It looks like Google has rolled out Google Play Books to Malaysia. A banner has been placed at the Google Play Store website, as well as a new “Books” tab to the left. The Play Store on Android, however, still does not mention it – though the Google Play Books store on Android can now be enabled. (Update: What appears to be an updated version of the Play Store running on our review unit of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 shows the same banner as above.)
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If the Play Books Store isn’t pre-installed on your Android device, you can download it at the Play Store here. In my initial experience, the Play Books Store has already been pre-installed on my Nexus 4, and the listing has the option to enable it instead of downloading it. Once enabled, you can open the Play Books Store, where you will run into a few pop-up notices stating that “The Play Books Store is not available in your country yet” as well as “You cannot purchase books in your country at this time”. Ignore all of those and press on, and you’ll be able to browse through the Play Books Store, as below:
Google Play Books viewed via Web
The interface will be immediately familiar to Android users, as it is exactly the same as browsing for apps on the Play Store. The only difference is in the colour scheme, swapping the light green on the Play Store for a light blue one in Play Books. The left-most tab allows you to filter titles via genre, while there are also tabs for new arrivals, as well as the usual “Top Selling” and “Top Free” sections.
A quick look through the titles on offer shows plenty of options for readers, from mainstream fiction to comic books and graphic novels. They are also priced competitively – roughly similar as physical books, while some are cheaper.
In addition, a quick check at the Google Play support page confirms that Google Play Books has indeed been rolled out to Malaysia. Engadget also confirms that eight other Asian countries have received the roll-out today: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and India (who received the roll-out slightly earlier).
Head on to the new Google Play Books store here. For iOS users, you can download the app here.
Thanks, @RidzwanRadzi!
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