When the Txtr Beagle launches, it may be the world’s cheapest e-reader: Berlin-based ebook company Txtr expects it to retail at €9.90 or less, subsidized by mobile carriers. The five-inch, WiFi-less Beagle runs on two AA batteries and users add ebooks to it via a Bluetooth-enabled phone or an Android app.
Txtr, which is partly owned by U.S. company 3M, is expanding to the U.S., but the Beagle primarily targets a global mobile audience that might not be able to afford an e-reader otherwise. Txtr hasn’t yet announced mobile carrier agreements; the company had said at the Frankfurt Book Fair that it would launch in some countries by the end of 2012, but that did not happen.
The blog Good E-Reader has a long video review of the Beagle as well as a thorough text review. Here’s the video:
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