The eReader market seems to be heating up with German firm "Txtr" introducing its Beagle eReader, touted as the cheapest and smallest eReader around. The device will cost only $13 when it hits the market.

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"The txtr beagle is designed to do best what eReaders are intended for: read digital books. The txtr beagle, read | only^TM," stated the press release.

The Beagle eReader is set to give competition to Amazon's $119 offering, the Kindle Paperwhite. However, unlike the current crop of high-end eReaders, Beagle lacks a touchscreen display, will not offer Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, and does not have a glowlight.

At 0.19-inch thick, the device weighs 4.5 ounces (with batteries), making it the world's lightest 5-inch or 6-inch eInk eReader. The Beagle sports a 5-inch eInk display with 800 x 600 pixels resolution and eight levels of grayscale. The device offers 4GB of storage and can store up to five books at one time, which is a downer compared to other eReaders.

"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. 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. From discussions with network operators, we foresee the txtr beagle to be available to consumers for a price as low as €9.90. That is up txtr GmbH, Rosenthaler to ten times cheaper than other eReaders in the market, which will certainly drive adoption and eBook sales," said Thomas Leliveld, Chief Commercial Officer at Txtr.

Considering that the eReader does not support Wi-Fi or 3G, books can be installed using Bluetooth pairing with a smartphone or via Txtrs's Beagle Android app. Additionally, unlike other eReaders the device does not need chargers or cables as it comes with two AAA batteries that will last a year.

The Beagle will launch in three colors: jade green, purple, and turquoise. No information as to when the device will hit the shelves is currently available.

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