Kogan gets Agora-phobia
At the beginning of December I ordered a rather unique Android phone, the Kogan Agora. It should have made an appearance by post from Australia sometime in the next two weeks.
Unfortunately, an email from the manufacturer indicates that certain interoperability issues have been discovered. The press release also appears on their website. This means the Kogan Agora will not be shipping at all – at best, a modified model will be produced for sale in the not too distant future.
I’m disappointed not to get an Android device. I’m also wondering how much of this story is reality and how much hype was created to build an awareness of the Kogan brand. I won’t speculate, but would think that the interoperability issue mentioned, to wit
“One of the potential issues is the screen size and resolution. It seems developers will be creating applications that are a higher resolution than the Agora is currently capable of handling”
should have been picked up way earlier in the development and planning cycle.
Screen resolution is probably one of the items highest on the list of specifications for a mobile device. Surely the inclusion of a low resolution screen was a consideration from the beginning, including developer feedback and SDK specifications at hand from the word go. If the screen wasn’t capable, no initial prototype should received a stamp of approval.
Monies paid in advance for the now-defunct Agora will be refunded by the manufacturer.
I’ll have to wait for the G1…
