Applications
Eli Ramos | Aug 10 2013 08:45 PM
As a College student, the announcement of Google bringing the option for rental textbooks was one of the highlights of Google's Breakfast with Sundar Pichai event. I like to keep as much as I can under Google's umbrella, and use their services for pretty much everything, so of course, this was no different. They announced that it would be available sometime in August before school starts, and I have patiently been waiting for it. Not only does this save me backpack space (and my back), but it's supposed to save me 80% off print prices. It also lets me sync throughout my devices and on the web, so as long as I have internet access, I have my textbooks with me.
The latest Play Books update brought along many UI improvements to the app, but also (quietly, I might add) brought the options for textbook rentals. There's no way to search them subject-wise, but you can search by ISBN number, author and title.
While I did manage to find some textbooks that I would need, some titles aren't recommended for smaller screens. I'm guessing this has to do more with phones than tablets. I did download a free sample of one of these titles on my Nexus 7 (2nd Gen.) and it looked fine to me.The material was easily readable. It's also worth mentioning that not all textbooks have sample downloads. ***Note*** This was on a new Nexus 7 with the higher resolution display, other tablet resolutions may vary.
Pricing was cheaper on a few textbooks I compared between Google's textbooks and on the Nook app. This was with both renting and purchasing. Again, this may vary from textbook to textbook and depending on where you get your e-books from.
Also included in the app update is the ability to take notes within your textbook and search for a particular phrase of word. Tired of highlighting pages and pages with a highlighter? You can also highlight and annotate key passages, while also having quick access to dictionaries, translation tools, Wikipedia and Google search.
If you're a student, this is something that will definitely be of interest to you. Check out the changelog below and the official Android Blog with more information on Google's digital textbooks.
If you're a student, do you plan on using this service? Let us know in the comments!
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