14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Google announced a new flavor of its Google Play Books application for devices powered by its Android operating system.
The Google Play Books application provides users with the possibility to access over 4 million books on the go, though it is available only in select markets, such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Korea and Japan.
The new app flavor is meant to enable users to better explore books and understand what they are reading, Xinxing Gu, product manager, Google Play, says in a blog post.
“School’s now in full swing and students are picking up the classics. Whether you're diving into Moby Dick or trying your hand at some Tolstoy, we want to make your reading experience as enjoyable and rewarding as possible,” Xinxing Gu explains.
“Starting today, when you come across an unfamiliar geographic location—a faraway city or distant mountain range—you can tap on the location to learn more about it. You’ll see an info card with a Google Map and the option to get more information by searching on Google or Wikipedia.”
The app also provides users with fast translation capabilities for words or phrases to and from a number of languages. Simply select the text and use the button on the top action bar to choose the language to translate into.
The new application flavor also provides users with the possibility to easily highlight text and take notes when needed. Moreover, the app will sync these with the cloud, so that users could access them from any tablet or phone they might own, as well as via the web.
“You will also notice a new sepia reading theme (in addition to the current day and night themes), 2D sliding page turn animation, and lots of stability improvements. Finally, you can now read Japanese books in a vertical, right-to-left layout—and flip pages from right to left,” Xinxing Gu continues.
The new flavor of Google Play Books application is available for download in the Google Play store via this link.
