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KOGAN AGORA TO BE DELAYED

16 JAN 2009

Hi everyone,

I'm disappointed to have to tell you that the Kogan Agora has to be delayed indefinitely.

This delay comes due to potential future interoperability issues.

The Agora did reach a very late stage of development. Manufacturing had commenced and it was a matter of days from being shipped to you. However, it now seems certain the Agora in it's current form will limit its compatibility and interoperability in the near future.

One of the potential issues is the screen size and resolution. It seems developers will be creating applications that are a higher resolution than the Agora is currently capable of handling.

I am sorry for this delay, but in the interest of doing things right by the Kogan brand promise, and you, the customers, I cannot disappoint you by supplying a product that I am aware will shortly have significant limitations.

In order to fully appreciate the feature-rich applications Android developers will be creating in coming months and years, the Agora must be redesigned.

All customers who pre-ordered the Agora will receive a full refund. All refunds will be processed within 7 days.

I will continue to blog about the Agora as we look to develop and release a new phone as soon as possible.

Stay tuned over the coming months for many exciting new products as well as a new version of the Agora.

Thankyou for your support and loyalty to the Kogan brand.

Cheers,

Ruslan

Comments

Hear what our customer's have to say.

theirishman says...

New Android phone before Christmas...

...of 2009.

Who didn't know that this was going to happen? Disappointing... Very Disappointing.

Posted at 3:53 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Mike says...

While obviously disappointed, I do think it is better to go back to the drawing board instead of churning out something doomed to fail.

Posted at 3:56 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Sad says...

Looks like Australia will have to wait a while longer to get an Android phone!

Cheers,

Renai LeMay
ZDNet.com.au

Posted at 4:01 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Bluffmaster says...

Y don't you guys get blackberry out of your heads and concentrate on Iphone for some time .... Kogan is suppose to give good technology at cheaper price ... If you could redesign Iphone to use Android at half the price of Iphone who wouldn't wana buy it .... Moreover Kogan's customers are not bigshot business people, they are small house holders who want to save a few $$ ....

Posted at 4:06 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Monica says...

The best of luck to you Ruslan. It's really great and amazing that you pushed forward with the Agora, and so upsetting to hear that you haven't been able to deliver.

I think its very honourable that you are letting people know about a future compatibility problem now and going back to the drawing board, rather than doing what many business-focused people would do...

Go aussie aussie go!

Posted at 4:07 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Michael says...

Is this a marketing strategy to draw everyone's attention to make "Kogan" a world "famous" brand? So disappointed..

Posted at 4:15 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Emirhan says...

This is dissappointing as well as it is had to happen. It's better to dissappoint a little now than a massive one after buying a product.

Thanks for this proffesional move from Kogan. Looking forward for a bigger-screen, faster-CPU Agora2!

Posted at 4:31 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Moustafa says...

Their last delay grabbed my attention, whilst I didn't buy the phone, I did bump into the HD camera which I bought. It might just be working!

Delay kills the excitement. People will not hesitate to buy what is out there now. I do think the compatibility issue should have been picked up earlier - shows the learning curve Kogan are going through.

Good luck with the new model, you may need it when you will be competing with another 10 Android phones, instead of just 1.

Posted at 4:36 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Shafedizzle says...

Good to see an honest businessman out there, who is willing to lose a little face, rather than cost his customers money. Many people would have just sold customers the current model of the phone. Well done. It is clear that Kogan is a trustworthy company.

Posted at 4:38 p.m. on January 16, 2009

John Papa says...

I was really looking forward to this. I am very dissappointed but understand that the current design will limit functionality.

Fingers crossed that I get my money back.

Posted at 4:45 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Mik says...

I was very close to ordering one, but now am glad I held off to see a review. Some things are too good to be true. The screen was (in all previews) a major concern, so at least it was identified and acknowledged.

Like most other people here, I am disappointing. I was looking forward to possibly supporting an Australian brand.

Oh well, not much more can be said or done at this stage. Hope that you get something inline later, and didn't lose too much on this endeavor. I bet the exposure didn't hurt you, a cynic would think that this was all vapor.. and I truly do not know what to believe.

Hope you get in the game later though. The more the merrier as far as Android devices go. Good luck.

Posted at 4:46 p.m. on January 16, 2009

NJ, USA (T-Mobile User) says...

Ruslan,

Thank you for being honest. I'm disappointed the Agora didn't go through, but I am also excited about the new Agora. I'm happy to learn from reading the blogs and interviews online that you are listening to what customers want, and I have no doubt that your next model will give us everything the iPhone and G1 didn't.

I love your concept of cutting out the middleman and bringing quality at an affordable price. I sincerely hope to see your brand in the US by summer 2009.

Please consider making the next Agora compatible with t-mobile's 3G, esp. when you introduce your brand stateside.

Good luck,
A future US customer

Posted at 4:52 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Macca says...

Ruslan,

May as well focus on brining an all-touch-screen model out as well, since Android Cupcake is being released shortly and supports on-screen keyboard.

Good decision to bump the screen size/resolution. I think it will be well worth the wait.

Posted at 5:02 p.m. on January 16, 2009

tim says...

hmm.
if manufacturing commenced, whats gonna happen to the completed ones? :D id totally buy one and scratch out the kogan branding for you.

shame this had to happen, i knew at least 5 people who were about to buy it.

Posted at 5:13 p.m. on January 16, 2009

au_tech says...

disappointing, every added delay, the more chance would lose market share or be forgotten. better to get it right the first time, like the iphone is doing lately. disappointing.

better get the new phone done asap like max 3 months to release.

Posted at 5:28 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Adam says...

I think it was a very honorable and thoughtful thing for Kogan to do. It beats people buying a phone which ends up falling short, I have respect for you Ruslan.

Just a thought for when you redesign the phone, I think you should try and go for a Capacitive touch screen and skip the keyboard. People these days are starting to prefer touch screen phones and if its gonna be touch screen you mayaswell skip a hardware keyboard and save some money. A shape more like a Touch Diamond or iPhone would probably be better.

-Adam

Posted at 5:37 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Strat Man says...

Definitely a shame but great to see that there are still businesses out there looking for more than a quick buck at the expense of their customers.

Knowingly shipping a phone that's not up to scratch may be ok for the big boys (and they've all done it...), but it's no way to build australia's next great iconic brand, which kogan is definitely on the way to doing.

Posted at 5:37 p.m. on January 16, 2009

SJ says...

Here's hoping the new version is not more expensive, or hopefully even cheaper. Was wanting to get the G1 Dev but exchange rates are way too crappy now

Posted at 5:49 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Aussie boy says...

you made the right decision in some ways. Although I honestly believe if your product had of gone to market the developers would have written programs for it as your device seemed to have more interest than the HTC device due to the fact it was $200-300 cheaper. The simple choice of the developers to write for the higher res screen will mean for many people the new Andriod mobiles will be priced out of reach of the average consumer for maybe up to a year.

Posted at 5:51 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Michael Manning says...

I appreciate the reasons behind the decision, but have to say that I am extremely disappointed in not being able to obtain a reasonably priced handset designed for Android available here in Oz. I personally would have lived with *first generation* hardware had you continued production of this model.

I hope that you do not lose market share because of this and I also hope that you can retain the full qwerty keyboard in the next release, tactile keyboards are a must for power/tech users.

Alas - I will now be looking for other Android solutions.
Sad...

Posted at 6:05 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Paolo Alexis Falcone says...

Is it still possible to get the current Agora? That's the form factor I would really like (being a developer myself).

If there's a way, I'd still buy the current one. Not really a fan of big screens.

Posted at 6:06 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Dean says...

Wow,sucks to be honest. At least I didn't sell my current mobile yet which I wanted to do.

Really interested to hear what you want to improve and how much the article on the google android dev groups affected your decision.

Posted at 6:34 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Joe says...

You didn't see this as a problem from the very beginning?

Posted at 6:44 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Harry Buttle says...

I want it right, not right now.

Look at it as a chance to improve, how about considering a standard 3.5mm headphone jack in the improved version?

Posted at 6:49 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Terence says...

Sad, but it's for the best. Hope to get my hands on it very soon... Good Luck!

Posted at 6:51 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Steffen says...

Although a few potential customers might be disappointed and will look for other solutions now, there is no other decent solution, especially in this price segment and with Android. I'm sure as it is an "open" system, Android will be the future. Furthermore honesty and customer satisfaction always pay off in the long run. So well done Kogan!!! I wasn't too sure to buy an Agora and to become a Kogan customer so far, but you can count on me now! All the best for the redesign phase!

Posted at 6:59 p.m. on January 16, 2009

TD says...

Thanks a lot for your honesty, Ruslan ! At least for you, Kogan is now a known brand in Europe...I hope that you will be back soon with a great Android smartphone...

Posted at 7:12 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Rob says...

Too bad.

Does that mean this form factor (small screen and fixed querty keyboard) is off the table now? I sure hope not. This phone would have been the perfect replacement for my Treo 650.

I'm curious what you come up with. I'll keep an eye on your blog.

Posted at 7:13 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Mark D says...

It goes without saying that we are all disappointed. Whilst I do appreciate Rusian eventual honesty regarding this issue, I can not believe this turn around came out of the blue only occured 2 weeks before its dispatch.

This poor performance has unfortunately damaged by faith in the little guy to succeed. It is completely unprofessional to start selling "vaporware" to customers.

Worst still, it now comes to light that this is the second delay of such a nature. I wouldn't be surprised if some people filed an official complaint with the offices of fair trading.

