New e-textbooks on Google Play can be rented at 80% of the purchase price

Google today announced the launch of e-textbooks from well-known publishers such as Pearson, Wiley, Macmillan Higher Education, Random House, McGraw-Hill, and Cengage Learning in the Google Play media store.

Given that Google had previously hinted at this move during the Nexus 7 and Chromecast launch event a few weeks ago, this announcement does not come as a surprise. At the time, Google did not disclose the exact timing for when e-textbooks would be available on Google Play.

Like other categories of books, e-textbooks purchased on Google Play will be stored in the cloud, allowing users to access them on Android, iOS devices, and via the web. Google stated that users can rent textbooks on Google Play for about 80% of the normal retail price, with a rental period of six months. While many books on Google Play are available for purchase, some are offered only as rentals. Naturally, all purchases and rentals are processed through Google Wallet.

It is worth noting that Google's textbook initiative is far less ambitious than Apple's. Apple aims to provide more interactive textbooks via tablets; the textbooks on Google Play are simply digital replicas of their original counterparts.