ReadManiac is an excellent open source Java ebook reader for mobile phones. The cool thing about it, apart from the free loveliness, is the fact that it comes with its own application customiser. You can select from a variety of different handsets and Java settings and it will create an ebook reader which will be optimised for your model of phone. One tip, make sure you increase the default memory size if you’re customising for a modern smartphone.

Having created your customised reader, it’s simply a matter of uploading it to your phone via cable, Bluetooth or steam shovel. The program comes with all the essential bits, like bookmarking, autoscroll and backlight control to conserve battery, and works perfectly to read .txt, zip, PDB, PRC and TCR formats. It comes with pretty sophisticated font control too, so you can install and use your favourite fonts and there’s even an integrated search engine for downloading free books directly from the Internet to your handset.

Kudos to Roman and the rest of the original Russian development team. And max points for releasing it to Open Source so that development can continue. An excellent product and one that deserves wider attention.