Apple has always dominated the mobile app world, keeping competitors in their shadow from the very beginning.  But one competitor in particular seems to be getting a bit of sunlight as the mobile ecosystem evolves.  Android’s gaining in media offerings, with the recent addition of movie rentals and book purchases, with a Music launch earlier this year.  Google’s making Android more competitive with Apple products on the consumer media front, leveraging trends in personal cloud storage and access to keep users in its camp.

With mobile video rising in popularity and demand, Google’s been able to offer a more comprehensive rental service, directly through its Android Market.  While others extend their support of the Android platform through video streaming services of their own, the most recent being AT&T’s U-verse, Netflix and Hulu Plus becoming available to more Android powered devices, Twentieth Century Fox signs an agreement with Google to make its content available through Android devices.

Twentieth Century Fox’s senior VP Vincent Marcais told Financial Times, “Given its strong growth as a mobile operating system, the support for Android is an important move for us.”

The service works by allowing download of a digital Android-friendly copy of a Fox movie after buying an original Blu-ray disc of the movie.  The first movie available for download will be X-Men: First Class which will be released on October.  The service will be first available for residents in the US, UK, France and Germany.

And if Android users doesn’t get a kick out of Fox’s news, Harry Potter fans will surely dig this:  JK Rowling signed an exclusive Pottermore deal with Google Android.  The e-book version of the 7 Harry Potter novels will be available for Google’s e-Book subscribers and the payment service to be used is Google Checkout, not PayPal.

By partnering with Google eBooks, Rowling has found a way to put her seven highly-in-demand books on smartphones, tablets, e-readers and computers without having to split the sales with companies such as Apple or Amazon, who typically keep about 30% of sales.

With its Google Checkout and Google Wallet, Google is really pushing itself towards e-commerce, making it easier for consumers to pay online and keep tract of their purchases.  With this bold move from Rowling, we may see the start of a trend, one where Google offers a lucrative alternative to publishers to lure them away from competitors Apple and Amazon.  With Apple’s strict policies regarding third-party vendors, more merchants may be walking Google’s path.