital books have become so popular and sometimes seen as a replacement of paper books.
 
Ebook has created a lot of buzz among book lovers and online users in general because of its convenience and easy accessibility. Say ebook or electronic book- it usually comes in a word processor or PDF file that can be read over the specially designed hardware devices or ebook devices. There are many multimedia mobile handsets available with the integrate... [more]

Saying Google Inc. had overstretched, a federal judge on Tuesday rejected a deal between the giant search engine and lawyers for authors and publishers that would have let the company make money presiding over the world's largest digital library.
U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan said the creation of a universal library would benefit many but would "simply go too far." He rejected a $125 million settlement that was opposed by Google rivals, consumer watchdogs, academic experts, literary agents and even foreign governments.
Google has already scanned more than 15 million books for the project.
Chin said the settlement that the company reached with U.S. authors and publishers would "grant Google significant rights to exploit entire books, without permission of the copyright owners."
The deal gives Google "a significant advantage over competitors, rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission, while releasing claims... [more]