Google Editions was announced in the middle of the year. It was expected to be available in the U.S. by the end of the month.Google spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung told CNET that Google Editions is expected to open up a new distribution
channel for digital-book publishers and give Amazon a new competitor in the digital-book market.

Google will have a  "buy anywhere, read anywhere" approach, which means customers will purchase titles exclusively through a Web browser, instead of through an online store. Google hasn't revealed who else is getting involved in the project and the downside is that customers wouldn't actually have their own copy of the book.

The search engine outfit has been involved with scanning scan, digitizing and making searchable the collections of five of the largest libraries in the world. It has also been hit by lawsuits and negotiations over copyright issues.

Google's ebook service will be out by Christmas.