First Australasian Google phone suffers disconnect

Please hold, caller: Upstart Aussie company Kogan Technologies has dropped its plan to release a Google Android-based cellphone, which was to have been sold into New Zealand from this month. Parallel Imported is filling the gap, providing T-Mobile’s G1 with a local release – though Vodafone is warning potential customers about the unauthorised handset.

Melbourne-based Kogan was set to release two “Agora” phones, each manufactured by a Chinese contract manufacturer then sold with a Kogan badge – following the model the 10-man company has used for its low-cost forays into LCD TVs and other consumer electronics, turning over $A8 million last year.

"The Agora reached a very late stage of development, manufacturing had commenced and we were within days of shipping the product to customers. But it now seems certain the current Agora specifications will limit its compatibility or interoperability in the near future," says company founder Rushlan Kogan.

Among other issues, Mr Kogan says he’s become aware that Android applications are now being written for a higher resolution screen than could be accommodated by the Agora’s display (see NBR's techs and specs preview here).

Both models in the Agora series will now need to be completely redesigned, and the planned January 29 launch has been put on indefinite hold.

The Agora was been sold to New Zealanders via Kogan’s website. Mr Kogan says all those who’ve placed a pre-launch order will be refunded.

T-Mobile G1 gets local release
Meanwhile, as exclusively revealed last year by NBR, Parallel Imported has begun selling the world’s first Google phone in New Zealand.

The G1 (below) was first released in October last year in the US, manufactured by Taiwan’s HTC, badged by its carrier, T-Mobile, and running on Google’s open source Android operating system.

Parallel Imported is selling the T-Mobile G1 for $999, with an unlocked SIM card that means the cellphone will work with any Vodafone call and data plan – albeit without Vodafone’s official blessing.

Vodafone external communications manager Paul Brislen says “We’d just like to remind people that they’re unsupported, so any hardware/software problems and you’re on your own.

"For example, customers should be aware that some high-end devices like to ‘phone home’ for software updates and that home could be Hong Kong, Singapore or further afield. That means they’re incurring data charges without realising it.”