The German electronics company Txtr has just announced that they will be launching what has to be the smallest and cheapest dedicated ereader in the world. Believe it or not, they claim it will cost about $13. Well about 10 euros in fact as it will be launched in Europe first.
They have gone in a completely different direction to most ereader makers in that this one needs a Smartphone to obtain ebooks, rather than using WiFi or the ubiquitous USB connection to your computer to buy and transfer ebooks to the ereader. The idea is that you install their ebook App on your Smartphone and then find your ebooks using that, and then transfer them to your Txtr ereader by means of the Bluetooth in your Smartphone.
In other ways it is different to the current wave of ereaders as well, it has no WiFi, touch screen or many other functions we consider normal these days in an ereader, but it does do the main thing, enable you to read your ebooks in comfort.
With its 5 inch screen it is one of the smallest ereaders as well, and obviously it is very light as well, coming in at about 4.5 ounces. But as this is only 1 inch smaller than the Kindle this shouldn’t be a problem really I feel. By the way, this screen is an e-Ink screen, so it works fine in bright sunlight, though as it has no built in front light, you will need a clip on reading light to use it in the dark – Which must be a relief for the makers of such lights as they watch their market disappearing with the current move to built in front lights on all ereaders.
It has another unusual thing about it as well, it doesn’t have a permanently built in battery, but uses 2 AAA batteries, which they claim will allow you to read happily for up to a year before you will need to replace them. And I thought that other ereaders with a few weeks endurance between charges was good…..
Only 5 ebooks.
One thing that puzzles me about their blurbs is that they state that it has 4GB of internal memory, which normally spoken would be enough to store hundreds of ebooks, but they state that it can only hold 5 ebooks at once… This is something I would need to have explained to me, given that most ebooks are only a couple of hundred Kilobytes in size… Odd.
Here is a short and rather charming promo video, that at least gives you an idea of what it looks like…..
In conclusion.
If it really appears on the market – the ereader world has seen too many promised amazing gadgets which somehow never happened – this would seem to me to be a perfect device to have about yourself.. A simple, functional ereader, no more and no less.
For the rest, here are its main technical specs:
|
Display |
5″ E Ink display with 8-levels gray scale and 800 x 600 pixels resolution |
|
Weight |
128 grams (with batteries); 111 grams (without batteries) |
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Dimensions |
140 x 105 x 4.8 mm (14mm at the battery side); Volume: 100 cm3 |
|
Power and Battery Life |
Recommended battery types – AAA, 1.5V lithium, alkaline batteries or NiMH rechargeable batteries. Battery Life: Read for more than 1 year (12-15 books per year with normal use. Actual lifetime may vary by battery type.). Voltage: 3.0 V |
|
LED |
Red and blue LED colors on front side indicate the Bluetooth state and battery power state |
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System Requirements |
To get more books from user’s library requires (1) pairing via Bluetooth of smartphone (2) txtr Android app with beagle support |
|
Memory |
4 GB. Number of books cached: Up to 5 |
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Media Formats |
Handles all formats supported by smartphone(e.g. epub, pdf). |
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Included in the Box |
txtr beagle, 2 AAA batteries and Quick Start Guide |
Link to Txtr’s website: http://us.txtr.com/beagle/
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So, what are your feelings about such a simple, but cheap ereader? Seem a good idea? And will you rush out and buy one for each member of your family?
October 12th, 2012 at 8:36 am
I think it’s a brilliant concept. I don’t see it so much as being for the dedicated eBook reader, but more for use in schools, conferences, seminars, training etc. Just load up all the material and distribute — imagine the savings of not having to print material.
I also see lots of potential for it in third world countries, especially given the battery life.
And don’t forget young children. At that price, it doesn’t matter if it’s jumped on and fed to the dog.
October 12th, 2012 at 9:52 am
@ Vicki,
Fed to the dog? I love that!!!!
I agree with what you said, and wish I had thought of the idea of using it instead of brochures and give away bumph.
As to third world use, as long as they have access to the internet and have at least one Smart Phone with Bluetooth that sounds a very good idea. Given that from what I have seen in my wanderings in Africa, Asia and Central Asia, where most people seem to have at least one good mobile phone, that would probably not be a problem.
Perhaps they have really come up with a seriously sensible and useful device with the Beagle (love that name too)
October 16th, 2012 at 6:46 am
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