A new handset, the Kogan Agora, is set to be the second smartphone running Google’s open source Android OS. The Agora, manufactured by Australian company Kogan, was designed based on consumer feedback about what individuals are looking for in a phone. The result is a handset with no carrier obligation or contract, that will work around the world and start at just AU$299 (US$200 | £135) or AU$399 (US$267 | £180) for the Agora Pro plus delivery.

The Pro version will add a 2MP camera, GPS and WiFi to the base handset’s 624MHz processor, 128MB RAM and 3G connectivity. The Agora is shaped more like a BlackBerry than the Google/Tmo G1 and has more limited hardware including a smaller display with lower resolution (2.5″ vs 3.2″ at 320 x 240 vs 480 x 320).

The handset is expected to start shipping worldwide on January 29th 2009 and you can order direct from Kogan…though international shipping is pricey (AU$44.85).

Full Press Release Below:

KOGAN UNVEILS ‘AGORA’

FIRST AUSSIE PHONE POWERED BY ANDROID

MELBOURNE, Thursday 4th December 2008 – Kogan Technologies today unveiled the Kogan Agora, the first Australian mobile phone powered by the Android operating system.

Kogan Technologies will sell the Agora for AU$299 and the Agora Pro for AU$399. Both models are available for sale today on www.kogan.com.au. The phones are sold outright – with no contract – and will work on any network.

The Kogan Agora (AU$299) features a full QWERTY keyboard, central navigation key, 2.5” touchscreen, microSD slot, and 3G connectivity.

The Kogan Agora Pro (AU$399) adds a 2 MP camera, Wi-Fi, and GPS to the Agora’s impressive specifications.

Both models will ship to customers – in Australia and internationally – on January 29th 2009.

Kogan Technologies founder, Ruslan Kogan, said the Agora is proof that his company is achieving its goal of offering the latest technology at the best value prices.

“The Kogan team have been working very hard to bring out the exciting new phones powered by Google’s Android operating system at the right mix of price and specifications,” Kogan said.

“We’ve been listening to customers through our blog, and crammed in all the features we possibly could. The end result is the best value, fully-featured phone in the Australian market.

“We worked closely with manufacturers and vendors to develop drivers, software, and tweaks to make the Agora an intuitive and exciting experience for everyone.

“The design and features of the Kogan Agora makes the phone appeal to both consumers and business users.

“The Android operating system means the handset can capture and play music, photos and video, surf the web, play games, navigate, and organise your life with extremely powerful applications.”

Kogan has been a long time supporter of open source and Android provides a real alternative to Apple’s proprietary operating system for the iPhone.

“Google is a key player in developing efficient and innovative online solutions for customers around the world. The open source nature of Android means the operating system will continually improve over time,” Kogan said.

Some of the applications pre-loaded on the Kogan Agora are:

· Gmail

· Google Search

· Google Calender

· Google Maps

· Google Talk

· YouTube

HIGHLIGHTS:

· 2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen

· Integrated QWERTY keyboard

· High-speed 3G network connection

· One-Touch Google Search

· Easy Web Browsing

· Easy-to-use email with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents

· Customisable Home Screen with instant Email, text message and IM notifications

· Instant access to mobile Internet services (Gmail , YouTube , Google Talk , Google Calendar , Google Maps )

· Music Player

· microSD expansion slot for all your storage needs

· Wi-Fi network access (included with Kogan Agora Pro)

· GPS navigation capability (included with Kogan Agora Pro)

· 2.0 megapixel camera (included with Kogan Agora Pro)

SPECIFICATIONS:

Operating System

Android

Google Mobile Functions

Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Talk, Google Calendar.

Display

2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 262K QVGA (320 X 240 pixel) resolution

Device Control

Central Navigation Key

Keyboard

QWERTY keyboard

Keyboard backlighting

GPS

GPS navigation capability (included with Kogan Agora Pro)

Connectivity

Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate

Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11b/g (included with Kogan Agora Pro)

Camera

2.0 megapixel colour camera (included with Kogan Agora Pro)

Audio

Built-in microphone and speaker

Headphone jack

Ring tone formats:

· MIDI, MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, PCM

Video

Video formats supported:

· MPEG2 H263, H264, MPEG4, AVI

Mail attachment support

Viewable document types:

· JPEG, GIF, WBMP, MIDI, AMR, MP3, WAV

Dimensions (HxWxD)

108 mm x 64 mm x 14.8 mm

Weight

130g

Battery

Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery

Capacity: 1300 mAh

Talk Time

Up to approximately 400 minutes

Standby Time

Up to approximately 300 hours

Processor MHz

624 MHz

Memory

ROM:

256 MB

RAM:

128 MB

microSD card expansion slot

Network

UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Other than as described in this release, Kogan and its products, are not affiliated with Google Inc or its products. Google, Android, Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Talk, Google Calendar are trademarks of Google Inc. Use of these trademarks is subject to Google Permissions.