Posted at 7:56 p.m. on January 16, 2009

TIM says...

all the people suggesting that blackberry-clone design, i.e. qwerty + smaller screen, is off the table for android are misinformed - android has full support for this resolution, and only minor application bugs would be present i.e. menu placement and things like that. try it in the emulator. a month or two after launch they could have been all tied up. kogan should help fix these bugs in-house and launch an identical handset.

anyhow, everyone saying an all-touch phone would be all people want are quite foolish. both types have clear markets. i for one cannot stand typing anything of length with an on screen keyboard where i have to watch closely the entire time. maybe an sms, but not for ssh or emailing, which is the main functions i wanted agora pro for.

Posted at 8:17 p.m. on January 16, 2009

disappointed says...

Very dissapointed with the news and surely this should have been identified much earlier on. I think the Logan brand will suffer a big hit after this. Well at least ruslan would have accrued a large sum of bank interest on the many hundreds of thousands of dollars he took in preorder money.

Posted at 8:19 p.m. on January 16, 2009

shane888 says...

Boo... :(
Too little (info.) too late
This excuse is a poor one at this stage, Kogan would have had to have been aware of this issue earlier.
Which leads me to believe there is more to the 'indefinite' delay than meets the eye...

Should include something (voucher etc.) as well as a full refund to consumers who paid full price up front, people who had expectations of this new product from Kogan. It would show good customer relations and help to keep loyalty to the brand.

For now, back to waiting to see what new Android device will be released.

Posted at 8:33 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Zed says...

I had no expectations and I didn't pre-order the "Agora" therefore I am not disappointed at all:)

"The Agora did reach a very late stage of development. Manufacturing had commenced and it was a matter of days from being shipped to you."

I would love to know just how much money is he losing or more precisely, how much did the hype/publicity about "Agora" cost him.I would also like to know about the other "potential issues" that were discovered.

Posted at 9:04 p.m. on January 16, 2009

johntracker says...

This is one of those lose lose situations... that can be ultimately turned into a win if handled correctly. So far it appears that the situation has been handled as well as we could hope.

Kogan will continue to have goodwill as long as the refunds come back to the prepurchasers in a reasonable timeframe. They now have a database of early adopters. If they then launch Agora2 and email a special offer to those who were happy to support them with a preorder on Agora1... well, then they will most likely get a very high take up on that and additional presales as well, whilst adding to their corporate credibility*.

John

.*DISCLAIMER.
Author may not be a disinterested party ... Author may have preordered an Agora... Author may want a refund... or MORE TO THE POINT ARE YOU THERE RUSLAN a special discount on Agora2... Or both... Delivered with full 3.5" resistive, capacitive (and what the hell, inductive too!), touch screen... 3.5mm audio jack and 3 real, live, naked dancing girls!!!**

.**Clarification.
If you like, I'll still pay 299, but, on that delivery... you can forget the 3.5" touch screen... 3.5mm jack .......and the Agora. :)

Posted at 9:36 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Roland says...

This seems a little fishy to me. You can run all the applications at the resolution the agora was supposed to run at. If they ran these applications on the emulator they would have known about this problem (eg by running emulator -skin QVGA-L)

I have my suspicions its something to do with the quality of the phone or some kind of hardware issues.

Posted at 9:39 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Brian Sayatovic says...

I, too, am disappointed. I've been scouring the Internet every day since Christmas in anticipation of my greatest Christmas gift in recent memories, making this indefinite delay an even greater let down.

While, I'm glad to have a refund, where am I going to find a comparable Android phone at that price point? There just isn't one. Yet. Sadly, Mr. Kogan, as a first time customer to you, I have no loyalty. While I appreciate your honesty, I'm also disappointed, so it's a wash. Therefore, if I do find another device I like, I can't wait. Even if you were to provide a date/price worth waiting for, I cannot have faith in the date/nor price. And I certainly won't be pre-ordering again. This isn't exacting some sort of revenge, but protecting myself after being burned on a gamble.

Some advice if you do design changes:
- Larger screen physical size would be nice
- Higher density screen (DPI) would be nicer (makes text much asieer on the eyes)
- A 3.5mm headphone jack (or, some sort of an apdapter, at least, if its mini-USB)
- Make available an optional carying case / cover / screen protector (maybe partner with another company)
- Make available additional wall chargers and car chargers (again, maybe partner with another company)
- Include an accelerometer (I don't see the need, but it would make it more comparable to other phones)
- Above all else, maintain a price point that will blow away the others! If you add these features but it costs as much as a well-known (in the US) competitor, I'll take the safe bet.

For all of those who want on on-screen keyboard... why? The buttons are no larger, and you lose the tactile feedback your fingers can leverage for greater accuracy? If a touchscreen is so great, are you using a smooth, flat touchscreen keyboard on your computer right now? Sheesh! I've used an iPhone keyboard and it was awful!
-

Posted at 10:15 p.m. on January 16, 2009

M says...

Seems fishy to me. Why else has google not release a statement? And why is Kogan bound by an NDA, for a seeming open standard? Perhaps google paid Kogan not to release a now seeming poorly designed phone.

One wonders now the quality of their other goods.

Posted at 10:18 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Furious says...

Does anyone else find it shameful that the entire world now knows the phone will never see the light of day and yet Kogan has yet to remove the add for the phone from the front page.

Posted at 10:24 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Jims says...

I had ordered Agora but requested for refund before the announcement of the delay as I noticed the issue of resolution from some developer's blog.

I like to provide positive comment on kogan's service. Their reply was instant and the refund could be proceeded smoothly. Wish that the new Agora can be modified with higher form standard.

Posted at 10:32 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Chris Samuel says...

Ah well, a shame that I won't receive an Agora shortly but best of luck with the redesign.

I'm hoping that whatever follows this keeps the real keyboard, "soft" keyboards have never worked well for me (viz the OpenMoko I have now) and the fact that it had a real keyboard was a big plus for me!

Posted at 11:20 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Ruslan Kogan is a con artist says...

All his products are crappy Made in China products with Australian rebranding. People who purchase his products deserve what they get

Posted at 11:34 p.m. on January 16, 2009

William C says...

I'm very disappointed. I expected to end up with a cheap Android phone at the end of this month to replace my dying phone. Now I need to reconsider the Agora at all since I need a new phone -now-, not in a year.

But while you're at it, take time to improve the rest of the phone: Add a couple accelerometers. That's the one thing the phone was missing.

Posted at 11:35 p.m. on January 16, 2009

ndg says...

Very sad - was so looking forward to this! But you've done the right thing. You could have put out an inferior product, or you could have kept moving the release dates back in order to keep interest high.

Instead, you have done the honest thing - put the brakes on promotion entirely, refunded deposits and and made sure people understand that it is no longer 'just around the corner'. I was really looking forward to this phone as an iphone alternative, and i need a new phone NOW.

The Android platform has so many advantages i see it as the only significant alternative to the iphone. I doubt there'll be more than three main phone OS alternatives in 5 years: iphone, android, and either symbion or blackberry.

So, get on at the ground floor, make an internationally saleable android phone and you'll have an exportable product that everyone wants! Especially me.

Posted at 11:54 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Zac P says...

Very Disappointed. I couldn't wait to get my android powered phone. Oh well! looks like I might be looking into the G1 or G2 if it looks like it's coming out soon.

I would be very interested in whats going to happen to those phones that have already been made, will probably be sold cheaply in china were no one will ever know.

Posted at 11:56 p.m. on January 16, 2009

Kit H says...

I'm actually not too worried that this happened. While I can't wait to have my own Android phone, and I would have bought this Andora, but I couldn't help feeling the screen could be larger.

I quite enjoy the G1/Hiptop style of phone. It allows for a large, touch screen, yet a physical keyboard as well.

I know I'm just a single customer, but as far as design goes, I think it's the best for Android. Basically, a refined version of the G1 and it's perfect.

Posted at 12:13 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Alex says...

Bummer....

now I have to choose between the Palm Pre and ..... 'kogan whenever'

Posted at 1:27 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Erigami says...

I'd pre-ordered the phone, so I'm disappointed that it's being delayed.

Having said that, thank-you for being honest enough to delay the phone instead of selling me something you knew would be problematic.

I look forward to seeing a revised Android device. Here's my wishlist:

- capacitive touch screen

- FM radio

- 3G

- wifi

- Either a physical keyboard, or a large screen. Bonus points for including both. =)

Posted at 1:44 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Andreid says...

i'am litle disappointed but i hope Kogan could offer a better product in a few months. Some countries wil not have any android phones before 3/6 months (France...)

Andreid - http//www.planete-android.com

Posted at 2:02 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Roland says...

I also have my suspicions that Google is behind this one. Mainly because of the res and Google probably wont support QVGA-L in newer versions of the android os. Many existing apps just are unusable at the original QVGA-L resolution.

Posted at 2:03 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Roland says...

You know, this is really Google's fault for supporting the QVGA-L resolution! If they didn't support this in the first place, Kogan wouldn't have made a phone with that resolution.

As a Java developer, I was glad when I saw this phone, but now I'm furious with Google's poor management of the android project. They simply should have had design guidelines and testing environments in the first place to make all applications and all supported screen resolutions usable!

Posted at 2:11 a.m. on January 17, 2009

j says...

You Ruslan Kogan, are a rare breed: an honest business man who has not only shown the world that he cares for the products he creates/sells, but most definitely listens to his potential customers. I cannot applaud you enough.

Am I sad? You bet. I've been waiting to jump on the smartphone bandwagon for at least a couple years now. The Agora was going to be it. It still has a large probability that it will be, as this delay will not stop me from checking this site literally every day.

Since there is no question anymore about the community being involved in this design process, I'll list my must haves:

Physical keyboard: I cannot stress this enough, I strongly dislike onscreen keyboards of any kind.
Form factor of: bar, flip, or slide. Just NOT any kind of rotating pieces. Just my preference, but I think that rotating of a phone just looks cheap/tacky/70s spy retro.
Screen size: MUST fill out to the edges, NO BORDER FILLER. I would gladly pay more too. No preference on screen resolution, higher the better.
Allow unsigned Android builds: Not allowing this would be a big slap in the face to the openness that this phone represents.

