Google launches its eBookstore in the UK

After launching its store for e-books in the USA exactly ten months ago, Google has announced that today it has arrived in the UK.

With “hundreds of thousands” of titles available to buy, UK publishers including Hachette, Random House and Penguin have been signed up. Over 2 million free public domain titles are also available. Google will be working with other UK retailers including Gardeners’ Hive and Blackwell’s to broaden the reach of its e-books.

As with the US, the store supports browsers, and Android and Apple devices for buying and reading books. E-reader devices, from manufacturers including Sony, Kobo and Elonex also support the e-books available on the store. The first third party e-reader to support Google’s eBookstore was the iRiver StoryHD, back in July this year.

While Google’s ebook ecosystem isn’t as well known, or well stocked, as Amazon’s Kindle, it certainly offers customers a credible alternative in terms of having a wide range of titles available to read across a wide range of devices.