G1 Android gPhone already on sale down under

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 05 December 2008 06:57

IT Industry - Market

Although the Kogan Agora will start shipping to buyers on January 29, 2009, having already gone on pre-sale, a report says that the original G1 Android gPhones are now on sale in Australia thanks to grey market imports.

Want to buy a G1 gPhone, Google’s answer to the Apple iPhone? Then in Australia, you have two choices – the original G1 gPhone or the upcoming Kogan Agora, and the Agora Pro.

Google’s original Android phone has a large iPhone-esque touch-screen and slide-out keyboard, along with a trackball, and can do clever tricks like the “compass view” in Google’s Street View application.

The Kogan Agora, which iTWire wrote about as “World’s second Google Android gPhone launches” looked at all the specs of the two models, with an AUD $299 and an AUD $399 “pro” model on offer from January next year.

Due to the drop in the Australian dollar, two models have emerged, with the $399 Agora Pro offering all the specs of the $299 model, including a 2.5-inch touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, microSD card slot, 3G for voice and data, and not being locked to any carrier.

However the $399 model adds a 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and other features, giving consumers choice between a standard smartphone with basic touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard, or an identical model with all the smartphone modcons.

But while Kogan was hoping to get the phones out on sale this year, CDN (Computer Daily News) reports that at least three phone/technology retailers in the Sydney CBD suburb of Broadway are selling grey imports of the original G1 Android gPhone.

Interestingly, the report says the phones were sourced from China, rather than being imported from the US, which makes one wonder whether some unauthorised leakage is occurring out of HTC’s Chinese factory.

But is HTC also planning on an early 2009 launch of its G1 Android gPhone, in time to crash the Kogan Agora’s coming out party?

So what does the future hold for 2009 in the smartphone wars, what else does the founder of Kogan say, and what how has the international interest in the Kogan Agora already shaped up after 24 hours? Please read on to page 2.