And now general comments:
Touch screen technology? No preference, although I don't have experience with anything other than resistive, I won't be using a stylus.
Full world band 3G? :) It might be a small part of the customer base for Tmo 3G (me included), but it would be nice.
Prefer 3.5mm jack, but adapter is fine I suppose.
The bigger camera, the better. And of course all the original features that were already included.

@Roland
Agreed, app devs should test it on multiple resolutions. This is the reason that fixed point placement of stuff is frowned on!

All this being said, if one of these already manufactured Agoras show up on a Chinese web site for $200USD, I'll have a hard time not buying more than one.

Posted at 2:49 a.m. on January 17, 2009

coredump says...

Wow, was it a publicity stunt to make Kogan known otside AU?

Maybe I am just bitter. I don't see the screen resolution as a really show stopper there, as someone said, with a descent basis of Agora phones working, the developers would make compatible apps.

But, well. Now we have no other Android phone on the market. Way to go, Kogan.

Posted at 3:02 a.m. on January 17, 2009

UDVOX says...

This can only mean one thing - a much better phone. My refund money is going to a piggy bank to save some interest for your next one. What we all would like to see:

- Bigger screen
- Capacitive touch (instead of resistive)
- If possible, a true 2x2D screen to allow multi-touch (the G1 has limitations).

Looking forward to what you guy can brew up!

Posted at 3:16 a.m. on January 17, 2009

goodgame says...

expected..pffts

Posted at 3:33 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Cheated German says...

So lets think about it Ruslan, how many preorders did you have??? And what did you make with our Money meanwhile?

When do we receive the money back?

I´m very dissapointed and for me the Brand KOGAN is DEAD, thats not the way to act in Business.

Posted at 5:13 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Michel says...

To bad...
I'd pre-ordered the phone.

I hope you make, besides the nessasary adjustments, also the folowing adjustments:
- Big screen;
- Capacitive touch (instead of resistive)
- FM radio
- 3G
- wifi
- 3.5mm jack
- 5 mp camera with optical zoom......

I continuesly will check this site for news and I hope you bring some news as soon a you know it.

regards

Posted at 5:15 a.m. on January 17, 2009

demopublican says...

Thanks for being 'honest'?

For an opensource operating system, you guys sure *do not* know how the open source community works, if you released detailed specs (what h/w drivers, chipsets, etc...) and your Android stack *after* discovering the 'critical' problem, the community would have figured out a viable solution for you and saved you some time on a redesign or even provide a fix (maybe for free too!)

I've never seen a interoperability issue hold back a F/OSS software stack--look at all the proprietary MS drivers (Nvidia driver for example) and OSX driver, the F/OSS community found a way for it to work (Linux runs on both platforms).

To a techie, just saying "potential future interoperability issues." is vague and a SCAPEGOAT, even if it's the resolution issue--there are novel ways to fix it. Novel == ingenious == innovative product!

This sounds more of some business decision, period. Give congrats to your marketing dept for a well done experiment.

Posted at 5:50 a.m. on January 17, 2009

wouter says...

iphone like screen but with a slide keyboard.
i promise that will sell verry good.
i can know, i got 5 phone company's in the netherlands

Posted at 5:52 a.m. on January 17, 2009

DM says...

Too, bad.

I hope you will keep to the Blackberry format, and that you will consider offering a model with WiFi but without the camera so that those of us who work in defense or high-tech can use one where cameras are forbidden.

DM

Posted at 7:52 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Publicity gimic ???? says...

I hope from this instance you will learn something like, pre-development survey, managing customer expectations, regular updates, better visuals, take feedback, do some serious testing, not fluctuate your phone designs, yadadada.... mind you I'm not trying to be a preacher, but just being very upfront and candid and the frustration after such a long wait and then a booo... these reactions are obvious.

I had some better deals on other phones, but wanted to be one of the early ones to be on Agora/ Android bandwagon...

Posted at 7:53 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Phil B says...

So can we order the limited run which did make it through production? Ebay auction them off perhaps?

Posted at 8:23 a.m. on January 17, 2009

UnDeBloggable says...

You just got yourself another future customer. Pity to see all the negative comments on here (where's all your efforts at releasing an Android phone eh?).

If only every business pulled their products from the market before releasing something substandard - i'd have a whole lot less crap lying around the house!

Good effort, keep it up and if the critics keep blasting you just try and think about how much they would be bitching if they did receive their Kogan phone and in a year or less it required replacing.

JR.

Posted at 9:01 a.m. on January 17, 2009

ChrisGray says...

Phil B: That's a great idea, provided the devices aren't branded I'm sure Kogan won't have a problem doing it, so long as everybody knows what the issues are.

Posted at 9:16 a.m. on January 17, 2009

miriam says...

Too bad, I had so hoped to get one, looking forward to the reworked edition.

Posted at 9:29 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Craig Baker says...

Seems to me that Google put significant pressure on Kogan not to release this phone. Google have a huge interest in the success of Android. If this phone turned out to be of low quality it would have done significant damage to the Android brand.

The small screen size story is rubbish. Android has been designed from day one to work on a variety of resolution. Android lets applications support various resolution using different layout files for each resolution. Application developers are well equipped to deal with varying resolutions.

Kudos to Kogan for giving it a shot, but it was always going to be a mammoth task for a little guy to deliver.

Posted at 9:38 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Julian A says...

I'm glad Kogan decided to do a redesign.
I had severe issues with the screen size, although I was still going to order one, I really was disappointed with the screen size.

Hopefully a redesign will be similar to that of the G1, full touch screen with slide out QWERTY keyboard underneath.

Posted at 10:22 a.m. on January 17, 2009

SJB says...

"Ruslan Kogan is a con artist says... "

You should be very careful what you write in the public domain....Defamation can cost you $250,000 in Australia, and dont think you can hide behind the wall of the internet... like mud prints on a white marble floor.

Posted at 10:47 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Bob Wood says...

@SJB I'm pretty sure the ACCC fines are a lot bigger for misleading consumers.

Posted at 11:38 a.m. on January 17, 2009

Trent Petro says...

Well that is a bummer- why I didn't order one, I was waiting for impressions from one of my friend who did.

I recomend you copy the HTC Dream (G1) design and features and try and improve on them for cheaper as well as better.

I didn't order mainly due to in the end the screensize- I looked at the programs adavaliable and thought there might be issues- so I'd let my friend be the test dummy.

I hope to hear about the next android phone form you ASAP- maybe you can shove windows mobile onto the finished android builds and sell them as a 'limited edition' run.

Posted at 11:56 a.m. on January 17, 2009

ik says...

It's a good decision. The screen-resolution was also the reason for me to NOT ordering it. Glad to know that Kogan reacts to suggestions.

Posted at 12:34 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Jules says...

Not at all surprised - I didn't believe for a second that this phone would ever appear.

Nice work on the publicity stunt, Ruslan.

Posted at 12:34 p.m. on January 17, 2009

David T says...

This is funny to read most of these comments on here...

Firstly he gets bombarded with complaints that the screen resolution was just way to small and would have interoperability issues with applications in the present and possibly in the future... So the guy listen to all the whinges and whiners and he gets blasted for it??? WTF??????

Now I'm also reading that people what massive changes made, but without a thought as to what that would do to the cost of the phone... Really some people are just plain stupid, i mean it those of you complaining and also demanding for major changes need your head read, cause obviously there is something awfully wrong inside.

Ruslan, good job on pulling out. Normally i would question your motives for doing it at such a late stage, but I'm thinking something happened at CES and your chat with Google, what ever it was it certainly made you look at the commercial ramifications and consumer ramifications, suffer your losses now and prevent any major damages to your brand name, that is what a Business person with good Business acumen would do.

Keep the community informed with your revision of the product, the sooner the better, and if at all possible before you go in to pre-production mode put your idea out now get the feed back, make the needed changes to the product and also the price point and then start production of the product, i am certain this will save you many many many headaches.

Cheers,

David.

Posted at 12:41 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Phonepersonality says...

keep deleting my posts, y'hear.
Great way to get repeat business.

Posted at 12:45 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Josh says...

I am also dissapointed.... but I simply cannot believe that the screen size issue has just come up.... Plus does this mean that every single Andriod phone made by any company has to have the same size screen? That seems ridiculous!
As someone who regularily deals with poor quality / backhanded deals / corruption from chinese manufacturers I suspect this might be closer to the issue...

Posted at 1:32 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Marco says...

I planned to visit your site this weekend to order one till I did read about the delay on tweakers.net (Netherlands) just now.

Just changing the screen to support higher resolutions is not an option since the video-chip needs to support the higher resolution as well. That's tricky since that chip is usually embedded in some other chip with phones. That means a complete redesign of the phone from ground up.

Can we register on your site that we like an email when the new phone is really ready (and don't get spammed with other promotions)?

Posted at 2:19 p.m. on January 17, 2009

perth guy says...

I'm not a lawyer or anything like that, but he may actually have a commitment to deliver the devices to people who preordered. he accepted full payment for the product and he needs to hold up his end of the bargain, maybe some oen can check this out. People who have preoredered may actualy have a right to enforce kogan to recieve the device.
Maybe some one needs to check this up to see if this is actaully the case.

it sounds like the products were manufactured because he claims they were ready to be shipped out. everyone question is what happening to those products?? I think people just want more transparency on what happened

plus everyone comment that the device would of been fine is correct, the onyl reason why program are only delovoped on higher resolution right now is coz there is ONLY ONE device right now. they dont have insenstive to program other resolutions. Plus there are goign to be other individual who will develop their own kogan agora application. In australia we have some talent and certainly our side of the open source community would of supported the kogan agora.

overall, I been watching this device and is certainly dissapointed. I would of enjoyed first gen hardware and software I could of easily just used it for the 6-12 months till another kogan device came out. I think this was a poor business strategy. there are so many products that came out in past that dont have the longevity as people would like but this is the tech market and i saw a phone lifespan as 1 year at its most. improvements happen, phone get damaged easily or "worn out look".

from the post of other people who brought to attentiont aht the resolution was smaller people pre-ordered and kept to thier guns despite what people said meant the market was happy with your product as described.

