Categories: Tech & Society

Google finally launches eBooks in the Google Play (India) store

Google has finally started selling e-books via the Google Play store in India after rolling out the Play store to purchase books, movies and songs in US and certain other countries a couple of months back. Google is quite late to the market, coming three months after Apple opened the iTunes store in India. This is ironic considering the fact that Android phones have a high penetration in India compared to the iPhone. However Apple currently sells only music and movies and not books and guess Google is just testing the waters with the e-books.

There is a wide variety of books available and books by almost all the famous Indian writers are listed on the Play store. The prices are listed in INR, as is done in the case of purchasing apps. Once a book is purchased it can be downloaded on any number of Android devices through the Google Play Books app, which is quite similar to the Kindle app by Amazon. The one interesting  feature is Google allows users to read the book via the browser too. The recently released Oath of Vayuputras (the final part of the Amish Tripati’s Shiva trilogy) was available for a nice deal. Once you start reading a book on the phone and then open in a browser, it automatically opens in the last page you read on the phone!

The Android app has options to adjust text size, theme and other display options. There is also an option to ‘Read Aloud’ but the voice sounds so mechanical, you wish you didn’t choose it. There is also an option for ‘High-quality voice’ which is slightly some human. But it requires internet connection and slows down even when connected via WiFi network.

Finally the Indian consumers seem to be getting some choice for consuming digital media. The market is still in its infancy. Apple is still taking baby steps and ative players like Flyte (owned by Flipkart), Gaana, Dhingana, Saavn, etc are also coming out with interesting contents . Now is the time to go and get that popcorn.

This article has been reproduced from Sridhar’s blog.

Sridhar Rajendran

I am an avid blogger who likes to write about the latest tech news or the aha app that just made my life even awesome. Also a book worm, movie buff and a few other adjectives...

Recent Posts

What happens to your personal data? How AI ensures your digital footprint stays secure?

Each tap, click, and action in the online world adds to our increasingly vast digital…

21 hours ago

The AI Editor has arrived: What Human-in-the-Loop publishing & ecommerce really looks like

Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a futuristic concept in publishing and e-commerce. It’s here,…

5 days ago

After the artist & the writer it’s the developer’s turn to rethink careers as AI starts coding

The artist and the writer have been living in fear of AI taking over their…

6 days ago

Geek Appeal: New gadgets & apps on the block

The Tech Panda takes a look at recently launched gadgets & apps in the market.…

7 days ago

With top engineers from India in hot demand globally, Ness Digital Engineering champions internal pathways to leadership  

India’s tech and IT sector continues to grow, expected to top $300 billion in fiscal…

7 days ago

NTT debuts ultra-fast IOWN network with cross-border Kabuki performance

Japanese tech giant NTT showcased the latest in Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) technology…

1 week ago