Amazon launches Kindle textbook rental service

Amazon on Monday launched its Kindle textbook rental service, which allows students to rent "tens of thousands of textbooks", according to Los Angeles Times. The e-book textbook rental service will help students save as much as 80 percent on some titles. Amazon said that students can now rent textbooks from 30 to 360 days and can either rent them again or purchase them once the rental period is up. "Students tell us that they enjoy the low prices we offer on new and used print textbooks. Now we're excited to offer students an option to rent Kindle textbooks and only pay for the time they need with savings up to 80 percent off the print list price on a 30-day rental," Dave Limp, vice president of Amazon Kindle said, according to PC Magazine. Rentals can be read on Amazon's Kindle eReaders, and Kindle apps for PCs, as well as smartphones and tablet computers running Apple's iOS, Microsoft Windows Phone 7 and Google's Android operating system. Rentals also have a clear advantage over physical copies that students' notes and highlighted content will be stored in the Amazon Cloud, and can be accessed if students rent the books again or buy at a later time.