Posted at 3:39 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Unimaginative says...

Strike me dead, what a lot of pissing and moaning. At the end of the day Ruslan has said anyone who paid for the Agora will get their money back, so you've lost nothing and gained nothing. It's not the end of the bloody world. Let the man get on with the job of damage-control and turning things around.

Posted at 3:42 p.m. on January 17, 2009

perth guy says...

your wrong, there is an oppurtunity cost associated with parting that money, even tho you get it back, there was a time that you couldnt use that money for other purchases. and therefore you lost the benefits that you could of recieved either thru growing it on poor low interest of recieving other goods and services which you could enjoy. People have lost something! that is basic economics oppurtunity cost.

Posted at 4:10 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Adelaide guy says...

the opportunity cost "perth guy" is that you should probably get outside a bit more for some fresh air, instead of sitting behind your computer all day taking pot shots at a company that is clearly adding value to society, unlike you

Posted at 4:47 p.m. on January 17, 2009

kyle says...

so this is why you didnt give anyone a prototype or anything to play with, because you werent planning on releasing it :P.

on a more serious note however, in this form factor what other resolution would you use. 480x320? are we sticking to that now? would that ratio fit in the form factor?. My opinion, same form factor > 640x480?. or preferably 800x480.

In my honest opinion though, if you can mass produce something like the agora, CHEAP then your products gonna sell really well. Keep the agora's concept, and do something similar for ~$200au. I'm not fussed about the resolution, many people are running android fine on their modified winmo devices at that res. Main features for me would be wifi and hsdpa. gps is a bonus but not 100% necessary.(just support bluetooth com ports)

Posted at 6:46 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Rony says...

I was deciding whether to buy Kogan Agora or not because of several reasons until I read this news. One of them is smaller screen and keypad (makes it looked like a normal phone and not elegant - personal opinion). I think it's good to redesign it and changing to competitors' similar screen size or design since there are many sites designed for them (e.g. many website has been designed for iPhone's screen size).

As for Kogan, I hope they can not only claim to be the first company who develop Android phone in Australia, but also deliver us a "satisfied phone" (especially there are many well known mobile phone company out there and have been in Industry for a long time).

Rony

Posted at 6:58 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Tony says...

Seems like a really big publicity thing for me. I hadn't heard of Kogan before the Agora.

Posted at 7:56 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Bernie from Dubai says...

No doubt, I am disappointed about the news, but appreciate that Kogan is more focusing on long term client relationships by providing reliable and good products instead of making quick/ one-off deals and pushing unsatisfied clients to its competitors. 7days refunds sounds good and fair. Looking forward to the adjusted Kogan Android phone - I stay committed.

Posted at 10:06 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Dave says...

Erm, guys, you must be missed the point...

Kogan did not design that phone nor they (he) manufactured one or developed software. Whole Kogan business is "badge engineering" so each and every product they (he) sell is available from other same kind of companies with different badges. That's not even an OEM, that's just buying complete finished product and ordering your name to be printed on box, usually even without additional costs if order is big enough. Nothing else, nothing more.

So if some unknown Chinese guys (and that definitely was not HTC or couple of other Chinese top manufacturers) who designed original phone went belly up because they were unable to find buyers besides Kogan for their product - that's it and it has nothing to do with screen, software or whatever else. They just decided not to manufacture it and there's no way Kogan can do anything about it.

Posted at 11:12 p.m. on January 17, 2009

Robert says...

I'm not going to pretend I'm not anoyed at this. Just like the promicing Miezu Minione, this cheap, high end featured phone must have been destined to fail. so close to the shipping date though and after a prototype, has been very very disapointing. I've been bragging about getting this thing for a while now and was so sure it was going to ship. I would have rathered kogan deliver on their promice. Being the 2nd android phone to be released I'm sure developers would have had the time to adjust their apps to work on it.

Posted at 12:39 a.m. on January 18, 2009

Valdis says...

To me, too many people have too much time on their hands to whinge about this change. Give Kogan credit for first being innovative and trying to bring out a Google phone ahead of the rest, and credit also for not releasing a product if it wasn't going to be good for the market (for business or technical reasons or whatever). It is so true that many products nowadays are released with so many known issues that they are often close to unusable for key features. Re lost money, with almost zero interest rates today, sure Kogan made no money out of it, especially when including costs to do refunds via credit cards, etc.

To the whingers: turn off your PC, go out and get more fresh air, and enjoy life.

To Kogan, thanks for trying and thanks for holding back too when things aren't ready

Posted at 10:52 a.m. on January 18, 2009

Suitably Impressed says...

Ruslan,

Well Done!!!

I was one of the ones who pre-ordered this phone from you and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for not doing what every other businessman in Australia would have and thats taken our money and supplied us with something you thought was not up to scratch. I'd much rather have gone through this process and land up with no phone, then have landed up with a phone that would become obsolete in a few months.

It takes balls to come out and do what you did, you were obviously gonna cop flak from some unintelligent individuals who like to shoot there mouths off about everything. But I for one applaud your actions.

You have certainly kept my long term business because of this. Its nice to see a true HONEST businessman in this day and age.

Sincerely,

Customer for life.

Posted at 2:15 p.m. on January 18, 2009

Ali says...

Hi Ruslan,

that's all not too bad. Honesty is the most important thing you can give your customers. Many companies would just release a 'soon to be outdated' version and not care about the customers. Thank you.

A customer from Turkey

Posted at 3:25 p.m. on January 18, 2009

GizmoHeaven says...

Hey Ruslan,
You've delivered for and looked after the little consumer in the past, keep up the good work..

http://www.gizmoheaven.com/cell-phone-pda/kogan-agora-sma...

Posted at 7:50 p.m. on January 18, 2009

greg says...

:(

Posted at 8:46 p.m. on January 18, 2009

Aningbo Niumai says...

i dont know what to say.

hopefully the next version will have a better design and better functionality keeping the rate at the minimal of course.

Posted at 9:04 p.m. on January 18, 2009

Thomas Adams says...

Booooh!! I for one was totally aware of what you offered. I wanted to have it and so I preordered it from a company at the other end of the world, totally unknown to me at the time. And now you don't deliver. Crap! You don't really expect people to give you credit at any time in the future now, do you?

Posted at 10:25 p.m. on January 18, 2009

Thomas Adams says...

Booooh!! I for one was totally aware of what you offered. I wanted to have it and so I preordered it from a company at the other end of the world, totally unknown to me at the time. And now you don't deliver. Crap! You don't really expect people to give you credit at any time in the future now, do you?

Posted at 10:25 p.m. on January 18, 2009

The illusive AJ P says...

What a much of baloney!

Posted at 9:17 a.m. on January 19, 2009

Ganny says...

Man, that really pisses me off. Sure, its nice and all that he's making sure its good for consumers in the future blah blah, but a lot of us have put off phone purchases waiting for this. I put off my purchase til December for the Agora - delayed. Put off AGAIN for January - DELAYED! Don't expect me to come back, Kogan.

And to the user who posted about this: http://www.mysciphone.com/G2Specia.asp
Its not really running Android, its running a Chinese OS skinned to look similar to Android.

Posted at 10:29 a.m. on January 19, 2009

Anton says...

Yeah, not good for customers; We knew what we were paying for, and were happy with that. I've paid for my Agora, and want it delivered. Should that fall through, I'm heading to the ACCC.

This device was a benchmark for your company, I would have quickly turned around and bought TVs and Monitors from you had a quality product at a decent price been delivered. Now I'm certain that paying the extra money is worth it for a product that actually shows up when it's expected.

Posted at 12:06 p.m. on January 19, 2009

Mr Shankly says...

I think there's a big distribution in everyone's different disappointment, and I take my hat off to Ruslan for calling it quits. Really, a refund is fine for me, and if there are any of the finished products that would work for now, I'd be interested to see a price.

What sensible person could expect that Kogan could beat the competitors price by 50%, at no risk of disappointment, either in the feature set or delayed delivery? This was always looking like it would be tough; sometimes things don't work out and you make the best of it.

Posted at 1:45 p.m. on January 19, 2009

Bangkok Guy says...

I placed my order from abroad at Jan14,09 , and made a payment by a credit card. After 2 days, u said 'Delayed' ..How about a full refund process ???
Very Very disappoint with u company product startegy.

Posted at 2:51 p.m. on January 19, 2009

The big sicko says...

I mean, he is giving a refund...... what a publicity stunt......

may as well pay today and tonight for a "feature spot" to publicise his wares..... oh wait a sec.....
he did that one already

Posted at 4:32 p.m. on January 19, 2009

Jonny T says...

I'm pretty sure you cant just pay today tonight to put you on their show... in fact if anything today tonight are usually the ones paying people for their stories...

I think you may be pulling at straws there mate.

Posted at 9:31 p.m. on January 19, 2009

T509 says...

I pre-ordered to make a full review on sosiphone.com blog (a french one)

Disappointed ? yes a bit, but I really prefer the CEO of Kogan explaining wideley a problem and refund the cash than having a problematic handset.

The worst thing had been a faulty device.

As you are going back to product definition, here a few ideas ...

