Google plans summer launch for digital bookstore

Google's settlement with authors and publishers remains in limbo, but the company is planning to launch its digital bookstore this summer with titles it is clearly authorized to sell.

Google Editions will offer digital books for sale through its Web site in late June or July, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal quoting Google's Chris Palma, strategic partner development manager for Google Books. The move will open up a new distribution channel for digital-book publishers and give Amazon and Apple a new competitor in the emerging digital-book market.