£10 e-reader in the pipeline

A German hardware developer has created an e-reader called the Txtr Beagle, which will be available next month priced at €9.90.

The device carries a 5-inch e-ink display with 800×600 screen resolution.
It’s powered by two AAA batteries and will include 4GB of storage although there won’t be any option for expansion.

It also includes Bluetooth capabilities and comes bundled with an iOS app that will allow the user to transfer their books to and from Apple devices.

According to the creators, the device has been designed to unlock the market of those people who might not have considered e-readers before and are put off by the relatively high price of a device compared to traditional books.

“So far network operators have not actively marketed eReading. In our view, this is because of the lack of a suitable device, which matches the crucial conditions relevant to the operator business model,” said Txtr’s chief commercial officer, Thomas Leliveld.

“Our new product connects with popular smartphones. The txtr beagle and txtr’s eBook store drive incremental ARPU from eBook sales, with a high RoI since data costs are low for eReading during the contract period.”