We haven't heard much about iriver's Story HD e-reader since it quite literally landed in our laps at CES back in January, but it looks like it might now finally be nearing a US launch. The e-reader has just turned up at the FCC, where's it's been thoroughly tested and dissected (see the link below for some additional evidence). That's not always a sure sign that a US launch is imminent, but it does seem likely in this case -- especially considering that iriver has already lined up a number of US content partnerships for the device. As for the e-reader itself, it's similar in size to the Kindle and packs a 6-inch 1024 x 768 display, along with an 800MHz Coretx A8 processor, 2GB of internal memory, an SD card slot for expansion, and WiFi connectivity. In other words, it remains unchanged from CES, which means our preview is just as relevant as ever.

We've been keeping our eyes peeled for any news of iriver's Story e-reader -- and it looks like it's on the verge of appearing in reality -- at least in Korea. The company is now taking pre-orders for the 6-inch, QWERTY keyboarded device, which runs 358,000 KRW ( around $290). The reader will come packaged with a 2GB SD card, the book-impersonating folding case we've spied it wearing in the past, and two free book downloads. While we've heard that the reader will eventually get global, we've still yet to heard pricing or release dates for the US of A. Until then, we'll just have to keep curled up on the sofa with our sad, dog-eared, public library copy of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Well, it may not have been officially on-hand at IFA, but it looks like at least one iriver Story e-book reader did make its way to Berlin, and Heise Online was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with it -- and take a few pics, of course. While it still bears an undeniable similarity to the Kindle 2, the differences become a bit more apparent up close, with the keyboard in particular sporting more traditional, squarer keys, and a complete lack of face buttons otherwise -- apart from what appears to be two built-in page turn buttons on each bottom corner. In addition to the previously revealed specs, Heise Online also confirmed the existence of a built-in Comic Viewer, an integrated microphone for dictation and, unfortunately, a lack of built-in WiFi (let alone 3G), meaning that the only way to get content on the device is via USB or SD cards. Hit up the link below for the rest of the pics and a few more details.