Mountain View, California — eBooks and e-readers are big business these days. The search engine giant Having acquired 25 companies in 2010, Google has kicked off 2011 with a new acquisition. The company, which opened an online digital bookstore last month, is accelerating its thrust in the e-book space by acquiring eBook Technologies, a company that specializes in both hardware and content distribution for electronic readers, the company said Thursday.
Google has not disclosed the financial details of the deal, which it revealed in a statement Wednesday. eBook is focused on designing and developing technology for creating, distributing, and controlling content to be used on tablets and other portable reading devices, it said.
“We are happy to welcome eBook Technologies’ team to Google,” Google said in a statement. “Together, we hope to deliver richer reading experiences on tablets, electronic readers and other portable devices.”
However, not much information has been disclosed about the deal, but it has been confirmed by both parties. A message on the website of eBook Technologies says:
“eBook Technologies, Inc. is excited to announce that we have been acquired by Google,” said the La Jolla, Calif.-based company on its Web site. “Working together with Google will further our commitment to providing a first-class reading experience on emerging tablets, e-readers and other portable devices.”
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The eBook Technologies site says it provides a suite of reading devices and licenses for automated publishing and content distribution control.
Google’s eBookstore claims to offer 3 million books, which can be read on a variety of devices. Most new arrivals are in the $10-20 range. With the opening of Google eBookstore in the United States last month, the Internet search giant jumped into the booming e-book market long dominated by Kindle-maker Amazon and Apple in the process, Google has tried to differentiate itself by characterizing its ecosystem as more open than what is offered by its rivals.
“Open” however does not mean open in the sense of content without digital locks. It means open in the sense of allowing partners to have a meaningful role. In fact, Google’s interest in eBook Technologies appears to be in securing e-book content and protecting itself against potential patent lawsuits.
Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of digital books from leading publishers such as Macmillan, Random House and Simon & Schuster will be for sale in the eBookstore, which Google said will expand internationally next year.
Nevertheless, eBook Technologies licenses e-book technology from companies hailing from dot com boom at the turn of the second millennium: SoftBook Press, NuvoMedia, and Gemstar. It also appears to have rights related to some relevant patents, such as one titled “Electronic Display Device Event Tracking,” which lists eBook Technologies co-founder and president Garth Conboy among the inventors.
Few other details were provided. Most of the links on eBook Technologies’s Web site now re-direct to the Google acquisition note.