Google has announced some new features for their eBooks, available from the Google eBookstore. Google’s eBookstore has around 3 million books, both free and paid and they are available on the web, Nook, iOS devices and Android.
These new features apply to the eBooks web reader. Now you can define, translate and search specific words within the text easily, with two clicks of the mouse. Either double click or highlight a single word within a Google eBook, and a menu will pop up with five options: Search, Translate, Search Book, Search Google and Search Wikipedia.
These new features only work in “flowing text” mode, not “scanned pages” mode. Note that some books can be switched over to flowing text mode, but not all Google eBooks are available as such.
Defining a word will pull from Google Dictionary, and it will pop up right on the page instead of navigating away. Many words will also have the audio icon next to them, so you can hear the words pronounced without leaving the page. If you click “more,” you’ll be taken to the full Google Dictionary page for the word in question.
You can also translate words or even entire paragraphs into any of the languages Google offers in its translate service. For the Hatian Creole struggling with his Bulgarian text, this function is for them.
The final new functions offered are search functions. “Search Book” will search the selected word or phrase throughout the book you’re reading. “Search Google” and “Search Wikipedia” will open up a new window and do a full search of the word or phrase in the respective engines.
Oh, and first person to identify the book used in the demonstrations gets (doesn’t really get) 10 internet bucks! (Shouldn’t be too hard, people)