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Ereaders are more popular than ever these days, and with many, you don't have to be locked into a specific store or manufacturer's ebook download store to make the most of the one you own. Here's a look at five of the most popular ebook stores and services.
Earlier in the week, we asked you which ebook store was your favorite, whether it's for free ebooks, the latest releases and bestsellers, or just the easiest one to use with your device. Now we're back to highlight the ones you nominated. Photo by John Blyberg.
Amazon Kindle Store
Amazon's Kindle ebook and periodical store comes with the benefit of being available for almost any device, not just the Kindle ereader. Amazon has mobile apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and more, and synchronizes your available books across all of them. The bookstore itself features close to a million books, magazines, and blogs, many of which are completely free. The Kindle store also offers a wealth of new releases and bestsellers.
Google eBooks
Google's ebook store doesn't have quite the following that Amazon or Barnes and Noble does, but that's likely because there's no hardware reader directly attached to it. Google will fix that problem with the launch of the iriver Story HD, which will be the first ereader to come pre-configured with Google eBooks. For the rest of us, Google offers Android phone and tablet apps, iOS apps, apps for Sony and Barnes and Noble's Nook ereaders, and web access to their rapidly growing catalog of literature. Best of all Google partners with local bookstores and libraries to make book purchasing and borrowing available in brick-and-mortar locations.
Project Gutenberg
Before there was a Kindle or a Nook, there was Project Gutenberg, offering stacks of royalty-free, DRM-free literature to read on almost any device, completely free. The service is still going strong, and while its catalog has been eclipsed by its commercial competitors, it's still the go-to service for books and literature that are in the public domain. The service has over 36,000 completely free and DRM-free ebooks that you can read on multiple devices, and you can choose the file format that works best for you, and another 100,000 books available through the service's partners and affiliates.
Barnes and Noble Nook Store
Barnes and Noble's Nook ereader recently eclipsed the Kindle as the most purchased ereader, and the company's ebook store had something to do with that. The Nook Store sports over 2 million books, including new releases and best sellers, and also offers a host of apps for the Android-based Nook Color ereader. Don't have a Nook? Barnes and Noble has Nook apps for Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and Blackberry, tablets included.
Kobo Books
Kobo may not have the name recognition of its bigger competitors, but the service has an impressive catalog of eBooks and apps that won't lock you down to a specific device. Kobo offers apps for Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and WebOS, including tablets. If you want a dedicated ereader, Kobo offers one. Even if you do opt for a Kobo device, you can download your books in ePub or PDF format, making them portable and DRM-free.
