E-book upstart Txtr signs majors for U.S. push

[stonetools]

When you think of e-readers, you probably picture the hardware first: the Kindle, Nook, iPad or maybe even a Kobo. But not all digital reading takes place on one of these devices — and to try and capitalize on that, upstart txtr has just announced deals with four major U.S. publishers.

Although the Berlin-based company, headed up by local entrepreneur and super-angel Christophe Maire, did previously try to make its own physical e-reader, it now focuses on providing its own e-reading apps for use by third parties. That includes a number of significant customers, including white-label stores for the likes of Samsung, Toshiba, T-Mobile, the UK book chain Foyles and the Dutch e-tailer bol.com.

It already had content deals with Random House and a few others, but it’s now adding to its roster with deals to add titles from Hachette, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Wily and Penguin — as well as the Ingram Content Group’s Core Source Plus program.

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I've heard good things about Textr, but never used it. What do users of think of it, and its chances?

[tubemonkey]

Just checked the ratings. Doesn't look promising:

• Apple - 2.5 --- 144 x 1-star vs 48 x 5-star
• Android - 2.9 --- 90 x 1-star vs 66 x 5-star

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Just checked the ratings. Doesn't look promising:

• Apple - 2.5 --- 144 x 1-star vs 48 x 5-star
• Android - 2.9 --- 90 x 1-star vs 66 x 5-star

They're not going to do well with that. Oh well, Bluefire is in the same space and I find it to be good.
I guess the business plan is that if there is an explosion of independent bookstores, they'll bundle branded ereader apps with the bookstores' offerings- but the app better be top-rate.

[jgaiser]

Tried txtr on my iPad. Not impressed. Not a 1 star, but maybe 2 - 2 1/2.

[tubemonkey]

3M owns 25% of txtr and uses it to power their Cloud Library.