- WiFi a/b/g/n
- Bigger resolution screen with multitouch (a stantum.com one ?)
- 2/3 Mpix camera with autofocus and video capture capabilities
- Mass storage USB profile
- Bluetooth 2.1 with SPP, HS, GOEP, OPP, A2DP, HFP, SP, SYNC, ...
- 2 SIM slots ?
- Easy keyboard layout changing "for the old continent"

To lower production costs, a single version with all options ?

Keep us posted on sosiphone.com

Posted at 3:12 a.m. on January 20, 2009

coredump says...

Still no refunds here. And of course the chinese will sell something like the Agora, it was perfectly fine. It was not like I pre-ordered without noticing the screen was small.

Posted at 5:40 a.m. on January 20, 2009

the greek says...

hallo Kogan
mybe you will contact other companies. Merge your project

look here>

Carrier:
AT&T, Cingular, Disney, Fido, Rogers Wireless, SunCom, T-Mobile, TracFone,
All GSM SIM Cards Supporting GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
Bluetooth 2.0 | 2.8 inch LCD | MP3 | MP4 | EDGE 2.75G high-speed network|
Android interface style | FM | Change music by shaking |
enlarge or reduce pictures by finger | Tri-Band| Built-in 1GB SD card
(Up to 16GB) | MSN, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger | Games
Built-in Dream G2™ lens, 4 mega pixel interpolation (2 mega optical len).

Google Maps, Google search, Google Talk, Google Mail, Google sms,Google -411,
Google Blogger, Google Calendar, Google web albums, Google Notebook,
Google reader, Google Docs, Google news,iGoogle

Model:
Dream G2
Condition: New
Type: Bar
city- Shenzhen, China (very near to Hong Kong).
US $195.00

Posted at 7:31 a.m. on January 20, 2009

MD says...

What pisses me off the most, having already paid for a preorder, is that:
a) I have yet to be contacted by Kogan, informing me the product has been cancelled. I mean its very poor form to cancel a product after selling it. Its even poorer form not to inform the customers. If I hadn't read the article in the newspaper I would be none the wiser.
b) It goes without saying I have yet to see a refund or any details as to how the refund will be presented.

All in all, an exceptionally poor performance.

Posted at 9:21 a.m. on January 20, 2009

Louis-Eric says...

I just received the note via e-mail; I think it is 100% stellar of Ruslan to honestly put the cards on the table and explain that we will not be satisfied by the product at its current state. Few companies do this, and that level of honesty makes it a lot more likely that I would do business with the company again.

Posted at 11:08 a.m. on January 20, 2009

AJP says...

In Australia David Richards’ Channel News reported Kogan’s marketing director Daniel Beahan as saying he had no knowledge of the phone being canceled. He reportedly said, ‘I am surprised. I am away on holidays and no-one has told me that the phone is canceled.’

classic

Posted at 11:18 a.m. on January 20, 2009

big sicko says...

Jonny T says...

u can u naive muppet

Posted at 11:20 a.m. on January 20, 2009

Chris L says...

Thanks Ruslan,
I will wait for new model if an when you ready,
Still have faith as a first time buyer,
good luck.
Chris

Posted at 11:53 a.m. on January 20, 2009

Jonny T says...

Hey Big Sicko...

Do you have any factual evidence of anyone paying to be on Today Tonight??? Cause I would love to know if you do. Do you have any evidence that Kogan ever paid to be on Today Tonight... again, would love to know if you do.

If that is the case I might tell my boss to pay them and get them to run a story on his business, the credit crunch is killing us at the moment.

Muppet??? what are you 5 years old?

Posted at 1:42 p.m. on January 20, 2009

JohnMac says...

is there any legal reason that if the agora can't be sold without an os installed, and the end user can install a windows mobile rom.Of cause microsoft would have issue with this just like i'm sure that they are as un-happy with all the people who have copies of windows that are not registered. In the end it would be the end user installing the rom that microsoft would have issue with.

Posted at 3:21 p.m. on January 20, 2009

Shubbar says...

Going for a higher resolutions screen will need stronger processor and these will mean a more expensive device.
Is Android an OS for high-end devices only? I thought Android will drive prices down but now it's causing them to be more expensive.

Don't miss 3.5mm jack in your next device. I am still looking for an Android 3G device with GPS.

Posted at 4:58 p.m. on January 20, 2009

eoghan says...

such a shame. I was really looking forward to this, especially after watching the videos and looking at the pictures.
Thanks for telling us and eventually refunding, hope the newversion is up and out ASAP, before you get too much competition. So much for the long awaited 29th January, but good luck in completing the phone.

Let me know when its ready.

Posted at 5:24 p.m. on January 20, 2009

Troy Kelly says...

Bank interest or not, I think those of us who pre-paid for this device in good faith can at least expect that (in the interests of "doing things right by the Kogan brand promise, and you, the customers") independently audited financial statements should be made available to assure us that this was not simply a money making scheme on the part of Kogan.

Things I would (and I am sure others) be looking for are evidence of payments for R&D and manufacturing (given the device is due for delivery in under 10 days). And proof that any interest or profit generated from the deposit of all the prepayment was either used in attempting to secure the delivery of the device, or returned to us.

Posted at 7:23 p.m. on January 20, 2009

Shiv says...

Hello Ruslan,

We are a team working on Android and have developed some applications for 1 of the leading mobile handset/software company,
We could well work on your application.

For more, please reach us at shiv.sangaraju@vistainfosystems.com

Posted at 8:01 p.m. on January 20, 2009

...... says...

ffs he took a deposit of few hundred dollars from you guys not even a grand.
you expect an independently audited financial statement for that?
he is refunding your deposit and will provide a better product.
take a chill pill.

Posted at 8:04 p.m. on January 20, 2009

Troy Kelly says...

It's not just a case of a few hundred dollars from a couple of people. It's a few hundred dollars from (at the very least) a few hundred people.
Given that there is no evidence that the product was ready for shipping (or for that matter even under active development) I think it would be exceptionally hard for anybody to tell if this was simply a case of a misguided attempt at launching a product, or fraud to generate some emergency funds.

Posted at 8:09 p.m. on January 20, 2009

Troy Kelly says...

It's not just a case of a few hundred dollars from a couple of people. It's a few hundred dollars from (at the very least) a few hundred people.

Given that there is no evidence that the product was ready for shipping (or for that matter even under active development) I think it would be exceptionally hard for anybody to tell if this was simply a case of a misguided attempt at launching a product, or fraud to generate some emergency funds.

Posted at 8:10 p.m. on January 20, 2009

Jwam says...

After such a long wait, I'd still like to buy the handset and maybe submit a fix for the resolution problems?

Posted at 11:17 p.m. on January 20, 2009

Melbournite says...

Good on you for being honest. Oh well there's lots of options still available out there in the mean time also bargains to be had on this website. No use being dissapointed.

Posted at 11:19 p.m. on January 20, 2009

T509 says...

By the way, including some cool stuff :

What do you think about broadcasting ? Radio with DMB system and TV with DVB-H or DVB-T (widely available but a bit battery eater this last one).

Posted at 12:54 a.m. on January 21, 2009

Gerardo Cardona Jr says...

I wanted a kogan badly :( i do hope what you release is great. But i was banking on the agora pro so i could give my provider the finger and have a new phone and a new provider. :[ looks like im shopping for a new phone now

Posted at 2:09 a.m. on January 21, 2009

Leigh says...

Good work Ruslan! Once again you have proved your companies integrity and have displayed the value you place on releasing quality cut price technology!

I look forward to the Kogan 2009 product range!

Leigh
http://www.estorelogistics.com.au

Posted at 9:57 a.m. on January 21, 2009

TA says...

Not the first time to be disappointed, first with the GPS not being 4.5" despite it being advertised as so... still hasn't changed ad since Consumer Affairs complaint and advised to do so. Was looking forward to the android... i hope it doesn't disappoint again...

Posted at 12:14 p.m. on January 21, 2009

Kogan says...

Dont really know what the issue is ! Is it really some issue with technical ?

Posted at 1:08 p.m. on January 21, 2009

Ruslan Kogan says...

Just to clarify, 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.

Posted at 3:16 p.m. on January 21, 2009

ajP says...

Im sorry but that is total BS.... that is the exact same phone as the proposed kogan phone, probably a reseller from the OEM factory where u had the phone designed

Posted at 3:33 p.m. on January 21, 2009

Macca says...

aJP: I agree it's probably the same generic product, however I thought that Ruslan cancelled the phone because it would run into issues further down the track with Android CupCake and other new Android apps.

The Android developer representitive said that most applications are not suitable for such a small screen resolution and future development will not be targeting such resolutions.

For an Android phone to remain usable I think it need to be able to be updated to new versions of Android as they are released. By the sounds of things this won't be possible with a 320x240px screen as was planned for the Agora.

I don't doubt that the Chinese manufacturer will sell these Android phones with that screen res anway, they just won't necessarily be updateable or able to run all Android apps.

So to cut a long story short, I think the decision to cancel was one based on ensuring product quality and long-term consumer satisfaction.

Posted at 4:20 p.m. on January 21, 2009

GizmoHeaven says...

Agora meaning =

every city in Ancient Greece had an 'Agora', which is a marketplace and meeting place, where goods and ideas were exchanged.
Unfortunately goods aren't being exchanged here, but it's good to see people passionate about technology and sharing ideas.....

http://www.gizmoheaven.com/cell-phone-pda/kogan-agora-sma...

Posted at 6:59 p.m. on January 21, 2009

Thanh says...

Well to the Shining phone which looks like the Agora doesn't have touchscreen and that's one of the great thing of the Agora!

If Ruslan decides to delay I fully support him. He is giving full refund so no harm was done to anyone. Offcourse I am very disapointed that I wont receive my Agora this february so that I can play with it. But patience is a virtue!

