Kobo has announced a new ebook reader, the Kobo Glo. As the name suggests, it offers display illumination so you'll be able to read in the dark.

Called ComfortLight,  the tech offers an adjustable front-light, so you'll be able to read day or night, Kobo says, getting the best of both worlds. A similar system is offered by the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, soon to be available from John Lewis in the UK.

Aside from the headline illumination, the Kobo Glo comes with all the expected ereader goodies. It's an E Ink device with a 6-inch 1024 x 768 touchscreen display, offering 16 shades of grey. 

It's compact, measuring 113.9 x 157.4 x 10mm and weighing 185g, and you'll get Wi-Fi b/g/n and Micro-USB to keep you connected. 

There is 2GB of internal storage (1GB user space) although you can expend up to 32GB via microSD.

The battery will give you plenty of reading time, with Kobo saying a month of reading with the light on, or longer, of course, with no light and no Wi-Fi. The passive display means long battery life, a real advantage of ereader devices.

Aside from those tech specs, you'll find that the Kobo Glo offers you the normal goodness from the Kobo ecosystem.

We've been impressed with what Kobo offers, including syncing to apps on mobile devices, such as your iPhone, Android or BlackBerry smartphone, and a store that's relatively competitive in terms of pricing and available titles. 

To learn more about Kobo, it's worth reading our review of the Kobo eReader Touch Edition which the Kobo Glo looks to replace.

Of course, Kobo isn't as widely regarded as Amazon's Kindle, which with the Kindle Store still has the edge in terms of the integrated experience, but Kobo powers the WHSmith ebook store and will support ePub format books with Adobe DRM, so offers more buying choices.

Being able to read in the dark is one of the most requested features for the Kindle, but so far the Amazon ebook reader hasn't offered this feature. However, with an event scheduled for today, we're expecting Amazon to launch an illuminated Kindle.

The Kobo Glo will be available from 1 October for £99.99.

In the dark about ebook readers? Read our buyers guide.