Microsoft plans to open a digital bookstore in April, according to a report on the technology blog Good E-Reader.
The Microsoft Digital Bookstore will be part of the next update of the Windows 10 operating system, due out April 11. The MS Digital Bookstore will sell hundreds of thousands of frontlist and backlist e-book titles.
According to the report, e-book titles purchased from the digital bookstore can be read using Microsoft Edge, the Windows 10 Web browser that replaces Explorer. The April 11 update to Windows 10 will, according to Good E-Reader, make it easier for consumers to read e-books on their PC, laptop or tablet devices.
The update will also add Night Light to the Windows OS, a feature that reduces blue light emitted from screens. (The blue light emissions have been blamed for interfering with sleep.)
Earlier this year the technology website, The Verge, reported that Microsoft planned to open a digital bookstore offering titles readable on the Edge Web browser.
Microsoft’s move to join the e-book retailing community comes years after the technology giant ended its investment relationship with Barnes & Noble. After initially investing $300 million in B&N’s Nook Media in 2012, Microsoft stepped back from the partnership in the wake of mounting losses. B&N agreed to buy back Microsoft’s stake in the Nook for $125 million in 2014.
