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Google adds e-books to Android Market

Joining the growing number of mobile apps, e-books are now being sold at Android Market with some indications that movies and music could be next on the list.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney

Google

Android users can now grab e-books from Google's Android Market, and some clues show that movies and music may be on the horizon.

Tapping into Google's own eBookstore, which launched in December, the Android Market is offering a wide range of titles to browse, buy, and download. People can hunt for books among different categories, such as biographies, mysteries, and science fiction, or search for specific titles. Picking a book offers users a choice of viewing it directly on the Web or downloading it to an Android device where it can be read through the free Google Books app.

But as SlashGear and other sources point out, Google could be eyeing music and movies as the next frontiers. Typing the URLs http://market.android.com/movies/ and http://market.android.com/music/ doesn't result in a "Page not found" error as it normally would but instead directs the user back to the Android Market home page, indicating that those domain names may soon come into play.

Rumors of Google kicking off a music store have been floating about for more than a year. But recent reports say the company is now close to launching its own online music service.

In an effort to beef up Android Market, Google recently revamped its app store to offer Web-based downloads and provide more details on each app. Though it currently offers the most popular online spot for getting Android software, Google will face some competition when Amazon rolls out its own Android app store.