Google Inc. is planning to start selling e-books this summer via a platform that would give readers the option to download the books onto different types of electronic devices, the company announced today.

The new service, called Google Editions, will offer e-books for sale through the company and through other retailers, McClatchy-Tribune Newspapers reported. It will be "device agnostic," Gabriel Stricker, a Google spokesman, said today.

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The launch of Google Editions may position the online giant to compete in the growing e-book market along with Amazon.com and Apple Inc., the report pointed out.

The Kindle was launched in late 2007 and so far has led the e-book market; however, Amazon does not release sales data for the device. The iPad was released by Apple last month, and reported that it has sold 1 million devices and 1.5 million copies of e-books on its iBookstore service since then.

The Christian Science Monitor reported that Google Editions may launch as early as June.

The Google Books settlement is currently awaiting approval in U.S. courts. Until a settlement is reached, Google is "only authorized to sell books for which it has negotiated distribution rights with publishers and public-domain works," according to CNET.