People snickered when Amazon first released its Kindle e-book tablet, which receives Kindle-formatted e-books, magazines and newspapers downloaded from Amazon.com via wi-fi or the cellular radio built into each reader.

Now, with Amazon’s second-generation Kindle topping its own gadget sales charts, rivals are trying to bust into what is suddenly looking like a multi-billion business (Citigroup reckons Amazon will sell close to half a million Kindle tablets this year, and do $US1 billion in Kindle-related business, including downloads, next year).

Amazon has left them with plenty of opportunities. Kindle’s content format is proprietary to Amazon, and neither the reader nor its e-books are available outside the US (the same goes for a limited Kindle for iPhone trial).

Today Google announced its intention to fully exploit both weaknesses.

The company says it wants to create an “e-book ecosystem” by the end of this year that will allow any participating publisher to sell e-books through a partner programme.

A Google spokesperson said the e-books would be readable on any web-enabled device (bar, ironically, the Kindle).

And while books available for Kindle (which includes 90%+ of the New York Times Top 100 bestsellers) are a uniform $US9.95 (the same price that many newspapers charge for a monthly subscription by Kindle), Google will allow publishers to set their own price.

Google has yet to weigh in on whether its e-books will be copy-protected.

Meanwhile, Amazon has confirmed that its larger, newspaper-friendly Kindle DX will be released - again US only - on June 10.

A bevy of launch partners, including The New York Times, are looking to the DX to boost paid readership. Many, including The LA Times, will offer steep discounts on the $US430 Kindle DX for those who take out a 12-month subscription.