$13 eReader?

pillacd · 10-09-2012, 06:36 PM

Evidently Txtr is preparing a 10 Euro/$13 ereader:

Txtr Beagle eReader

Obviously there are limitations: Bluetooth, not WiFi, 5" screen, meant to be paired with a phone. Still...

fjtorres · 10-09-2012, 06:40 PM

The comments are making it seem even dicier.
It can only be fed via a proprietary app and it appears the app pre-renders the transfered books to a proprietary format, with a 5 book limit.

kyteflyer · 10-09-2012, 06:47 PM

YUCK! Sounds awful.

Dazrin · 10-09-2012, 06:57 PM

That article and comments are much less encouraging than Engadget's which made it seem fairly nice, if very bare boned.

Elfwreck · 10-09-2012, 07:05 PM

One comment says the app requires a Facebook login. So... not enough to require special software to transfer books; you need to login with a third-party account, as well.

Wonder if that's how they're making it so cheap--by selling the user data to sponsors.

(Too bad, though. I'd cope with special transfer software if it worked by USB from a computer, and actually stored its own ebooks.)

Dulin's Books · 10-09-2012, 07:19 PM

Nice one Txtr. Putting that 3m money to good use.

The 5 inch displays have a higher ppi than the 6 inch so text should be a little crisper and if it can be read in landscape you can keep the words per page count up to keep from increasing the page turns by much.

Nice that someone finally took Holly Gates' Blue Chute design and the Osprey concept from 2003 and really built a reader that is a bluetooth phone accessory

http://www.positron.org/projects/bluechute/

http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1...d=10878,00.asp

of course the real question will be if they can get some presence in the carriers' store fronts to offer them at that price

fjtorres · 10-09-2012, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

of course the real question will be if they can get some presence in the carriers' store fronts to offer them at that price

I'm thinking the bigger question is whether the carriers will lock the transfer/render app to their ebookstores.
Knowing how euro telcos operate, I wouldn't count on being able to sideload ebooks from other sources.

Canuck_in_Japan · 10-09-2012, 10:16 PM

Yikes, Facebook login is nice as an option but no way would I buy a reader that requires it. A reader that demands to have access to my Facebook information is exactly the kind of reader that I don't want to give it to.

kevinp · 10-09-2012, 10:23 PM

To me it seems like one of those LCD picture frames, but even more limited. And the price is subsidized. I wonder what it really costs. I'd rather read books on my phone than mess with this thing. I certainly wouldn't pay anything for it.

HansTWN · 10-09-2012, 10:29 PM

I wouldn't pay 10 cents for it if I actually had to use it, but it might work as a cheap gift item for businesses to their customers.

djulian · 10-09-2012, 10:36 PM

Tying it to a smartphone is a terrible idea. At least, if their goal is to sell one to me.

Dulin's Books · 10-09-2012, 11:30 PM

you can tranfer from pc as well

Quote:

Update: A txtr rep has shown up in the comments and he says that the txtr iOS app will also soon get support for transferring ebooks to the Beagle – PCs too.

where is the facebook requirement?

tomsem · 10-10-2012, 12:03 AM

4GB. That can't be right. That would be good for many more than 5 books, even rendered as 800x600 image files. And over bluetooth it would take forever to fill up.

Still, for the price and the novelty, I'd get one.

adbosch · 10-10-2012, 01:30 AM

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.

petermillard · 10-10-2012, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

you can tranfer from pc as well

where is the facebook requirement?

I was wondering that too; the only Facebook reference I can see is in one of the comments. I'm a little surprised at the hostility shown towards this; if we cast our minds back a few years all our eink readers had to be connected to a PC via USB to transfer our books - this just swaps USB for Bluetooth and the PC for a smartphone - or presumably, anything that'll run the Android (and soon iOS) Textr app that has Bluetooth.

I'm sure some people will moan about the inability to alter the fonts/size on the fly, but this is an eink reader to €10! TBH, I'm wondering why they bother charging at all - do they need the €10 that badly?? Could they not subsidise it that last little bit to make it free?

