Google Play Books for iOS updated with textbook rental support

AppleInsider

Google on Thursday updated its iBooks-like Google Play Books port, bringing in-app rentals, highlighting and note taking for scanned books, as well as other features to the iOS title.

Now at version 1.6.0, Google Play Books for iOS now supports in-app rentals, which allows users to access select books from the service's "millions of titles" on their iPhone, iPad or iPod.

In addition to existing rental titles, users can choose from Google Play's newly introduced digital textbook library. According to Google's website, students can save up to 80 percent off the cost of physical textbooks by renting through its service.

With the new service, users can highlight, make notes and, in some cases, copy text from textbooks during the rental period. A quick look at the Google Play store shows a number of titles are already available.

Aside from textbooks the latest version of Google Play Books allows users to mark up books compiled from scanned pages. A new sepia reading mode and stability improvements round out the update's changes.

Google Play Books comes in at 16.6MB and can be downloaded via the App Store.

tribalogical

"Textbook rental"?

Wow. How mercenary can you get.

I'm looking forward to when our local library completes its plans for offering e-books on loan. Not so different from this "rental" system, I'm guessing, except you won't have to pay out the nose for it.

toysandme

Google sucked major libraries like Harvard's into letting them scan their books "for the benefit of mankind" and they now charge money for them! What a scam!

takeiteasy

Quote:

Originally Posted by tribalogical 



"Textbook rental"?



Wow. How mercenary can you get.



I'm looking forward to when our local library completes its plans for offering e-books on loan. Not so different from this "rental" system, I'm guessing, except you won't have to pay out the nose for it.

Not sure where you live, here in bay area, libraries lend 'e-books' atleast for a few years now.

banyan bruce

The cost and inaccessibility (or lack of universal access) restricts the usefulness of some excellent textbooks on iBooks. Apple aren't really that serious at getting these books into mainstream education. When money is tight, the folk with the money and students they support wish for Apple products, but purchase MS and Google, simply because Education spending is purely cost driven and generally has little or no sense of value for money.

That being said, Apple don't help themselves with restrictive practises and high cost of entry. They will still make plenty of money (profit), but it will be on volume and halo sales.

gatorguy

tribalogical wrote: »

"Textbook rental"?

Wow. How mercenary can you get.

I'm looking forward to when our local library completes its plans for offering e-books on loan. Not so different from this "rental" system, I'm guessing, except you won't have to pay out the nose for it.

Google hardly has the only textbook rental service. Do a web search for "textbook rental". Note too that not all publishers allow rentals, with most titles only available for purchase from the way it looks.

applesince86

Whereas Google is doing it, there can't be any collusion with publishers...

gatorguy

applesince86 wrote: »

Whereas Google is doing it, there can't be any collusion with publishers...

Good idea. You should check it out to see.

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kathleen hamilt

I've noticed that a number of students prefer to rent textbooks than buying brand new. It's probably due to the huge and usurious cost. Moreover, it once was that one could only rent a book through Amazon if they had a Kindle and not every book is accessible for Kindle. Oh! Let the rejoicing start because the Amazon book rental plan currently includes hardcopies.