Posted at 9:30 p.m. on January 21, 2009

geeee says...

Thanh,
Any android phone will and has touch screen, there is no point of having that phone if it doesnt have touch screen, and yes that is the exact same phone. but none of this crap your looking at, that rubbish website that ppl get scammed from, and even if you do get prodcts they are poorly built and not from the manufacturer. bc if it is.. your getting ripped off bad becasue those prices are way too much in usd. then convert it to aussie dollar..

you can get same design navmans on there.. not the same.. so to people like kogan and other no name brands i do believe they go to proper manufacturers. or else making $3 on an item is not worth the headache from all this... so of yor not happy with this guy, there are plenty of other guys that are selling there own stuff.. just shop smarter and you can get better deals from other guys smaller then kogan

Posted at 11:37 p.m. on January 21, 2009

Italian customer says...

7 day passed from the announcement and still no refund from Kogan...

Posted at 2:04 a.m. on January 22, 2009

relook says...

I think it was a fake. No one will stop a running Production - not when the customers have made pre-paid action - only cause the screen or resolution °might be° to small in the future.
When you act like this further more, you will shortly running out of products.
E.g.:
do you have LED backlight in your TV's? so- -pls stop production.
Implemented the upcoming USB standard - no?
Bluetooth 2.0 in the Watch.? why not.
more samples......

Posted at 3:30 a.m. on January 22, 2009

HB says...

hey nic & ajP, why don't you order that phone from Alibaba and let us know how it is? I mean, it's not like any other phones claiming to be Android OS from chinese websites have been shown to run a crappy proprietary OS that just looks like Android.

Oh wait, that's exactly what has happened!
Duh!

As for the fraud-argument: would you really create a media frenzy over a new product if you were going to commit fraud? Would you?

I am disappointed that we won't be seeing the Agora just like everyone else, but the sense of -entitlement- that some people here are displaying is somewhat out of touch with reality.

But then: Reasonable people + internet = raging simpletons...

Posted at 6:55 a.m. on January 22, 2009

zibex says...

k6Jrfp hi! nice site!

Posted at 7:34 a.m. on January 22, 2009

vseo (spain) says...

In my opinion this is the best they can do. Redesign a product is quite difficult at this point, but I understand the problem and how they have manadge it is the best solution. I preffer wait until they have a good product rather than have something useless.
Good work and good luck (from spain)

Posted at 8:16 a.m. on January 22, 2009

Rick Ross says...

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/203066467/Shining_Lates...

this is obviously the unbranded kogan phone, in stock at min 100 pieces per order. and maybe with just an imitation of the android os? well, your videos of the agora prototype didnt proof that, but they were totally blurry and of bad quality, but this raised my doubts.

Posted at 8:40 p.m. on January 22, 2009

geeee says...

relook.... i agree, you can make order then stop production.. you would lose your deposit.. say 100k easy... This guy is a jk.

TA.... funny how you said the gps was taken to consumer affairs as the sceen was not 4.5" great pick up...
now i see its been changed to 4.4" i wonder if it is really a 4.3" because ive never heard of a 4.4" garmin, navman dont make these sizes.. why would a chinese company make an unusual size???
great way to get more money for the gps for bigger size...

Posted at 10:23 p.m. on January 22, 2009

Shane888 says...

Hey Kogan,

Who do you use for manufacturing the Agora? Is it either of the below companies?

JoinCyber Telecom Equipment Co. Ltd.
Extend Communication Technology Co. Ltd.

Posted at 2:11 a.m. on January 23, 2009

James Stewart says...

Hmmm, still, at least you earned some interest off the money you took from customers during this time. Nice little earner, even after refunding the original cost of the units. Hehe.

Posted at 5:18 p.m. on January 23, 2009

Billip says...

i havent received my refund yet either, although i have a receipt saying its been refunded. I was really keen to jump on the android band wagon, but being from tassie, and Telstra being the only decent mobile carrier here (im not keen to try out optus' new 3g network down here) that ruled out the android Dev phone. and im certainly not going to risk my money buying an agora from alibaba. i've accepted Ruslan's business decision, but i needed a new phone, and the Sony Xperia X1a is available now, does everything i wanted a smart phone to do, and might even someday be able to run android. Maybe in a couple of years The updated, and improved agora will be available, and assuming the Xperia no longer does what it needs to, i might consider buying one.

Posted at 9 p.m. on January 23, 2009

PreOrderer says...

I still do not have a refund Kogan. Don't make me do a chargeback.

Posted at 1:55 p.m. on January 24, 2009

Germaine says...

My refund arrived today, thx!

Posted at 9:36 p.m. on January 24, 2009

Sean says...

I'm in the same boat as Billip, had the email from Ruslan on 16/01 promising a refund within seven days, had an email from EWay saying that a refund had been processed on 21/01 but the money still has not appeared in my account four days later.....

Posted at 12:12 p.m. on January 25, 2009

Demir says...

Firstly, I don't understand the winging people out there. They had an idea, spent money on publishing this idea, took the decision of this AGORA thing(because it might have never been produced)

I've never preordered anything in my life, although risky purchases appeal to myself a definite date is essential to land my order on the books. But everybody knows KOGAN hasn't broken any laws, they've clearly made their name more known in Europe but also have associated it with failure yet also with innovation(although they may have never invented any such item).

Just because you can't get a great bundle of specs for little amount of cash in this instance it doesn't mean KOGAN are cheating/misleading people, it means your gamble(don't tell it was faith, they're not SONY/PHILIPS) didn't yield as you dreamt.

Secondly, QWERTY and TOUCHSCREEN aren't things i like, and there is a room for innovation there: You can either make the keyboard have an eliptical shape narrower at the sides, with a wider centre, therefore larger buttons in the middle which are for simple dialing OR the standart QWERTY keyboard but for simple dialing 3 or 4 letters/buttons can be associcated with a single number: QWA are all 1. it will avod us from typing the wrong number.

A larger screen is good for GPS.

Posted at 1:17 p.m. on January 25, 2009

Billip says...

i checked my account today and the money has been refunded. thanks

Posted at 5:55 p.m. on January 25, 2009

Sean says...

Ditto with regards to the money being back in my account today.

Posted at 1:43 a.m. on January 26, 2009

Darryl says...

To all those complainers about pre-ordering! What have you lost? Nothing! You're getting your money back aren't you? The new release will still be the best buy around. Until then, suck it up!

Posted at 2:14 p.m. on January 26, 2009

Darylk says...

smart way to get free world wide publicity with no intention of releasing.

Posted at 6:27 p.m. on January 26, 2009

Troy Kelly says...

Kogan now appear on "Get Satisfaction" a peer based support / review site for companies.

Their direct link is http://getsatisfaction.com/kogantechnologies

It is probably a good (public / uncensored) forum in which to discuss the Agora fiasco and any other issues or praise you want to talk about.

Posted at 9:44 p.m. on January 26, 2009

Unknown says...

Not really disappointing, as I'll be more disappointed to find a new Android to have a mere 320x240 resolution. If you got this, you'll find yourself holding an old school device in a couple of months, when everyone is using something with VGA+ resolution.

Posted at 3:32 a.m. on January 27, 2009

Mikel says...

Can't really believe that such a product launch could be done in such a crappy way! Some days before the item shipping, this guys where thinking on the phone's design. It seems that everything was a marketing campaign, and NO THANKS, I WILL NEVER AGAIN TRUST IN YOU, KOGAN. I have lost 30 euros in exchange rates from preorder to final dissapointing! Just stay in your island and leave us alone!

Posted at 3:29 a.m. on January 28, 2009

jerryinky says...

As a developer, I too would like to purchase an agora to use with development testing. I would love to help you with the development costs in some small way. Take your name off it and I'll never tell anyone you sold it to me it you'd like but it would certainly be valuable to me.

Thanks, Jerry

Posted at 3:45 a.m. on January 28, 2009

Julian A says...

Mikel, watch what you say there.
This is an Australian company, so a large number of people here are Australian.
Also noone forced you to preorder. Yeah it sucks with exchange rates, but thats what you get when you order internationally.

I regularly purchase items from overseas, and at the moment, it's much more expensive now than a couple months ago to order items from the USA, but thats economy for you.

Posted at 10:30 a.m. on January 28, 2009

Anton L says...

It really isn't about how much the phone costs or when it was supposed to come out. Until very recently the only phone with touchscreen/ QWERTY keyboard/ 3G capabilities was the Agora.

Now it seems that more phones here in the US are picking up the concept so I'm sort of disappointed that I couldn't get the new idea as it sparked.

I'll hold onto my Blackberry for now, Kogan, but I am hoping for a 2009 release.

Posted at 3:43 p.m. on January 28, 2009

shane888 says...

Kogan
Well done with your offer to ease our disappointment with the delay of the Agora;

1. $30 Credit to purchase the Kogan Agora when it is launched.
2. Preferrential Allocation.

I wrote in this blog before and mentioned the possibility of this approach to those who had preordered. You have just saved my custom, as I signed up to buy a G1 developers phone last night.

I will now wait for the new Agora. On the new Agora, any possibility that you could give an indicative release date? I will not hold you to it :)

Thanks again
Bravo

Posted at 3:59 p.m. on January 28, 2009

Cam says...

As an entry level smart phone user I found the Agora's short comings acceptable, especially at AUD399. I pre-ordered and received my refund within days of being informed of the indefinite delay so no complaints there.

I would still like to by the Agora when and if it comes out eventually but what would higher screen resolution do to the low price?

To be honest it did all seem a bit too good to be true. I'm looking at the G1, but at nearly twice the price....

Posted at 6:04 p.m. on January 28, 2009

eoghan says...

I'm going to stick with the Kogan phone.
Buy Australian.

