Google launches unified digital content store

Google on Tuesday introduced a new online store called Google Play, offering consumers a one- stop marketplace for music, movies, books, applications and other digital media content. The Google Play store will create a unified digital entertainment destination that combines the company's Android Market app store, as well as other stores including Google Music and the Google eBookstore. "Google Play is entirely cloud-based so all your music, movies, books and apps are stored online, always available to you, and you never have to worry about losing them or moving them again," Jamie Rosenberg, director of digital content at Google, wrote in a post on the company's official blog. The new store is seen as Google's latest move to compete more directly with technology giants like Apple and Amazon in selling digital content. With Google Play, a user can store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new tracks, said Rosenberg. The marketplace will also offer over 450,000 Android apps and games, the world's largest selection of e-books and thousands of movies for users to download, browse or rent. The launch of Google Play started on the web from Tuesday and the upgrading will be rolled out over the coming days on smartphones or tablets running Google's Android operating system.