Still, for €10 I'm in; why not?

10-09-2012, 06:36 PM	#1
pillacd Member Posts: 12 Karma: 480132 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Fort Worth, TX Device: Nook HD+, Nook STR	$13 eReader? Evidently Txtr is preparing a 10 Euro/$13 ereader: Txtr Beagle eReader Obviously there are limitations: Bluetooth, not WiFi, 5" screen, meant to be paired with a phone. Still...

10-09-2012, 10:29 PM	#10
HansTWN Wizard Posts: 4,538 Karma: 264065402 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Taiwan Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD	I wouldn't pay 10 cents for it if I actually had to use it, but it might work as a cheap gift item for businesses to their customers. Last edited by HansTWN; 10-09-2012 at 10:41 PM.

10-10-2012, 12:03 AM	#13
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,006 Karma: 27060353 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	4GB. That can't be right. That would be good for many more than 5 books, even rendered as 800x600 image files. And over bluetooth it would take forever to fill up. Still, for the price and the novelty, I'd get one. Last edited by tomsem; 10-10-2012 at 12:07 AM.

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10-09-2012, 06:40 PM	#2
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	The comments are making it seem even dicier. It can only be fed via a proprietary app and it appears the app pre-renders the transfered books to a proprietary format, with a 5 book limit.

10-09-2012, 06:47 PM	#3
kyteflyer Wizard Posts: 1,845 Karma: 9547754 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Newcastle, Australia Device: iPhone 12 Mini	YUCK! Sounds awful.

10-09-2012, 06:57 PM	#4
Dazrin Wizard Posts: 2,735 Karma: 75825105 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: PDXish Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices	That article and comments are much less encouraging than Engadget's which made it seem fairly nice, if very bare boned.

10-09-2012, 07:05 PM	#5
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,187 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	One comment says the app requires a Facebook login. So... not enough to require special software to transfer books; you need to login with a third-party account, as well. Wonder if that's how they're making it so cheap--by selling the user data to sponsors. (Too bad, though. I'd cope with special transfer software if it worked by USB from a computer, and actually stored its own ebooks.)

10-09-2012, 07:19 PM	#6
Dulin's Books Wizard Posts: 2,806 Karma: 13500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Portland, OR Device: Boox PB360 etc etc etc	Nice one Txtr. Putting that 3m money to good use. The 5 inch displays have a higher ppi than the 6 inch so text should be a little crisper and if it can be read in landscape you can keep the words per page count up to keep from increasing the page turns by much. Nice that someone finally took Holly Gates' Blue Chute design and the Osprey concept from 2003 and really built a reader that is a bluetooth phone accessory http://www.positron.org/projects/bluechute/ http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1...d=10878,00.asp of course the real question will be if they can get some presence in the carriers' store fronts to offer them at that price

10-09-2012, 10:16 PM	#8
Canuck_in_Japan Wizard Posts: 1,476 Karma: 14328611 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: Aura, Aura H2O, Kindle PW3	Yikes, Facebook login is nice as an option but no way would I buy a reader that requires it. A reader that demands to have access to my Facebook information is exactly the kind of reader that I don't want to give it to.

10-09-2012, 10:23 PM	#9
kevinp Fanatic Posts: 583 Karma: 3549018 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Michigan Device: Kindle Scribe, Kindle PW (10th & 11th gen); Fire HD 10	To me it seems like one of those LCD picture frames, but even more limited. And the price is subsidized. I wonder what it really costs. I'd rather read books on my phone than mess with this thing. I certainly wouldn't pay anything for it.

10-09-2012, 10:36 PM	#11
djulian Evangelist Posts: 408 Karma: 1786912 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kindle Voyage	Tying it to a smartphone is a terrible idea. At least, if their goal is to sell one to me.

10-10-2012, 01:30 AM	#14
adbosch Addict Posts: 299 Karma: 511516 Join Date: Jun 2004 Device: Kobo Forma; Pocketbook Color 633	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.