Hi everyone,
Just to whet your appetite for the imminent Kogan Agora phone -- here are some of the interesting apps you'll be able to use.
Fast Company has published the top ten most popular apps from the Android marketplace.
As you can see there are a lot of multimedia/gaming apps being downloaded, but people are also developing some fantastic business tools, like DataViz Documents To Go.
Also, it looks like I'll be heading to CES this year so if I can have a prototype of the Agora with me, I'll make sure some of the keen bloggers and journalists out there can have a quick play with it, take some photos, and give you some first impressions ahead of more detailed reviews.
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17 DEC 2008
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Comments
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letsburn00 says...
CES should be interesting, hopefully reviewers can get it before then, but if not the 8th should be a good time for gizmodo and endgadget etc to give the system a spin.
The apps look interesting, though I will mention that two of those programs (pacman and bonzai blast) say they work with accelerometers. They will work without one, but the major cool effect of the games will go. I'm going on like a broken record, but the lack of accelerometer is a major issue for me.
The lack of games that arises from the lack of an accelerometer is going to be your major sticking point. For people to choose the agora over other android phones after the first month or two, it will need to be competitive long term, you don't want some killer apps coming out which the system won't be able to full utilise because it's sans-accelerometer. Alot of games lately are using them to add a new level of gaming. Pac-man seems alot cooler once you can control him by just moving your phone, trackball pacman doesn't seem like something that would reach number one on that list.
Posted at 11:51 a.m. on December 17, 2008
heckj says...
Also, will the apps work on the agora's pro screen size. I'm sure most of the apps are developed for the G1's screen size.
Posted at 12:07 p.m. on December 17, 2008
thp says...
@ heckj.
Doesn't work that way.
Posted at 12:43 p.m. on December 17, 2008
@thp]] says...
Please explain. I thought screen resolution and size would need to be accounted for when applications are created. This issue is all over android development sites. Developers are asking if they need to develop there apps to be compatible with different screen sizes and resolutions. Many have found that there apps don't look right in the emulator on different screen sizes and resolutions.
Posted at 12:56 p.m. on December 17, 2008
Cesar Cardoso says...
Hope you can go with an Agora Pro to CES!
Posted at 12:50 a.m. on December 18, 2008
j says...
I've read through the majority of the Android docs a few weeks ago, and I seem to recall that the standard built in widgets will probably render just fine. It's when devs use the fixed layouts, or custom views, is when problems might arise. Unfortunately, that is probably a large majority of the apps out there. Though, I haven't found the reference in the docs quite yet.
Posted at 4:32 a.m. on December 18, 2008
mr.greg.weber at gmail.com says...
The resolution works great for me.
If you want the details.....I have Android running on my HTC P4000 (titan) as I write this. I am running via haret and much of the work from the Vogue Linux project by Martin aka dzo of xda-developers. I have a 320x240 screen when in landscape mode.
I have not been testing applications. The only third party application I have installed is Opera Mini and Togga. I do not have Android Market or AndAppstore installed. Togga is the only program that does not work in 320x240. It is only an beta release developer application.
The dialer does not show the numbers on screen in 320x240 mode because you can just dial on the keyboard. The Kogan Agora has a dial pad built into the keyboard as well so this should not be an issue.
Seems to work great so far even at a 320x240 resolution with a small 2.8 inch screen on my phone. Maybe I could zoom out to fit a little more text on the screen if I had I higher resolution, but how much do you want to squint at a 2.5 inch screen on a kogan phone. The letters start to become unreadable when they get too small
Posted at 6:37 a.m. on December 18, 2008
mr.greg.weber at gmail.com says...
There are new images since the last blog post about the Kogan Agora.
I wonder where the menu key is on the Kogan Agora. It seems odd to have it missing. I know blackberrys can get away with combining the menu and home key into one but they use a different operating system. The home key in android is already multipurposed to show the last six used applications when you press for a little longer then normal.
I also wonder why the first three rows of keys are all the way across but they only have 5 keys in the last row when there is space for ten. It seems fine to make the space two keys wide and have only nine keys but why make it four keys wide and then not even use the end of the row. The corners of the phone are not even rounded off, so there is no need to leave space at the corner. The space could be much better used for making common used keys not require pressing function.
I don't like just pointing out problems without a solution suggestion at least, so here is another keyboard layout idea. The programming is simple press function or shift once to enter one key; press them twice to enter multiple keys. b is backspace. n is enter. s is shift. f is function. p is space. o is other or unassigned.
shift or caps keys.
QWERTYUIOP
ASDFGHJKLb
ZXCVBNM:"n
sf|?pp<>fs
regular keys.
qwertyuiop
asdfghjklB
zxcvbnm;'N
SF\/PP,.FS
function keys.
!@123^&*()
~`456$%{}B
_-789+=[]N
SF*0##OOFS
Posted at 8:12 a.m. on December 18, 2008
Michael Averbach says...
