Ingram’s Vital Source Expands e-Textbook Reach with Android Application
NASHVILLE—April 2, 2012—As students look for more ways to interact with digital textbooks, they are increasingly turning to smartphones and tablets powered by the Android operating system. To meet this demand, VitalSource, the most-used e-textbook platform in the industry today announced the expansion of its mobile footprint with the addition of an e-textbook app for Android.
“We are significantly expanding our mobile capabilities with our new Android app,” said Kent Freeman, chief operating officer, Vital Source. “As a result, more content from the leaders in education publishing will reach more readers worldwide. Every student has a device and/or operating system preference, and we know that Android smart phones and tablets are becoming an important option.”
VitalSource Bookshelf is the only e-textbook platform available in online and offline environments with dedicated download apps for a full range of devices including tablets, smart phones, laptops, and desktops. The platform supports Macintosh and Windows operating systems and Apple’s iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and now Android smart phones and tablets.
The new VitalSource Bookshelf app for Android is a true reader app, and not a web-only tool. Unlike web-only based applications, the VitalSource app can be used both online and offline, giving busy students and professors anytime, anywhere access to content, that syncs highlights and notes regardless of which app is used—online, mobile or desktop.
VitalSource, with more than 2 million users, has a presence on more than 6,000 campuses in over 180 countries. Educators and students have access to tens of thousands of titles in multiple formats from the world’s leading textbook publishers, including Elsevier, Pearson, Cengage, Macmillan, John Wiley and Sons, McGraw-Hill, Wolters Kluwer, Oxford University Press, Taylor & Francis and many others.
The VitalSource Bookshelf Android app is available for free from Google Play, formerly known as the Android Market.
About Ingram
Ingram Content Group provides a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry. Ingram’s operating units are Ingram Book Company, Lightning Source Inc., Vital Source Technologies, Inc., Ingram Periodicals Inc., Ingram International Inc., Ingram Library Services Inc., Spring Arbor Distributors Inc., Ingram Publisher Services Inc., Tennessee Book Company LLC, and Coutts Information Services.
Source: Ingram.