The eBook market is one we fully expect to explode in 2010 - there are a variety of products now out there and the high street is catching on. What's key about the future of the eBook is the convergence with other portable devices - so in future, you'll have a device to listen to music, read books and even work on documents.

!The Story uses a revolutionary E-Ink display, which takes no power to display a page - it only consumes energy when you change page. Hence, you can't measure battery life in hours, you use page turns (over 7000 page turns on one charge) In terms of compatibility, it's got all the bases covered. EPUB, PDF & TXT cover the main formats for commercial ebooks, while the Story also displays office files like DOC, PPT & XLS. For comics & graphic novels, JPEG, BMP and GIF image types are supported (8 shade greyscale)

In stark contrast to most eBooks on the market, the Story has a full Qwerty Keyboard, allowing you to modify documents and take notes, use the onboard Diary and scheduler.

It's also audio enabled - with a headphone output and built in speaker, you'll use it for audiobooks, or to play music - a key feature being it's ability to maintain playback while you read a book. You'll also use the integrated voice recorder to take notes or record interviews & lectures.

You'll have plenty of storage too. It has a class-leading 2GB of onboard flash memory, enough for around 1500 eBooks - and that's without using the onboard SD card slot to add as much memory as you require.


What's it like to use?

Encased in a beautiful, quality matte-finish white case, the Story really does look the part. All the controls feel robust, but not clunky and respond with a silky click. Page turning buttons are located ideally underneath your thumbs as you hold the book and the keyboard is superb for occasional typing - far superior to any smartphone.

Page turns are fast and crisp - the E-Ink screen is the true revolution of the eBook product, as the display does not emit light, it does not fatigue the eyes. It's exactly the same visual experience as reading from paper.

The interface is also a study in cool simplicity. Crisp, clear graphics and a minimum of fuss means your experience with the Story revolves around the reading matter, not the device - surely the sign of a perfect electronic book?