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Txtr Beagle Scheduled to Ship Before Christmas

Remember last year txtrbeagle_press06_1-423x500[1]when txtr unveiled their smartphone accessory, the beagle? It may have taken well over a year but this faux ereader with a 5″ E-ink screen might finally be about to hit the market.

I have just gotten an email from txtr which said, in part:

It will be available before Christmas, but we are not at liberty to say where and with whom.

This is good news; after txtr started and then stopped selling the beagle themselves earlier this year I was convinced that it had been discontinued. I am surprised to see that I am wrong.

The txtr beagle has a 5″ E-ink screen with a resolution of 600 x 800. It comes with 4GB of internal storage and Bluetooth. It’s powered by 2 AAA batteries, and it has no rechargeable battery or USB ports. eBooks are loaded onto the beagle via one of txtr’s apps for Android or the iPhone. The app is needed to convert from the Epub ebook format to the page image format which is used by the beagle.

txtr-beagle[1]

The beagle launched last October with the billing of being a 10 euro ereader, so naturally some corners have been cut to achieve that price. This device was originally intended to be sold by telecoms and bundled into contracts with a new smartphone. The 10 euro price tag was supposed to be bundled into the monthly cost of the contract.

I have no information on whether that plan is still in place, but given the limited hardware and functionality I am not sure that this device has a shot in any other market.

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Comments


LOL November 18, 2013 um 4:22 pm

I seriously wonder how they intend to market this device. It was sold in the past for an initially ridiculous price (59 euros). Of course, nobody would buy it. After an eventual sell-out at 19 euros, I thought, this would be the end of the story. With Kobo and Pyrus mini around for just a few euros more at that time, it wasn’t even spectacularly attractive at its sell-out price point, given that it used a screen with only 4 grey levels instead of 16, if I remember correctly. Please keep us updated on this story. Had I received any news about this device by email at this time, I would have suspected some attempt at trolling from the creators. What are they going to ask for it, now, after they’ve sold it for 19 euros? They can’t ever again ask more for it, if they seriously expect to attract people.

LOL November 18, 2013 um 4:35 pm

Strike "only 4 gray levels". Txtr says "8 gray levels" on its website: http://de.txtr.com/beagle/

Nate Hoffelder November 18, 2013 um 4:38 pm

I’m not sure how they plan to market this device. TBH I am not convinced that it’s going to ship next month.


Sweetpea November 19, 2013 um 1:44 am

" It’s powered by 2 AAA batteries, and it has no rechargeable battery"
Hmm, what do you mean by that? Can’t I put rechargeable batteries in it? Or do you mean you can’t recharge the batteries while in the device?

I still think this device could work, if priced correctly. (and if it looked a bit more slim instead of that bulky format it has now)

Nate Hoffelder November 19, 2013 um 6:58 am

Most mobile devices have a rechargeable battery and a USB cable that is needed to charge it. This device does not.


fjtorres November 19, 2013 um 7:52 am

The sad thing is the industrial design is really good.
If they had kept everything physically the same but made it a standalone reader the thing would be selling with no problem. To many the use of standard batteries alone would sell the device. A good first reader for kids, too.
Lots of very good hardware work wasted on a very bad idea.


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