Amazon's Kindle

On Thursday Google and Amazon announced plans to avail more books to mobile devices, substantially increasing the number of e-books available for reading on-the-go, reports the New York Times.

Google will take the 1.5 million-plus books it scanned for its Google Book Search Project, now available free on PCs, and put them on mobile phones like the iPhone and T-Mobile G1. It will also ensure the mobile version displays text-only versions of the books (vs. scanned pages), allowing for quicker downloads over wireless networks.

Google will also bring out-of-print titles and current books to its list of products.

Amazon has a number of bestsellers among the 230,000 books compatible with its e-book reader, the Kindle. They will be made available on a variety of mobile phones, the company said, but did not give a definite release date.

Book reading programs are becoming increasingly popular, and several e-book services, like Stanza from Lexcycle and the eReader from Fictionwise, are already available for the iPhone and other mobile devices.

Analysts argue smartphones are unlikely to replace dedicated e-book readers like the Kindle or the Reader from Sony. These specialized devices are about the size of a paperback book and use a technology that does not require backlighting, making them easier to read in most light conditions. They also have longer battery life than most mobile devices.

Mobile phones may be good for quick access to reading material, but their backlighted screens are "terrible for long-form reading," said VP Evan Schnittman of global business development at Oxford University Press. Books are the size they are because of hundreds of years of experience of what works best, he added.

But with ever more powerful mobile devices hitting the market, it is likely the market for reading on handhelds will grow, with consumers willing to "trade a certain amount of quality for convenience and cost," said Michael Gartenberg, an independent technology analyst.

Amazon launched the Kindle in November 2007, the same year Google Books introduced a tool enabling users to embed parts of certain books directly onto other websites or on its online notepad, Google Notebook.