Some time ago, Apple introduced the ability to purchase textbooks through the iTunes store as well as a tool that allows pretty much anyone to publish interactive books:

http://www.apple.com/ca/education/ibooks-textbooks/ http://www.apple.com/ca/ibooks-author/

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Today, Google is announcing: (http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/google-play-textbooks) Google intros Play Textbooks for purchase and rent

By Jon Fingashttp://www.engadget.com/about/editors/jon-fingas/ posted Jul 24th, 2013 at 12:46 PM36 http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/google-play-textbooks/#comments

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[Google Play Textbooks]http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/google-play-textbooks/

Google is clearly committed to education on mobile devices beyond Play for Educationhttp://www.engadget.com/2013/05/15/google-intros-play-for-education-a-curated-portal-for-apps-and/ -- it just unveiledhttp://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/google-breakfast-liveblog/ Google Play Textbooks, a dedicated category on the Play Store for learning material. The section will offer titles from the top five publishers, and students will have the choice of renting books for six months in addition to buying them outright. Textbooks should be available this August, and they'll sync across Android, iOS and the web.