Google

Want to know if you spend more time reading eBooks, searching the Internet or emailing? Google has a new tool that will let you track this called Google Account. It’s like Google analytics for yourself.

Obviously you have to be a Google user for this to be meaningful, but for those of us who use Google services like search, Gmail and Google Play (the new home of Google’s eBooks) every day, it is a great new discovery tool.

There are also security benefits as well. The Google blog explains: “Knowing more about your own account activity also can help you take steps to protect your Google Account. For example, if you notice sign-ins from countries where you haven’t been or devices you’ve never owned, you can change your password immediately and sign up for the extra level of security provided by 2-step verification.”

If you sign up, Google will send you a monthly report logging your activity.

It’s been just over 2 years since Google launched their eBookstore and it is still limited to a handful of English speaking countries. But it looks like that is about to change.

Actualitte is reporting that Google Play Books (the rebranded Google eBookstore) is about to launch in France. They have not given a date for this event, but they did get a confirmation from Philippe Colombet. He’s the head of Google’s book scanning project in France, and that would definitely give him an insider knowledge on Google Play Books.

There’s no word yet on where else Google Play Books might launch, but it seems likely that we might see several European lunches this year.

Google is reportedly launching a new tablet to compete with the iPad and the Kindle Fire this May. The 7-inch Androird tablet is expected to debut at CTIA in May.

Technorati has more: “A source close to the development of the said Google Nexus tablet, states that Google is after a $149 – $199 price point for consumers. this puts it at half the cost of an iPad, even the iPad 2, as well as in a parallel price path with the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet and Amazon Kindle Fire, which have all proven worthy competitors. To keep costs down however, you likely won’t see a quad-core processor within, but it will be in 7inch form.”

Google recently signaled that it is preparing for the new tablet. Earlier this month, the company merged its various digital content platforms including its eBookstore, Android Market and Google Music into a new platform called Google Play. The iTunes competitor includes apps and games, music, movies and books, all arranged through one central portal.

Google surprised many yesterday when they rebranded the Android Market as Google Play, but it looks like they’re not done. A new help page has been uncovered which raise questions about what Google plans to sell next.

As you probably know, Google Play sells eBooks, music, video, and Android apps. It doesn’t sell audiobooks, but if you go digging through the help pages you’ll find that Google already has a page set up for the content. There’s no info yet, but the fact the page is there suggests that the content is coming.

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Google is taking it’s eBookstore, Android Market and Google Music and folding them into a new platform that the company is calling “Play.” Google Play includes apps and games, music, movies and books, all arranged through one central portal.

Jamie Rosenberg, Director of Digital Content, at Google, broke the news in a blog post: “Entertainment is supposed to be fun. But in reality, getting everything to work can be the exact opposite—moving files between your computers, endless syncing across your devices, and wires…lots of wires. Today we’re eliminating all that hassle with Google Play, a digital entertainment destination where you can find, enjoy and share your favorite music, movies, books and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet.” Read more

We all make mistakes at work, but most of us don’t have the misfortune of having a blog devoted to our errors. The folks working for Google’s book scanning project aren’t so lucky. Read more

The New York Times is reporting that Google is at work on a new home entertainment device that will deliver content to consumers.

This news would mean that Google would be competing with Apple and Amazon in both the device and the home entertainment space, trying to create its own ecosystem.

Here is more from the NY Times about what the device will look like: “While Google has talked openly about its designs on consumers’ living rooms, news that the device was becoming a reality surfaced last week in an application the search giant filed with the Federal Communications Commission. In the application, Google said it would begin testing a device it labeled simply an ‘entertainment device.’ The device will have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and, as Google noted in the application, it will ‘connect to other home electronics equipment.’”

At long last Google has combined its web browser with its mobile OS. Earlier today Google announced the first beta release of Chrome for Android. It only works on the latest version of Android, and it is not yet available in all countries.

This reported is still in the process of downloading and installing it, but I m looking forward to it. Early reports suggest that it is quite the speedy browser, with some bloggers appreciating it over their preferred browser.

Read more

Google is celebrating Charles Dickens‘ 200th birthday with a Google Doodle in his honor. The drawing includes characters from A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol.

Born February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens, one of the great Victorian authors, wrote many serial stories which later became books. When you click on the image, the Google search results lead you to a Wikipedia page, as well as to a list of Dickens’ books available in Google Books.

For more free eBooks from the author, follow this link to Project Gutenberg.

Texts from  J.R.R. Tolkien and George Orwell have been removed from the public domain in the United States, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling this week.

On Wednesday, The Supreme Court upheld a 1994 law which gives copyright protection to body of foreign works that had previously been available for free in the public domain.

Google hoped that the high court would overturn the law. The Wall Street Journal has more: “Google Inc. was the leading company challenging the law, in an echo of the separate battle in Washington over an Internet piracy bill that pits Google against movie studios. The search company, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, said in court papers that the restored copyrights could affect more than a million books it has scanned through its Google Books Library Project.”