First e-reader with integrated Google eBooks announced

Google has announced the release of the first e-reader that comes with the Google eBooks platform on board.

The iriver Story HD is the first e-reader on which you can buy books directly through Google's eponymous eBooks platform.

Hitting the US on 17 July, the e-reader will be sold through Target – but it's not clear if the reader will be heading to the UK any time soon.

eLook book

But, while there's a definite possibility that the iriver Story HD won't head to the UK, another eBooks integrated reader probably will, with Pratip Banerji, product manager of Google Books noting that we should "stay tuned for more Google eBooks-integrated devices to come."

We hope we're not left waiting too long, because direct access to the Google eBooks store via Wi-Fi would be so much more convenient than having to download anything we fancy reading to a computer and then connecting the e-reader via USB.

The only other option at present is to access Google eBooks through the usually-awful e-reader web browser; a painful experience at the best of times, and particularly if you're going on a flight or the Underground and lose internet access.

All the added hassle means we're more likely than not to simply skip browsing Google's three million free ebooks, and that's a crying shame.

Google is also opening up the Google Books APIs to device manufactuers, so they can tinker with the eBook Store to meet their own needs; it also allows users to store their ebook library in the cloud and access the collection from a different device, including smartphones and tablets – much as you can with Amazon's Kindle apps.