This phone, the Kogan Agora Pro, is planned to start shipping in late January 2009.  It offers a very similar fuctionality spec to the T-Mobile G1, but in a BlackBerry / Nokia E71 form factor, still with a full QWERTY keyboard…

There are two models, the Agora and Agora Pro, and the joint specs include:

• 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.
• Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
• microSD™ expansion slot for all your storage needs.

The Agora Pro adds Wi-Fi, GPS and a 2 megapixel camera, with that camera probably the main downside to this device.  The standard model will sell for AUS$299 and the Pro AUS$399, although as it will ship from Australia, expect quite large shipping and customs charges.  However, this device does look very interesting, and it shows that 2009 should see more Android phones coming onto the market.

For more information, head over to Kogan’s website here.

Huawei, best known of late for their Mobile Broadband modems, have stated they will be branching out and developing handsets from next year.  Even more interesting, they have stated they will be using both Symbian and Android Operating Systems for these devices.

Opera Mini 4.2 has been formally released, and not just for Symbian and Windows Mobile, as Opera have also released a version for Android.  Opera are claiming that this version is a lot faster in actual operation, and this is partly due to the provision of new server farms in the US and Asia Pacific, which will not just help those areas, but take some of the load off the original European servers too.  Opera Mini 4.2 is available for a fantasticly large range of devices from here.

T-Mobile, HTC and Google have launched the T-Mobile G1 phone, the first Google Android based device. The most important news that came out of the well expected US launch is that it will be available in the UK in November, which will only be a few weeks behind the US availability date.

The G1 is 4.6″ x 2.16″ x 0.63″, weighs 5.6 ounces, has a 480 x 320 display, 3G, GPS, a 3.1 megapixel camera, up to 8GB of memory (via a memory card), and has a claimed 5 hours of talktime with 130 hours of standby. However, it’s not all perfect; it doesn’t feature A2DP (Stereo Bluetooth), and doesn’t have video capabilities (although whether that will come with a future OS / firmware upgrade is not clear).  It supports built in applications for email (GMail and IMAP clients), IM, and maps, and will feature a version of the new Google Chrome browser.  Everything will sync automatically with push technology bringing new data direct to the device.

Another key story is that the Amazon MP3 Music Store application will be pre-installed on the device. Although Wi-Fi is required to download the music, you can browse the music store via T-Mobile.

T-Mobile have also stated they will not stop people unlocking their phones (as long as it remains only a minority of people performing the unlocking).  Tethering (ie using the phone as a modem for a laptop or iternet tablet) seems even less clear; T-Mobile have said that the phone doesn’t support it, but won’t be outlawed.

This is going to be a key device in the battle of the smartphones, and it will be interesting to see how Google develop the handsets and the OS over the next year to go head to head with Nokia (Symbian) and Apple.

The phone will be available in the UK in November, and across Europe in Q1 2009.

As well as the existing Nokia Internet Tablet range, Nokia are definitely preparing Linux based cellphones. The comments have come from Nokia’s CFO, Rick Simonson. Whether it’ll be their own OS, Android, or LiMo, is unknown, as is whether it’ll use Trolltech’s Qt UI, a company Nokia bought earlier this year, but we can be sure of one thing; it’s likely Nokia will not stop at a single device, and we should, over the coming years, expect to see a whole range of devices. We don’t suspect Nokia will give up on Symbian S60 anytime soon, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Linux phones compete in the high end smartphone sector, and how much overlap of technology and applications they bring from the current tablets.

Story from Thumb Report, a new smartphone news service, which tried to encompass the news within 160 characters.

Having released the SDK and Emulator for Google’s new phone OS, Android, a group of developers worked out that the development version of the OS, which was designed to boot an ARMv5 development board, would also boot other similar hardware, which includes the Sharp Zaurus PDA range. Apart from bringing a new lease of life to these PDAs, it has produced more devices suitable for developers to use in the short term.

Picture courtesy of Engadget.

Google have released a video of some of the features of their Android OS. Worth a view to see some first glimpses at the user interface. Alongside this, Google have launched a $10m developer challenge which offers awards for developers who build applications for Android.

The first application that’s been revealed for the Google Phone Android Operating System is an app by WhatsOpen; basically the app uses Google to search for various shops / amenities - but it adds an important missing element to most web searches - it tells you whether they are open right now. This is an interesting additional element - not just searching your local area, but performing a search based on the current time as well as the location. Expect to see many more apps / search facilities like this during 2008.

Google announced the Google Phone plans this week. In short, they are not producing a Google Phone, however, they have helped form the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) which will develop the software and between the 33 member organisations, actually produce handsets using the software (the linux based Android mobile platform). The first devices are expected in the second half of 2008, so we’ll keep you posted on the information as it becomes available.