I'll post what I could find, which wasn't a whole lot.
http://wisky.hk/Productsshow.asp?pid=16
It's made by company called ShenZhen WISKY Technology Co., Ltd. out of Hong Kong.
That's a really good point about the reading time vs mp3 time. I haven't thoroughly tested the battery life, I was using it for lecture notes for school so I was plugging it in a few times a week to upload those, and then just left it charging while I did worked on my computer.
I would compare it to the Kobo for file navigating, but with two page-turning buttons on the rear-right side, and 4 touch-activated buttons on the front at the bottom (home, back, play/pause, zoom).
I think this one was originally purchased in China, as I got it 2nd hand from a classmate last year for $100. No idea what the original purchase price was. It was a good unit to get me into the market, but not robust enough for intensive users. Maybe a good Christmas present for a bookworm niece or nephew?