Android Update
19 Jan 2009, 1:17 pmThe first phone to use the Android operating system was launched by T-Mobile in the USA and UK in October 2008, and it is proving quite popular at this stage.
To every one’s surprise, in early December 2008, it was announced “The first mobile phone running Google’s Android operating system will hit Australia on 29 January, with a company called Kogan Technologies announcing the imminent release of an Android-based handset it calls the “Agora”.
Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence indicates that whilst Telstra is remaining tight lipped about Android, both Optus and Vodafone have have begun the testing and authorising process for Android devices on their network, but both have declined to comment.
According to cnet.com.au
“Despite Optus declining to comment on any plans for HTC’s Android, however, the telco’s technical support staff appear to have been busy behind the scenes.
Optus Mobile Technical Support Centre staff have been issued with the “HTC: Dream (G1) Manual”. The document details how to use the phone; for example, it describes how to change languages, forward calls, set up email, disable 3G and Airplane mode or set up the internet on the phone.
Some Australians already have the G1 locally due to the device being sold through eBay; in addition, Google directly sells an unlocked version of the handset for software development purposes.
Optus declined to comment on the document. A Google Australia spokesperson said they had not seen the document and could not comment.”
Fast forward to 16th January 2009, and Kogan Technologies announces that “Australia’s first smartphone to run on Google’s Android, the Kogan Agora Pro, has been delayed indefinitely”.
In a statement, Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan advised its low-resolution display as the reason for not shipping the handset in its current form.
“It now seems certain the current Agora specifications will limit its compatibility or interoperability in the near future,”
“Since the design of the Agora, the Android community has been growing quickly … I now believe that in order to access all the Android platform has to offer, the Agora must be redesigned.”
The Kogan Agora and Agora Pro smartphones feature a 2.5-inch QVGA (240×320-pixel) resolution display. The only other commercially available Android phone to date, the HTC Dream, features a 3.2-inch display with a 320×480-pixel resolution.
Google’s Android OS is an open-source platform allowing software developers to create new applications and make them available to download from the Android Marketplace. As the HTC Dream is the only Android handset on the market, developers will have been developing for screens with a resolution similar to its display.
SB 190109
