For people living abroad, the days of muling paperbacks in your suitcase and mining the bookshelves of the local B&B may be over. Google announces that it’s e-book service, Google Editions, will offer books that can be read on any e-book reader… or laptop… or smartphone.

Google’s biggest e-book competitors — Amazon and Barnes & Noble — have systems that restrict which device you can use as an e-book reader. But Google Editions will not be device-specific. Google’s e-books will work on any computer, e-book reader, or mobile phone with a Web connection, freeing bookworms abroad from having to buy specific (and expensive) devices such as Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.

The new Google Editions e-book store is set to launch the first half of 2010 and will initially feature 500,000 titles. Pricing structure has yet to be determined.