About Kogan Technologies

Kogan Technologies is a wholly-owned Australian company established in 2006 by entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan. Kogan sells a wide range of consumer electronics in Australia, New Zealand, and around the world. The Kogan promise is based on a unique business model that passes the savings of dealing direct with the manufacturers onto Australian consumers. Bypassing middlemen, Kogan is able to offer the latest technology at the most affordable prices. Kogan’s unique blend of quality technology and value for money offers price-conscious Australian technology consumers a real choice.

Sources:
Kogan and Gizmodo

Google have put together a demonstrative video of their iPhone Mobile Voice Search app which was temporarily removed from Apple’s App Store recently, upon the discovery that Google had intentionally broken the API.

The impressive voice search application was returned and remains available on the App Store despite Google admitting to breaking the rules. The app accesses the iPhone’s proximity sensor, which normally turns the screen off when you have the phone to your ear – to prevent you from accidentally ending a call with your cheek. Google’s app alters that functionality by letting users search the web with their voice (see video below) which is a clear no no in Apple’s API.

Personally, I’m glad this fantastic app is sticking around. The downside, however, is that smaller developers who have little to offer Apple in return for their fickle App store acceptance, will have to play by the rules and thus not be able to compete with larger companies such as Google on functionality.

Sources:
YouTube and CNET and BetaNews
Via CrunchGear

Geez, these advertising companies just can’t seem to get it right these days, can they? The new Google G1 phone went official today with a T-Mobile launch in New York and we have the first commercial for it below. The video seems to be (poorly) targeting the hip kids out there when we all know this phone’s one for the geeks…Android OS and all. Get with it T-Mo.

The G1’s open-source OS is designed with Google Apps in mind and apparently you must have a Google Account in order to make use of the phone. It would seem that Google and T-Mobile both have different ideas of exactly who their target audience is. If it is indeed the kids they’re targeting, then they need maximum compatibility with services from Yahoo and Microsoft that are so popular with this group. Anyone considering purchasing this phone would be put off by a forced migration of web services.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Sources:
Engadget and YouTube

Google has announced a new mammoth undertaking that will bring the past 30 years of print journalism online, through a partnership with around 100 newspaper publishers. The new feature which ties in with the company’s book-scanning operation will make fully searchable newspaper pages available to the public that will appear just as they did when they were originally printed.

The new feature was announced at the TechCrunch50 Conference (Sept 8-10) where a demonstration showed how the project put the scanned documents into context with related articles from other papers displayed on the right hand side of the page.

Google plans to run its Adsense advertising next to the documents using a revenue share model, so that all parties benefit from the endeavor. This seems a wise move and has likely contributed to the search giant’s success in garnering support from so many publishers.

The newspaper scans will be zoomable, much like Google Maps and will display all the original content including headlines and advertisements, giving you a feel for the times. Google created a new algorithm for the project that works in conjunction with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to enable the billions of pages of newsprint to be searchable.

Sources:
BBC
Via: TechDigest

If yesterday’s comic strip explanation of Google’s Chrome browser wasn’t enough for you, here is a video (below) of the official press presentation (52 mins) from their headquarters in Mountain View, California.

First up is VP and Product Manager, Sundar Pichai, who details Chrome’s architecture and discusses just why the browser was built. Ben Goodger talks about the user experience. Darin Fischer dives under the hood and delves into how Chrome improves the capabilities of web apps.

Next up is Brian Rakowski who demonstrates a simulated stuck/hung tab (35:25 in video) and how it is isolated, allowing you can continue interacting with your other tabs. He goes on to speed test Chrome against Internet Explorer with local static content. Chrome is blazing at 77.28ms vs 220.64ms for IE.

Lars Bak talks about the JavaScript virtual machine called V8 and dynamic page speed. Look out for the dynamic speed test at around 44:35. Sundar mentions that Chrome has been in development for two years and Google co-founder Larry Page closes, highlighting the importance of speed and the open-source model.

See also:
Matt Cutts – Detailed LiveBlog of the event including Q&A.
TechCrunch – Review of chrome. Verdict: Thumbs up!

Sources:
YouTube via TechCrunch

Google will today be launching its own open source web browser called “Chrome” after an accidental leak yesterday. A Windows version of the browser will be available in 100 countries at some point today from this site, with a version for Mac and Linux on the way. Google have created a very informative 38-page comic strip that explains, in detail, the ins and outs of the browser and its innovations.

Chrome promises to be small, stable and fast which should give Opera, who excel in these areas, a run for their money. One of the browser’s most promising features lies in its multi-threaded design that will run each tab as a separate process. This enables a buggy page to die silently without crashing the whole browser, as well as using less memory overall.

Apparently, the browser will feature an incognito mode similar to the InPrivate mode on the upcoming IE8. This mode will block personal information such as browsing history from being recorded. Another great feature is the inclusion of a task manager on each tab so you can see exactly what resources each tab is using, information that has hitherto been unknown.

