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Kogan's ultra-budget 4K TV and 3G tablet arrive at CES

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Kogan's name may not roll off your brain as easily as some companies we could mention, but the Australian outfit is attempting to bring premium technology to the masses with a focus on low prices. In fact, there's probably a comparison with Vizio to be made here, considering that Kogan's first 4K TV retails for $999 AUD, or around $890 USD. Then there's the Agora HD Mini 3G, a 7.85-inch tablet with a 3G modem that retails for $199 AUD, or about $180 in the US. Considering how frequently our antipodean friends are gouged by technology companies, it's good to see the locals fighting back.

The 55-inch 4K Smart TV comes with a well-rounded spec list, including four HDMI inputs, three USB 2.0 port, one USB 3.0 option and a microSD card slot. On the connectivity-front, there's Ethernet and WiFi built-in, and it runs Android 4.2.2 with Google Play, letting you save downloaded apps to the 4GB of internal storage. There's a dual-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 with a Mali 400 GPU inside, and even with the traditional stick remote, we were able to read all of the highlights on Engadget. Naturally, the company will also supply a luxury remote with trackpad and keyboard, which will set consumers back an additional $40. So, what of the picture quality? The demo certainly didn't embarrass the hardware on show -- although trade show demonstrations are hardly the greatest acid test of a display's power. On the upside, it'll go on sale in Oz in late January -- with news about if it'll make it to the US and Europe dependent upon the market.

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Then there's the Agora HD Mini 3G, which packs in a tri-band 3G modem despite its price of $199 AUD, or about $180 in the US. The 7.85-inch 1,024 x 768 display is crisp with a strong backlight, which is surrounded by a narrow bezel and chamfered edges that'll remind you of another device in the same size category. The similarities end there, however, with the rounded-off corners and smooth edges. The port selection runs along the top, where you'll find the exposed microSD card, micro-USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack and microSIM slot. Inside, you'll find a 1.2GHz MTK MT8389, with 1GB RAM and 16GB storage, although with the aforementioned microSD card slot, you can add a further 64GB to that proposition. There's a 4,500mAh battery inside, promising 10 hours of battery life, and, best of all, it runs an AOSP build of Android 4.2.2 that is delightfully free from bloatware. While the company isn't committing itself to update the unit to KitKat, it's certainly something that is being mulled over internally. When we asked about what's next for the outfit, it seems as if Kogan is going to leap upon the dominant trend of CES and produce a wearable of its own. We were unable to coax any more information out of them than that, but it's something we'll keeping our eyes and wrists on in the near future.

Jamie Rigg contributed to this report.