$13 eReader?

[kennyc]

This is a cool reader, I love this! Where can I buy one?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by l_macd

The problem is it doesn't actually read epubs, as the Guardian article states, it stores and displays them as highly rendered bitmaps - it's essentially a bitmap viewer (and can only store a maximum of five).

Seems utterly pointless?

Uh Oh, I see what you mean, that is kind of silly, why not read epubs? Sheesh.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

The Guardian had a highly positive review about two weeks ago, and (hope I'm right) I think it has not been linked to on this board before:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...-reader-review

To me, the big pluses are ePub and, of course, price. Given the planned introductory price, it might be just a couple dollars on Black Friday 2013.

I doubt it. From the article you linked to:

The txtr beagle can be offered at such a low price because its cost will be subsidised by mobile carriers. The beagle itself won't be sold individually; you'll only be able to get one is by purchasing it when you sign up for a mobile phone contract on specific carriers.

If they were to offer it unsubsidized I wonder how it would compare to the Kobo Mini (£50 in the UK) - which is a similar size but which is a fully functional ereader capable of reading native ebook formats. It really would have to be around £8 for me to put up with not being able to search and not being able to adjust the font size. (I could live with only 5 books at a time).

I like that it uses AAA batteries though.

As for the bluetooth issue, you could probably use a PC with existing tools. Figure out the file structure - it's probably something like a directory/zip file with a series of JPGs and an index/metadata file. I bet they haven't bothered to obfuscate or encrypt it.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Uh Oh, I see what you mean, that is kind of silly, why not read epubs? Sheesh.

Brainpower.
This is essentially a digital photo frame with an eInk screen.
It needs close to zero computing power to do that.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by l_macd

The problem is it doesn't actually read epubs, as the Guardian article states, it stores and displays them as highly rendered bitmaps - it's essentially a bitmap viewer (and can only store a maximum of five).

Seems utterly pointless?

Actually they only support up to 5 books but in fact you can have more than a dozen depending on how big they are. It is dependent on memory size and as you say they are images, most likely not compressed simple gray bitmaps.

Dale

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by latepaul

I doubt it. From the article you linked to:

I read the review too fast and totally missed that it's a cell phone promotional item. Considered as a incentive to be locked into a cell phone contract, it should be free. I now doubt that it will be popular, if only because so many people with smart phones are either willing to read a book on that (I see this on transit) or already have another gadget.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Hee-Hee "Forever"

Spoiler:

[kennyc]

That's monkey business. Love the set though, nice banana tree too!

[emai7s2]

I got an email from txtr the other day saying that the Beagle will be 'available soon'.

There's a short advertising video here on their page:
http://de.txtr.com/beagle/?referral=beagle_email

Here's the google translate version in English:
http://translate.google.com/translat..._email&act=url

[Graham]

There's no price given there, and I've not seen any indication that this will be getting sold at the $13 subsidised price. It seems to be emerging at the same price as the $69 Kindle, which given its restrictions is crazy.

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...as-the-kindle/

Graham

[crich70]

Originally Posted by adbosch

I like the idea of aaa batteries keeping it charged for an extremely long time and allowing users to change them when and where required. I would gladly accept slight increase in thickness and weight for that.

Assuming the unit did stay charged like they say, otherwise it could get expensive quickly. My 1st ebook device was a Franklin Ebookman I bought through ebay and it was a battery hog. It was good for 4 hrs at most then you needed to insert fresh batteries. Even with rechargable batteries it was a pain. Even at only $13.00 I would expect to be able to load more than 5 books at a time too. Even the ebookman held more than that.

[Ladyrixx]

Originally Posted by crich70

Assuming the unit did stay charged like they say, otherwise it could get expensive quickly. My 1st ebook device was a Franklin Ebookman I bought through ebay and it was a battery hog. It was good for 4 hrs at most then you needed to insert fresh batteries. Even with rechargable batteries it was a pain. Even at only $13.00 I would expect to be able to load more than 5 books at a time too. Even the ebookman held more than that.

Wow. My Game Gear had better battery life than that. I liked the idea that you could change the battery in the Aztek EZ Reader Pocket Pro, but since Aztek stopped selling them, I would have loved to just put new AAs in that thing.

[meem]

I think this device project is died, it costs more than $13,
But the new real price is $69 !
So Kindle, Kobo and Nook still better and worth the price you pay for more than this.

http://wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/03/70-txtr-beagle/

[gabby98]

This was starting to sound like a great gift for my "sister-in-law" but the tech nerd in me can't get passed the 5 book limit and Facebook thing. the proprietary rendering and Bluetooth I can live with since I'll be the one probably loading it all the time, but I can only bend so far

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by gabby98

This was starting to sound like a great gift for my "sister-in-law" but the tech nerd in me can't get passed the 5 book limit and Facebook thing. the proprietary rendering and Bluetooth I can live with since I'll be the one probably loading it all the time, but I can only bend so far

I think the 5 book limit is more like 12 or 13 books. It is based on the length of the books and was way conservative.

Dale