Posted at 6:31 p.m. on January 28, 2009

Michel says...

http://androidtwit.com/2009/01/26/ruslan-kogan-working-on...

Posted at 7:08 p.m. on January 28, 2009

michel says...

Good news:

http://androidtwit.com/2009/01/26/ruslan-kogan-working-on...

I'll wait for this one!

Posted at 7:13 p.m. on January 28, 2009

Wil. says...

Glad to see you've done something to stay on good terms with those whom have been refunded, i will definitely be using my $30 credit towards the next agora assuming the price range is similar! Thanks.

Posted at 8:29 p.m. on January 28, 2009

Andrew says...

I too was saddened that I wouldn't get the phone in February. I was slightly concerned by 320*240 but ordered nonetheless because I want a full qwerty, linux based unlocked phone. Like so many others, this has been a long wait and it continues. Still I think that Kogan have been straightforward and honest with us and do not deserve much of the flak written above.

I do hope that a new model can be brought to market by the summer. It was a bold and risky idea but a good one. I hope that next time it all works well for us, and for the company. I am still very interested. Long live the new agora !

Posted at 9:40 p.m. on January 28, 2009

Luka says...

This is awesome news!! I was pretty annoyed by Agora dropout, but this makes it even :) ... and im preparing the cash...

Needless to say i really like underdog style : Kogan vs Google .. go pwn

Posted at 10:46 p.m. on January 28, 2009

Yuuki says...

I want Android Phone that SIM Free.

Posted at 11:02 p.m. on January 28, 2009

Jan says...

Hey,

I was really disappointed in the first place and I thought I'd never hear anything again.
But then, I got this mail, saying that they will give 30$ discount (which is peanuts but nevertheless a kind gesture) and preferred allcation for the next phone.

I heve to say, I will buy this again because there is absolutely no phone on the market that fullfills all my requirements.

The iPhone is relaly nice but WAAAY too overpriced.

The G1...The onlything i like about it is Android. I dislike the whole hardware design, I don't like sliders, and I hate this obliquely mounted buttons on the bottom. And It's a little too expensive, too.

Then I was searching for other phones like the Agora. The only one I found was the Samsum i780. But it is too big and it's windows mobile. Which I currently use and hate. :)

So At the End: I will wait for either a new Agora or for another new phone that I like.

So please, Ruslan, drop the new phone on the market!! Good luck!

Posted at 12:10 a.m. on January 29, 2009

Buy Aussie says...

Hi Ruslan,

Firstly thank you for making the decision to delay the launch of teh Agora until you got the device in perfect form. I am proud that an Australian company is not trying to sell a product that will make a few bucks but will not do the hard yards.
Secondly, thanks for my refund and also the new offer for when the Version 2 of Agora launches.
I will be waiting to get this phone, it's important to me to support Australian business and I am proud to be Australian.

Posted at 12:15 a.m. on January 29, 2009

Jerry Giardina says...

A the "Thumbs Up" for Kogan; At least your company has released information on the issue causing the delay and keeping the customers in the loop. Plus giving us a credit toward the phone when we purchase the device. It looks like Kogan is a company worthy of our business and support!

Posted at 3:52 a.m. on January 29, 2009

backstept says...

cheers from the US!

I preordered, because there was no other phone like the Agora. I was interested in the G1, but the form is simply ugly. The Agora brought style to the Android world. My refund was processed over the weekend, but sadly due to exchange rates I'm still out a few bucks after the refund, but the $30 credit covers it!

I just want to express that my initial disappointment has been assuaged by the recent credit, allocation and gesture of appreciation to those that preordered.

Countless other consumer electronics companies would not have handled this setback as well as Kogan has done.

I wish the engineers and designers at Kogan all the best with the redesign, and I hope to see Kogan grow in its global presence.
I feel the Kogan brand is 'on the up and up' as they say.

Even though I'm unhappy with this setback, Kogan has won my loyalty with their honesty and commitment to quality. And I say this as a regular person, not a company plant or anything of that sort.

Thanks, and PLEASE keep us updated on the progress of the new Agora!
:D

Posted at 4:11 a.m. on January 29, 2009

Jan says...

Ahh, in case anybody from Kogan is reading that:

I think you are using a new Display for the next release...I hope its a Capacitive Multitouch. Everything is so much easier... And Even if you can't get it to work, then you could release a firmware update later to enable multitouch!

And another thing that I hope the Agora will have, is as mini USB connector. This is sooo much better than any proprietary connector. I love it because you can recharge your phone almost everywhere because everybody has a mini USB cable at home!

Anything else can be done by software ;)

Cheers!

Posted at 10:18 a.m. on January 29, 2009

alumky says...

Ruslan,

If what you said about the delay is true, very honorable. I had ordered 2 units. I will wait provided the redesign unit comes with fixed physical keyboard like the original. (No slide out please) Most would probably launch theirs with touch screen keyboard. Be unique. I was using Treo 650 and migrated to HTC TyTn II and then Samsung Omnia. As far as user friendliness goes, the later 2 suck.

Posted at 5:21 p.m. on January 29, 2009

Jan says...

@Vega:
Can you please stop posting such crap.

1.) This phone is sold in 1000pieces sets!!
2.) THis Phone does not even have a touchscreen!!!!
3.) In China, you can buy EVERYTHING you want, even an iPhone for 300$ which is - obviously not real!

Posted at 8:34 p.m. on January 29, 2009

Strawman says...

I'm not disappointed about this.

I had looked at the pictures of the Agora, and decided that I was better off with my (overpriced and inflexible) N95 for the time being. The way of the future is a phone with a camera lens on one side and the screen taking up the whole of the other side (and no keyboad). When there is an open source phone like this, it will take the world by storm.

The Agora in its original form was simply going to disappoint. You guys made the right decision by pulling the plug.

I for one, will be checking out the redesigned Agora with great interest.

Posted at 8:41 p.m. on January 29, 2009

Bill Liao says...

As G1 user I have found that Android is pretty power and processor hungry and prone to long pauses while it sorts out some issue or another in the back ground this is very frustrating when it happens when you are about to do something say as unimportant as answering the phone to your major shareholder...

Never the less being a Gmail addict the G1 does a really good job on the email side and does effectively do PUSH even though it is not Imap.

The G1 fails as a useful tool because of the slid out keyboard it woudl make a much better business tool if it were to have had the Agora layout of smaller screen and exposed keys.

I think it would be better to get the existing agora product into the hands of say 500 committed and paid up beta testers with the promise that the new phone be given to them free afterwards.

I would pay a premium to be a beta tester of such a device if it it had a faster processor and more memory than the current G1 I think battery life is irrelevant as neither the iPhone 3g nor the G1 have any to speak of and I use both.

I liked the form factor of the Agora and feel it is a mistake to assume that people will only go for products with larger displays the blackberry Storm is a disaster of a product precisely because they strayed from the format that people know and love.

The best feature of Android for me is that it is deeply integrated with Google so that I can have multiple devices that all have my email, contacts and calendar on them all synced without a PC.

I think this opens up the market for people to have second and even third devices as it takes away the pain of having to setup the phone from scratch or use a pc if you wish to carry one device instead of another.

As result I am sure that the Agora in its current form would have made a good selling product I woudl even offer a stripped down version as peoples second phone so that when they wish to carry a more discreet unit they could still have access to all the Google Goodness.

Anyway I am disappointed that my order was canceled and I look forward to being in the queue for the phone when it actually is released.

Posted at 10:52 p.m. on January 29, 2009

AJT says...

Ruslan,

I am really looking forward to the redesigned and released Kogan Agora Pro. Currently I am using a Blackberry Curve 8310 and have been exceptionally disappointed. I had considered moving to the G1, but frankly, I do not like its design. From what I have seen, the layout and operation of the Agora would work very well for me. I hope this is more in the way of tweaking an already solid design, than a complete redesign.

Look forward to this phone coming SOON!

Posted at 6:19 a.m. on January 30, 2009

Tom says...

Question, if we're going to delay it for a bit longer, could we have a chipset that uses SDXC, because by the time of release, SDHC cards will be obsolete, while SDHC will have the capacity necessary for a good few years more, especially with high capacity devices such ast this.

Also, the accelerometer is a fantastic idea, A lot of apps rely on it

Posted at 10:32 a.m. on January 30, 2009

Joey says...

I read about this phone in our newspaper, The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon, USA and I was looking forward to ordering this. I so want an Android phone that is not locked. I hope you release one soon.

Posted at 5:17 p.m. on January 31, 2009

A Smith says...

As long as it has WiFi and not just connectivity through my carrier I will try to keep waiting, though Blackberry has almost secured my dollars a couple of times since the delay announcement... I just hope I can hold off.... and my guess is in 6 months there may be quite a bit of competition for Kogan.

Posted at 2:53 a.m. on February 1, 2009

Graham says...

I would like to see the new Agora Pro with features of the Samsung i770 Saga currently only available with VZ-US. Frankly, it looks pretty much like the ditched Agora.

Posted at 3:11 a.m. on February 2, 2009

Jan says...

@ Graham:

What features do you mean? I can't see any features!?
ONly things that I dislike:
- No 3G!!!
- Windows Mobile
- Keys are too small (I tried the i780, but its the same)
- The Touch pad looks quite interesting but IMHO not very helpful since it only moves a mouse cursor over the screen!! I don't want a mouse cursor on my mobile phone!!

So please tell me what features are you talking about?

Posted at 5:21 a.m. on February 2, 2009

Jochen Schindler says...

On one hand, it's very honourable going back to drawing board instead of just throwing in the market, .... but on the other hand, - hey folks, this screen size ... it should have been clear in your development lifecycle, even if outsourced to a third party, that this was out of date even at the point of starting the design. By the way ...
... some wishes from a, hopefully soon owner of Agora, ...
- how about a display connector for an external screen,
- 2 usb-ports thats let us us external keyboard and mouse,
...
Best regards, whishes and wishes

Posted at 2:11 a.m. on February 5, 2009

UnNamed. says...

