Google’s long awaited e-book store is getting set to finally launch before the end of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal, quoting Scott Dougall, a Google product management director. Between Amazon’s Kindle offerings, B&N’s Nook store, and Apple’s iBook store, one could fairly ask if we really need another darn place to buy computer files of data that we choose to call “books”. But Editions will take a more open approach: you buy the book, it stays in the cloud, you read it on whatever browser you get to.

Google Editions hopes to upend the existing e-book market by offering an open, “read anywhere” model that is different from many competitors. Users will be able to buy books directly from Google or from multiple online retailers–including independent bookstores–and add them to an online library tied to a Google account. They will be able to access their Google accounts on most devices with a Web browser, including personal computers, smartphones and tablets.