You're bound to face a few hiccups when you're a no-name brand trying to source an Android handset from a no-name ODM buried deep inside a Shenzen industrial park, and it seems
Kogan's going through those growing pains right about now. The Australian company still says the
Agora and Agora Pro will ship before the end of January (barely), but it looks like they're down to the wire with tweaks to the phone's design. For starters, the soft keys are gone -- not much use for those in Android anyway, last we checked -- replaced with a decidedly WinMo-esque set of home and back keys; the keyboard's been redesigned, too, and the d-pad is looking more usable than it had been before. For the Agora's price point, we're still sold on this thing -- but only if we can get something more than a printout of a pretty render delivered to our doorstep.
[Thanks, Big Mike]
posted Dec 13th 2008 3:47PM
Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy...
Why would you get this, if you can buy a Peek? lol
android.
Oi, Oi, Oi
man that's a lot of changes, well at least the screen is back to using square pixels, judging from the shape of the clock the one on the left was too thin
If you look closely, you'll find that they're actually using triangular pixels.
is that like an inside joke?
the pixels on the screen are smaller than the pixels of the picture so they are not visible,
How big are your glasses?
Someone photoshopped the original and did not shrink it square, proper shaped pixels indeed.
That screen looks smaller.
you're right, it is
there was no increase in width, the bezel just got bigger, and the high was actually reduced so that the aspect ratio could be correct
looks pretty um......typical
ooh shiney
Still looks better than the G1, lol.
Ha, ha, ha, you're an idiot. :)
For not liking the way the G1 looks?
Yeah, looks way better than G1. I would buy this if it comes out..!!!
They both look bad... pretty bad. Cheap, and bad. The G1 and the Agora.
It seems like free OSes are only released on cheap phones.
(sigh).....
It looks like they just took the whole thing and stretched it, as they clearly did improperly the first time.
I love how the clock is now decidedly more round, and yet still no one seems to be able to get an android screenshot where the clocks match. Must be the most prominent/passed around incorrect pic in PR history.
you would think they would have photoshopped the clocks to match as well
It's a photoshop. I can tell from the pixels.
it's a photoshop, i can tell from the fact that it doesn't look remotely real!
it's a photoshop, i can tell by the headline of the story...
Liquid rescale with gimp
time to play "spot the 10 differences"?
At least they fixed the lack of Shift/Caps and Sym/Fn Keys!
I see the screen got smaller! lol
did that really need reporting?
Well, the world's first factory-unlocked, sub-$200 Android phone just received a control overhaul. I'd say this is reportable.
i meant the fact that the picture was modified. besides, who cares about a phone that's only for Australia, find me a cheap android phone in the states and then ill be happy.
You realise that they actually have a big-assed link on the website for INTERNATIONAL BUYERS.
They still haven't matched the time of the analogue clock with the digital one.
Well it seems like the battery still doesn't know for certain if its charged or not...
No WAI!
@Chase,
I guess you did not read the specs on this world phone.
UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
looks similar to the Tmobile Dash, but i like the design. yes, it looks better than the G1
Kogan blows hard , android has no answer for iPhone .trying desperately to get a cell manufacturer to load android onto a decent phone. G1 so far is off to horrible sales , to the point they had to drop the price to $148 after 10 days ,sadly. Android might be good for a developer but for your average joe blow is just an ok cell.
Android is going to revolutionize the way we use cell phones. As good as the iPhone is (which it is clear that you get a stiffy from looking at one), an andriod based phone has way more potential. Having an open source OS on a device that has been traditionally locked down to manufaturing developers means that alot more new (and most likely FREE) programs are going to come out. The G1 may not be perfect, but neither was the 1st gen iPhone, was it?
Is it just me or did the pretty render reduce the screen size to 2.47 inches or thereabout?
nice nice...
and yet they still don't fix the clock and sync it with the other...
I am glad I pre-ordered one of these!
Android on a xperia (or any other winmo phone) is more likely to be fully functional before Kogan release their first Android phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCNSDSk9juE
I agree the G1 is far from attractive, but it has a 3.2 inch screen with 480x320 resolution, whereas the Agora has a 2.5 inch screen with 320x240 pixels, according to specs on their site.
To visualize, the size and shape of the Agora (108 mm x 64 mm x 14.8 mm) is pretty close to that of the G1 (117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm) and yet the Agora's screen has been turned 90 degrees and there's an awful lot of bezel.
Speaking as a G1 user, you want every pixel of that 480x320 screen, and more. To go back to 320x240 ... that's what you get inside a typical clamshell these days.
The keypad on this thing is also gonna be even smaller than the G1's Lilliputian keypad.
kogan + agora = vapourware
...What about the menu key? It'd be nice to have a menu key since android likes that. Just saying
It's a good thing they got rid of that extra right elipse
This looks like a nice device. I would like it more if they made the frame around the screen smaller or completely disappear.
They can't be serious, how could they start shipping next month if they're not even sure about the design yet :D
Considering the price point of this thing is so amazing, they need to get a video demo of it out pretty soon. Even for the "higher end" Pro version + shipping, it comes out to about $300 USD. If it looks good, I'll drop the cash for one quickly.
Kogan, let us see the thing in action already before the hype wears off!
actually, home and back button are at the center of the Android navigation scheme. so it make much sense to have them there !
but sill that analog not in sync with the top digital one makes this phone just more vaporware !
This has been a friendly post, lots of blue for everyone.
i just bought one gets delivered from the 29th, if you type in kgnbuck in the copoun section you get 5% off which pays for its postage. And hey if it is vapourware thats what creditcard insurance is for anyway. besides not many phones available for less that $400 aust that have a gps unit in it.