Its a bummer that this happened, because i was really hyped up for this phone and i could imagine everyone here was. However, What dissapointed me most was the "the Agora must be redesigned." I immidiately fell inlvoe with its current or more so not current design. But really did appeal to me.
I wish allthe best for the Kogan Engineers and Ruslan.

Posted at 10:46 p.m. on February 5, 2009

Dave U. says...

Bugger, I was really looking forward to getting one of these.

Given the number of comments here there is obviously both great interest and demand for an Android base phone.

Optus obviously think so to, but when you look at the costs of the plan / phone, they've put it a 'little out of reach'.

Let's hope that 'indefinitely' doesn't mean 'never'

Posted at 11:30 p.m. on February 5, 2009

Matt says...

Well looks like it will be a waste of time and money bringing out this cheap phone, with HTC and Optus beating Kogan to the punch...

Posted at 11:54 a.m. on February 6, 2009

jen says...

what a stuff up.

htc is releasing feb 16th in aus... there the first not you.

so you will lose alot of sales, everyone that wanted yours will get the htc now...

Posted at 4:14 p.m. on February 6, 2009

steve says...

Ruslan,
- 850 & 900Mhz HSDPA pleeease!
1st gen (htc) andriod phones will suck.

I'm looking forward to the new Agora.
please post any details when you have them!

Posted at 10:18 p.m. on February 9, 2009

metamrphosis says...

major suckage...

Posted at 7:32 p.m. on February 11, 2009

Burto says...

All I want to know is when Kogan thinks they'll release the new one! ;-) I like the blackberry style with the full qwerty... iPhone is just too damn slow at typing and despite the AppStore the two most killer apps are still (1) SMS and (2) email... don't lose the full qwerty!!

Posted at 8:44 a.m. on February 16, 2009

Trent Petro says...

yeah I want the Kogan Argora now- my phone is playing up and the HTC dream is only post-paid. I really want an android phone- so yeah.

Posted at 7:32 p.m. on February 16, 2009

blah.. says...

I'm after a Andriod device & am getting impatient..
Optus World told me today it'd be $1200 to buy a HTC dream outright, but then again you can register as an Android Developer and get one delivered for $650ish AU.

Got any specs Ruslan ???

Posted at 12:52 a.m. on February 17, 2009

oblique says...

Ruslan!

I need that Kogan Agora Pro! What is up! Any updates? I need a picture, some specs or something! I am still excited about this phone and will ditch my touch pro when your phone comes out! How long do I have to wait? Spring? Summer? Fall?

Posted at 1:25 a.m. on February 17, 2009

sgJCqxvLxlNiDnJ says...

ihSJNk

Posted at 6:46 a.m. on February 20, 2009

Bangkok Guy says...

i'm loss 20 AUD after a full refund , as the result of Buy/Sell exchange rate on my credit card..???? This what u (Kogan) gave me when i decided to buy u a product..Sir

Posted at 3:09 p.m. on February 25, 2009

oblique says...

Ruslan!!

I am hearing some rumbling in the media about the new Agora! When will we see an official blog post about it?

Posted at midnight on February 26, 2009

A humble beggar says...

There are a number of people who are not particularly interested in Android the way that Google envisions it but rather want a hackable Linux platform. If you happen to have a bunch of Agora hardware already assembled, I think you could sell it to these users. The only competition for this market is the Openmoko-targetted Neo Freerunner, but those guys are not competent hardware developers (I hate to offend but also hate to misrepresent). So you could probably even ask the full price (though personally I'd prefer to pay surplus auction prices :)). Certainly these users would accept an unsupported phone without any guarantees.

Just sayin if you've got hardware goin to the landfill, there's another way.. :)

Cheers,
- Greg

Posted at 1:45 a.m. on February 28, 2009

rantingmoose says...

Living in the country, I look forward to a 900-mhz Agora, and am happy to wait for it to be right.

Posted at 11:44 a.m. on March 2, 2009

Limmy says...

Saw this article on the age: http://blogs.smh.com.au/gadgetsonthego/archives/2009/03/w...

Is that for real? New Agora 2 with touch screen coming out in May? Hopefully it's at the same price (or less...just hoping)

It'd be awesome...can't wait. Trying to control myself not to buy any touch screen phones til yours come out Ruslan.

Posted at 1:53 p.m. on March 2, 2009

unicorn says...

Ruslan, since there's the delay before the Agora ships, I wonder if you've given any thought to accessories - you know, cases/covers, additional charger cables (wall, car and USB), screen protectors, spare batteries, etc. Don't know whether you'd include this in the package, or have it as an add-on, but I will certainly be looking for a spare charger and a case (at minimum).

Posted at 9:48 p.m. on March 3, 2009

Jan says...

Hey Limmy,

Thanks for the link!

This is an interesting article, indeed. Google NDA... damn, these huge companies can do what ever they want.

And the Agora 2 is coming with a 3.5" display?! Actually I really like the real keyboard even if it takes some space for other things... but writing is much easier...

Whatever it will be, I'm curious to see it :)

Posted at 10:22 a.m. on March 10, 2009

Shane says...

Hi,

Am very interested in the kogan, preordered the day it came out in fact, hope the new agora still sports a qwerty keyboard though! and an option not to have the camera.

Regards

Posted at 2:05 a.m. on March 15, 2009

Jan says...

...no news?

I just saw the new iPhone OS 3.0 preview and it finally got lotsa good features including copy&paste.

I start to think if maybe I should buy one of them now that they have all features I need.

BUT I still don't like apples way of treating cutomers and developers... And I do like Kogans way.

So come on Kogan, gimme somethin' to buy!! :) Or at least some more information...

Posted at 11:59 p.m. on March 22, 2009

Michel says...

Ruslan,

Could you give some info about the status of the new phone?
I really need a new phone, and I prefere yours.

Michel

Posted at 9:20 p.m. on March 23, 2009

Twisted says...

As with comment above Any news on new phone yet I like the fact its not tied to any phone company and need new phone.

Posted at 7:29 p.m. on March 24, 2009

tony says...

How about looking at a 800x480 pixel 105mm screen like the Nokia N810 Blow the iPhone out of the water.(480x320 pixel 89mm)

Posted at 2:22 p.m. on March 27, 2009

Chow says...

Though I have got the refund but I do hope I can get a G2 phone from you soon. I support the cross-country purchase rather than purchasing from the extortion phone dealers in Hong Kong. Sincerely hoping that you could put out the new phone for sale very soon.

Posted at 12:12 p.m. on April 1, 2009

tom of melbo says...

good on you for putting a stop on the product ruslan. you have done the right thing. in the sydney morning herald article
http://blogs.smh.com.au/gadgetsonthego/archives/2009/03/w...
it says you have ditched the qwerty keyboard for the agora 2. please keep the qwerty keyboard! i hate how the iphone has an on screen keyboard. it doesnt have the precision a qwerty keyboard has. dont try and be an iphone with android. be your own phone. what you were offering before was my dream phone. i just hope you can expand and improve your own product and not to mimic someone elses.

Posted at 1:08 a.m. on April 15, 2009

oblique says...

need Agora Pro ASAP!

Posted at 4:45 a.m. on April 23, 2009

Randall Lasini says...

Being one of the many at the time,
who plomp down some cash and a dime,
For A phone that was breaking of ground,
But was pulled short and quick with nary a sound.

Ages it has been while we wait for a breath,
upon news of this phone or of its full death,
So please update the blog details above,
If a new phone is upon wing like a dove.

Posted at 12:07 p.m. on May 26, 2009

Chow says...

HTC has already launched its G2 phone 'Magic' in June Worldwide. Can I get to know when would you launch your G2 phone again?

If not, please notify us openly and earlier so that we could stop waiting!

Posted at 11:29 a.m. on June 3, 2009

Armando says...

Yeah i'm curious to when will the phone hits the Kogan store.

Posted at 8:54 a.m. on June 5, 2009

Ralph says...

It has been a few days shy of 6 months now since the phone was pulled, and we are yet to see or hear of any actual developments on this new phone. With Android phones popping up all over the place it seems like this is something you are either already doing, or not doing at all.

As someone who ordered the Agora Pro the first time around I would like to give Kogan the benefit of the doubt and wait, but there is only so much waiting. You tried to make good by promising a small discount if they had ordered the first time around, but now keeping everyone in the dark simply doesn't cut it.

Please guys, let us at least know what is happening.

Posted at 3:02 p.m. on June 11, 2009

ALI says...

It is better late rather than never ever. And I prefer to wait for an excellent device instead of to live upset trying a bad one.

Hope to hear good news soon from Kogan.

Posted at 1:27 a.m. on June 12, 2009

Jan says...

Hey,

i was always supporting you guys with your ideas. I was waiting and waiting... and what really annoys me is that sice months there have been no News from ruslan or anybody in Charge to Tell us about whats going on with the Agora. But maybe You're so busy selling Plasma tv Sets that you forgot about the nice little phone in your desk drawer. Whatever it is, i'm sorry but i can't wait.

Cheers, jan (who's writing this post with his new iPhone)

Posted at 8:30 a.m. on July 14, 2009

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This innovative website provides a whole range of car hifi products. From discount car audio to top of the range car audiophile products, they offer the best service and value that you will find anywhere. So if you adore car hifi like me, please take the time and see the excellent selection of products available. I'm sure that you will be happy that you did.

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Posted at 6:32 a.m. on August 1, 2009

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  • Built in HD Digital Tuner
  • HDMI Input
  • 1920 x 1080 Resolution
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