Hi Ruslan,
I would like to chime on the subject of productivity apps for Android. You won't find Android screenshots and generic statements on our sites dynoplex.com and quickoffice.com, but we actually have the real goods to show and are very interested to start the conversation.
If you feel this might be of interest I'be glad to touch base and arrange for a presentation.
All the best,
Michael Averbach
michael.averbach@quickoffice.com
Posted at 3:50 p.m. on December 18, 2008
Jack says...
Awesome - can' wait for some reviews :)
Posted at 1:56 p.m. on December 21, 2008
aj P says...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/23/2453754.htm...
Harvey Sales up..... Kogan disputes.....
Posted at 2:25 p.m. on December 23, 2008
James says...
Does this post mean that the Kogan Agora will come with the Android Market application installed? The Android Market application is not freely distributable, so confirmation about that application's availability for the Agora is important.
Also, the Kogan Agora Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogan_Agora) could use some photos of the Agora. Ruslan, would you be able to provide permission to use one/some of the Agora pics under a Wikipedia-friendly license?
Thanks. :)
Posted at 1:24 a.m. on December 24, 2008
Ross says...
Still no pics of any physical hardware which suggests we will see the release date slip again.Kogan has only a small window of opportunity here as it won't be long before the likes of LG and Samsung release Android based handsets. Missing the December release window was a blow, missing the next one and I suspect a lot of people will cancel their preorders and buy one of the other handsets that will be available.
Posted at 8:37 a.m. on December 25, 2008
Ives van der Flaas says...
Even if they miss this deadline (good chance if you're "hoping" to get a preproduction model 20 days before shipping the real deal), most other manufactureres aren't planning an android phone until the third quarter of 2009.
Still, make sure the hardware works fine, software can be patched later (I'm starting to sound like microsoft :-P)
Posted at 6:24 a.m. on December 26, 2008
Malaysian says...
Is this phone for real? Has anyone laid hands on the prototype or such, less than a month before its launch? Its kinda odd if no one has seen this phone and the photoshopped pictures keep changing. Clarity will help order!
Posted at 8:26 a.m. on December 28, 2008
Vic says...
I know a lot of guys who are Very interested in purchasing this phone but are not willing to do so until pictures of the final design are up and/or video of the unit is uploaded on youtube or something. Unfortunately, I am in this category as I have been burnt with pre-release ordering before.
Posted at 10:36 a.m. on January 2, 2009
Dave says...
There is a huge abuse of trust going on here. As a company Kogan will have taken a large number of pre-orders -and charged the customer in full- for a phone that as far as anyone is aware exists only as a digital rendering.Given the press coverage this phone has received- as it would be only the 2nd Android based handset available and not locked to a particular provider- I would not be surprised if the value of pre-orders so far is several million dollars. It is not common business practise for pre-orders to be charged in full, most companies charge a token non refundable deposit.
Posted at 7:25 a.m. on January 5, 2009
lawson says...
Does anyone know whether this phone could be used on the 3G networks in Japan? I'd love a phone that can be used in Aus/NZ/Japan and the UK.
Posted at 11:22 p.m. on January 5, 2009
Paolo Falcone says...
Currently I only have one make-or-break question for the Kogan Agora Pro:
Will it support tethering - aka using the phone as a 3G modem?
I'm mostly on the road, and a 3G-phone that will also work as a modem is very critical for me. If the Kogan Agora Pro can do tethering, I'll go get one immediately!
Posted at 7:06 p.m. on January 6, 2009
anon says...
@Kogan: do you have a due date for a qwertz version of the phone for German markets?
Posted at 4:55 a.m. on January 7, 2009
Joe says...
For all the skeptics out there. Check out the link below
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/android-powered-kogan-...
Posted at 8:03 a.m. on January 7, 2009
Malaysian says...
CES is here and more than halfway done, but not even one photo or review of Agora. Is this phone going to be delivered on time or does this phone exist?
Posted at 8:46 a.m. on January 10, 2009
Flying Wombat says...
Are the pre-order payments being held in a trust account so they can be refunded if the phone fails to materialise or you want to cancel your order - or are the pre-order payments going into general revenue.
Posted at 11:08 p.m. on January 11, 2009
randygland says...
next time test your product before manufacture.. a 3 year old could tell you that. pricks.
Posted at 12:12 a.m. on January 17, 2009
Roy says...
I like this phone so much, will this phone selling to Hong Kong & use normally in ASIA?
Posted at 7:12 p.m. on January 20, 2009
Froogloid says...
Ruslan, not sure if you'll actually read this but just in case... I'm an accenture alum, like yourself, and I've recently founded a business that builds mobile apps for android. We currently have the number 1 paid travel app ~ a2b!
Maybe we can partner with Kogan to add a2b as an included app on your devices? Apps sell phones!
Check us out at www.froogloid.com
Screenshots and video: www.froogloid.com/product
Contact info: http://www.froogloid.com/contact
Posted at 5:57 a.m. on February 27, 2009
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