If eReader's are a fad, then somebody apparently hasn't told iRiver and Skiff. (Who comes up with these names?) That's because Skiff and iRiver are diving headfirst into the eReader, um, river come 2010, according to Twice.com.

In iRiver's case, it's supposed to be launching its Story eBook Reader next year in the U.S. market, with an official announcement forthcoming at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Because not everything that happens in Vegas apparently stays in Vegas.

Besides a 6-inch display and EPUB support, the Story will also feature an MP3 player, voice recorder, personal organizer and memo pad.

Skiff, meanwhile, is supposed to be providing all sorts of e-content next year for "at least one dedicated e-reading device during 2010," according to the company. While its name may conjure images of The Old Man and the Sea and Moby Dick, Skiff's digital venture won't be limited to eBooks but will focus heavily on magazines and periodicals. If this improves the chances of yours truly keeping his day job, then your guide is all for it. Speaking of which, have you hugged a print journalist today? (It's like we're a dying breed T_T)

Photo © iRiver

Recently, the portables site featured a talking clock in this very space.

Certainly, a voice-enabled clock is nice and all. But if you equate the ability to talk with nagging, then perhaps you prefer the strong, silent type.

Enter, the Ambient Flurry clock. While this clock doesn't talk, it does offer a pretty neat feature — the ability to tell you the weather. Hey, isn't that how small talk usually starts?

On that note, feel free to check out my Ambient Flurry review.

Human beings are driven to look for stuff.

Ponce de Leon searched far and wide for the Fountain of Youth. James Tiberius Kirk trekked across the stars in the search for Spock. Jason Hidalgo recently spent 15 minutes of his precious time looking for a matching pair of socks in his drawer of mismatched foot covering paraphernalia.

Great as they are, these three grand adventurers aren't the only practitioners of the grand art of the search. Even humble, old you — yes, you my wonderful readers, and all the denizens of the Interwebs are prolific searchers as well.

Here are the Top 10 most searched portable electronics devices according to AOL, complete with links for info and pricing seekers:

1. iPhone: Now there's an unexpected surprise (yeah, right). That clap-like sound you hear is the symphony of Apple fans applauding and Apple haters smacking their foreheads all at the same time. [Check prices]

2. iPod Touch: The Mini-Me of Apple's "Evil" portable empire. I will now officially change my name and add a small "i" at the beginning as a way to boost my popularity with the ladies. [Check prices]

3. Sony PSP: Nintendo's mighty DS line may have thoroughly outsold Sony's portable darling since they both hit the scene. But while the PSP hasn't won the war, it apparently won the search battle so far this year. I wonder how many of those searches were driven by PSP hackers looking for custom firmware updates... . [Check prices]

4. Palm Pre: Talk about a comeback. The former PDA has-been now has one of the more viable alternatives to the iPhone. Even old dogs can learn new tricks after all.

5. Microsoft Zune: Congratulations, Microsoft. Your perseverance has now gained enough mindshare for your portable media player to be the Tubbs to the iPod's Crockett — which certainly is eminently better than being Noogie Lamont (Who? My point exactly). Now if you can only drop your hatred for cash, I will be literally in your debt. (Sounds like somebody has a problem with leftover Microsoft Points!) [Check prices]

6. BlackBerry Storm: The Storm appears to have rebounded from that launch plagued by interface issues. Either that or plenty of folks kept searching all year for the firmware update that fixed said issues. True story: I was interviewing the president of a local Realtors association for a business story and she mentioned out of the blue that her Storm is much improved now. Just thought you'd like to know. [Check prices]

7. Garmin Nuvi: A search for stuff used for searching makes me chuckle for some reason. Yes, I'm that easily amused. [Check prices]

8. BlackBerry Curve: It's official. People love smartphones. And this isn't even the last phone on this list. [Check prices]

9. Sidekick: What is it with the Sidekick and its penchant for being involved in juicy news (e.g. the Paris Hilton hack and, more recently, the case of the missing user data)? Whatever the reason, it apparently helped the phone crack into the searchable top 10 for portables. [Check prices]

10. Amazon Kindle: eReading is apparently fundamental for searches, too. For more on the Kindle and other readers, check out our eBook reader section.

Plenty of things fit nicely in your pockets. Car keys, wallets, gum, pens, incriminating evidence that could get a dude in trouble with his girlfriend.

But an eBook reader? Not unless you're the Jolly Green Giant, right? Well, not too fast.

With its PRS-300 "Pocket" reader, Sony has actually concocted an eReader that's small enough to easily take around but is still readable.

And as its name implies, yes, it can fit in your pockets (at least it did in plenty of mine). Just don't put it in your back pocket. 'Cause as eminent philosopher Chris Rock once said, just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be.

Here's my Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300 review.

Photo by Jason Hidalgo