open source enthusiast, sony psp, and life.
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A last minute change to Kogan Android Phone? Can you spot the differences?
1. The newer one got slightly wider
2. The newer one screen appears to be smaller (why?)
3. The newer one got ‘Home’ and ‘Back’ button
4. The newer one got new D-pad (which is much smaller)
5. The newer one ‘0’ number now get a new position
Finally, after a month from the official statement, Kogan announce their own versions of Android phones. It will come in two flavor. Kogan Agora and Kogan Agora Pro. Kogan Agora have all the sweet package that all manufactured phone have except WiFi and GPS will be available on the Kogan Agora Pro.
For me, this is great, but I have some mixed feelings about the release. Lets recap from the last statement a month ago
1. Price AUD$199
2. iPhone look and feel.
3. Built-in qwerty keyboard
4. No international shipping
Now everything is changed.
1. Price AUD$199 - now its AUD$299 and AUD$399 (50% and 100% more and up)
2. iPhone look and feel - feels like a blackberry on and Android theme
3. Built-in qwerty keyboard - now its hardware
4. No international shipping - Now it ship worldwide with additional cost.
Anyway here are the specs:
Hopefully Kogan will put a review and then I will have some tought to buy it. For the time being, it is not on my list to buy. But for a phone with the pack of feature, it is still cheap compared to others.
I am interested on getting this kogan android phone ( no official name yet! ). But the main problem is, kogan only ship it within Australia only. No international delivery. Last week, I’ve emailed the kogan sales team to clarify on this.
Hi,
I am Shafiq from Malaysia. On the recent news kogan might release a google phone that caught my attention. I have a few question to ask?
1. Are Kogan on a plan to shipping worldwide including Malaysia? 2. I will be visiting Gold Coast on Feb 2009 for a vacation (17 till 21). If I purchased your google phone, and put the address of my hotel aparment that I will be staying, how many days it will take to deliver (from ordering until delivery).
Thanks.
The very next day, the sales team, they replied
Hi,
Thank you for enquiring about the Kogan “Android” Phone. Full product
specifications are yet to be released to the media or public. To
receive product updates, and to be the first in Australia to gain
access to this innovative and exciting new product, please join our
mailing list at www.kogan.com.au
We will not be shipping internationally, however it may be possible to
deliver to your hotel in Australia.
Please contact us closer to the date.
Kindest Regards,
Louis
So, now, I have to wait until 15th Dec 2008, whether Kogan will be releasing its own android phone. If this is legit, surely I will be order it just before I will visiting Australia on February 2009.
But it is not official. The beauty of open source is anyone can start code and write their own software. From the official google roadmap, the on-screen keyboard will not be available until Q1 2009.
Q1 2009
Input method framework (IMF)
This feature will enable support for input methods other than physical keyboards, for example soft keyboards. IMF will also enable application developers to provide IME (see below) applications based on the framework.
Input method engines (IME)
IME will support soft keyboards, a dictionary of suggestions, and a suggestion algorithm. The Android platform may contain few reference IMEs, and developers can provide IME applications through the Android Market.
The community from DotPhone has released the source code for the on screen keyboard software. There is also a step-by-step guide on how to install.
This is a very good news. From my last post, Kogan want to released their own google phone thats looks exactly like an iPhone, which no physical keyboard. This maybe help them to make the production much faster and will definitely be available before 15 Dec 2008.
