Kogan 'not aware' of sketchy Agora clone

Only in the bizarro world of KIRF can canceled, nonexistent handsets be cloned and released in quantities of 100 for just $240 a pop, and by all accounts, that's what has happened -- already -- to poor Ruslan Kogan and his doomed Agora. The Aussie with an admirable desire to get one of the first Android devices on the market recently had to delay his pet project indefinitely over compatibility concerns, but knockoffs running knockoff OSes have no such concerns, which is where the lovely Shining phone comes into play. After seeing the all-too-familiar render, Kogan contacted iTWire to say that "I am not aware of this manufacturer and I have doubts that it runs Android OS. It is certainly not what the Agora was going to be or in anyway related to it." 'Course, all it'd take is a couple chats over dinner between Chinese ODMs for Kogan's design to get recycled running something less than Android -- and granted, the Shining isn't identical to the Agora, but the similarities are striking, are they not?

[oakie Posted Jan 21st 2009 4:07AM]

i wish the chinese would try innovating instead of making low-res carbon copies of everything else on the market. i cant think of a single chinese invention besides fireworks, noodles, and orange chicken.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2009 4:30AM]

It is pretty pathetic, to be honest. All that engineering and manufacturing know-how and all they want to do is badly copy things and make stuff for other people. The untapped potential there is staggering. How can somebody study hard all their life and then be content selling bullshit fakes for £10 a pop?

[NachoPATA Posted Jan 21st 2009 12:11PM]

The same happened in Japan, post WWII, during the rebuilding of that nation. How often do you see "Made in Japan" on things now days?

Same thing will happen once China's economy prices itself out of the market for making stuff cheaper than others.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2009 2:27PM]

The Chinese are innovating how to make a river flow backwards....that's neither low-res nor a carbon copy

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2009 4:31AM]

(Obviously I'm referring to the people who make copies of things, not every Chinese engineer!)

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2009 6:06AM]

I really find it disturbing how many designs China has stolen over the past few years. It really isn't helping to defeat their stereotype. That I just can't stand it when companies survive on the creative backs of others. Then again, I guess if the companies were Chinese to begin with they would all share their ideas...

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2009 6:54AM]

All that happened is Kogan pulled out on the deal and this Chinese company finds another buyer, be it international or domestic. Can you blame them? They design a phone which Kogan said would place a order when completed. They reach completion and Kogan discovers a limitation and bails on the order. This Chinese company wants to recoup their costs so sells the phone to another customer. I don't see the problem. I have an issue with the fact that they would of ripped apart a Samsung Blackjack and used the same circuitry. But the finished product would have been sh*t anyway. They don't have the styling know-how to polish off a design like the likes of samsung and nokia. Look at the dodgy TVs they design and build, oh that's right Kogan sells them too.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2009 7:18AM]

@oakie

it is a shame, considering the chinese ingenuity that went into constructing their olympic stadium, ripping off stuff is just crap when the chinese are capable of so much original product design.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 14th 2009 12:55PM]

Actually the design of the Bird's Nest (that's the stadium I'm presuming you're referring to) was outsourced. All modern skyscraper designs are outsourced to one single company. They can only claim "innovation" by saying "we want a big building." The exception to this is Taipei 101, and the designers who made those do not consider themselves mainland Chinese.