Google adds EPUB support to 1m+ ebooks

Google have updated their ebook project with the ability to download titles in EPUB format, the same file type as Sony recently switched to with its new range of ebook Reader devices. It means that in excess of a million titles are now available in the more Reader-friendly format, having been scanned in, processed and edited by Google themselves in many cases.

EPUB is preferable to PDF – which has been the standard download format in Google Book Search for some time now – because it supports page reflowing. This means that rather than looking at, in effect, an image of the book which is then zoomed to fit the page, the text actually reflows to suit the font size and page width. This makes for an easier to read ebook.

The change is another feather in the cap – at least by proxy – to Sony, who recently announced not only a new, wireless ebook reader, the Daily Edition but partnerships with public libraries to help remove the purchase price issue of ebooks. These new EPUB files from Google Book Search will only help in that push.