While it would seem Google has its eyes on Internet Explorer and Firefox, it’s much more likely to be yet another step towards eroding the dominance of Microsoft’s Windows OS and Office suite. The browser will create a platform more suitable for running web applications, furthering the encroachment of cloud computing as an alternative to traditional local apps. Chrome should not be thought of as just a web browser, but rather an operating system in its own right.

This is yet another Google innovation that provides us with a great product at no financial cost. There is increasing worry, however, about the insidious nature of their products and services that each form a piece in a greater plan for market dominance. The increasingly ubiquitous company is well on its way to becoming the new Microsoft.

I’m very excited about this release and plan to download it as soon as it’s available for Mac users.

Sources:
Google Blog and Chrome Comic
Via: TechCrunch

London’s Metropolitan Police have launched a trial website service, thanks to Boris Johnson, that aims to highlight the city’s trouble areas. You can search by postcode to narrow down an area or view the map in its entirety to see how the different boroughs compare on crime.

The mapping service is only in beta at the moment but I feel it does need to include more data to paint an accurate picture. The color-coded zones are based on data from burglary, robbery and vehicle theft, but for this to assist Londoners in a meaningful way, it should address the types of crimes we are most concerned about.

The mapping data should include stabbings, shootings and violent crimes, something I’d imagine would be more relevant given the constant reports of knife violence in the media.

Living in London myself, I thought I’d take this SimCity-esque service for a run and check out my area (sadly, you can’t add more police stations). I was expecting the worst and found out I was in an average band (could have fooled me), and that an area I have been considering moving to, partly because it seemed safer, is in a ‘high’ red band. Go figure! Is it me? Or is it them? Is it helpful? Or is it misleading? Who knows how accurate the data is.

Richmond is low, yet posh Paddington is above average. Don’t ask me why. Probably all their high-end cars getting pinched. Heathrow seems okay, think I’ll go sleep on a runway. I’ll be safe there, right?

Sources:
Met Police Maps
Via: Gizmodo and TechRadar

There have been quite a few interesting Google Street View shots around the interwebs lately. Lets take a look at what that sneaky little vehicle-mounted eye has been capturing recently in a piece we’ll call ‘Top Five Recent Google Street View Moments’.

Number 1: (above)

This one was actually posted in the U.K. Mirror today of an Australian fisherman who had apparently been drowning his sorrows at a funeral and later passed out in the street.

Number 2:

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Good thing the fire department was already on the scene because Google were too busy filming.

Number 3:

As if crack dealers don’t have enough trouble just from the cops. Now they’ve got to look out for lurking search giants as well.

Number 4:

Where’s Waldo? Man, that was an easy one. He really isn’t trying these days, is he?

Number 5:

Even ghosts aren’t safe from the big G’s prying eye.

Sources:
The Mirror, Gizmodo, Geekologie, StreetViewFun

The world’s first flight to the moon by a privately funded team has been announced as the Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association submits a due date for their launch in the hope of grabbing $30 million in prize money.

Google put up the money just under a year ago and within three months from now we will see the first attempt.

In order to qualify for the prize money the team must be privately funded, land a robot on the moon which must travel 500 meters and transmit 1GB of images and video back to Earth. The deadline is 31st December 2012 for the full prize and the same date in 2014 will fetch half that at $15 million.

ARCA (should really be ACRA) will make their launch from sea using a balloon to lift their European Lunar Lander (ELL) to an altitude of 18km. Its Stabilo booster rocket will then propel the lander into space and to the moon. The spent rocket will detach and land in the ocean.

If ARCA’s mission succeeds, there are still plenty of prizes for other competitors such as $5 million for second place. $5 million will also go to the team whose lander is operational on the moon the longest and another $5 million will be awarded to the team who discovers traces of earlier USSR or Apollo missions or finds signs of frozen water on the moon.

Source:
The Future Of Things

Hyundai Japan has announced its W220S 22-inch TriDef 3D LCD monitor which comes bundled with 3D applications such as TriDef media player, two 3D games plus Google Earth 3D.

Unfortunately the display requires special glasses (see below) to be worn to see the three-dimentional effect, but admittedly, they could pass for a regular pair of shades and are by far the most stylish 3D glasses I’ve come across.

The display has a 1,680 x 1,050 WSXGA+ resolution with 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 16.7 million colours, a 5-millisecond response time and 300cd/m2 brightness.

The viewing angle is limited with only 150-degrees on the vertical and 160-degrees on the horizontal.

It comes with 2 x 3W stereo speakers built-in, measures 522 × 195 × 416mm (w, d, h) and weighs 7.3kg.

The W220S will be released in Japan tomorrow at a price of ¥98,000 (about $913).

Source:
Impress

Related articles:
VMJ Creates World’s Largest 3D Display
Philips Presents ‘3D TV’ Without Glasses