Close eyes and listen to books
By Jun Ji-hye
Using your eyes is not the only way to absorb books.
Instead, you can close your eyes and listen to books with relaxing music and various sound effects. This may help you compose yourself after an exhausting busy day and rest more comfortably.
Until recently, audio books in Korea were regarded as just for blind people, but recently they have been in the limelight as a new way to enjoy books.
With their growing popularity, Google Play launched an audio-book service in nine languages in 45 countries including Korea, Wednesday, challenging Amazon’s Audible that dominates the audio book market
When opening the audio book section at the Google’s smartphone app store, lists of favorite and red-hot books as well as fairy tale books are lined up. Books can be searched by genre as well.
When a book is selected, a user can see related information including author, publication date, narrator and total play time.
A user can listen to a sample that lasts for a few minutes before purchasing an audio book. Google Play offers a 10 percent discount as most audio books are abridged editions.
This reporter tried international best seller “Please Look After Mom” written by Shin Kyung-sook.
A female narrator with a calm voice reads it with a little bit sad music playing. The voice changed to a male when the brother of the protagonist appears in the book.
Having already read the book years ago, this reporter knows the whole story. However, it felt differently when listening to somebody reading it with feeling. It was sadder.
This reporter also tried a self-improvement book. The music was brighter, giving a more energetic feeling.
Those who have children can use the service for fairy tale books, and those who want to study English can use audio books in English, some of which are provided for free.
According to Google Play, more than 10,000 audio books in Korean are available as it formed a partnership with local audio book maker Audien. The Korean company, established in 2006, has distributed 10,400 audio books so far and adds 100 titles monthly.
“Users can enjoy most audio books distributed by Audien,” said Jae Kwon, strategic partner manager of Google’ global product partnership. “We will make efforts to provide users with more diverse audio books as interest and demand is increasing.”
Functions offered by Google’s audio book service, which can be used in various devices including laptops and tablet PCs, include timer and setting play speed.
Kwon Oh-jun, leader of the content business team at Audien, said audio books make reading more enjoyable as they offer the feeling of liveliness.
“Using audio books can also help users relieve eyestrain and use their travel time more valuably,” he said.