Ruslan Kogan speaks on Chinese “Agora” clone

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 21 January 2009 09:15

IT Industry - Strategy

A curious “G8000” Google Phone on sale at Alibaba.com has raised the curiosity of tech sites around the world, wondering if the G8000 is the Agora being sold off through Chinese channels, but Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan says “no”.

In an article from earlier today, entitled “Kogan Agora phones end up for sale at Alibaba.com?” we pointed out an Engadget article which uncovered Agora-like phones for sale.

Engadget’s article pointed to an Alibaba.com link which showed a phone called the G8000, supposedly running “Google Android” software, on sale at US $240 a pop, in lots of 100 units minimum.

The phone bears a striking resemblance to the Kogan Agora, save for the fact it is a 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE model, unlike Kogan’s Android phone which was also meant to run on 3G networks.

Kogan’s main claim to fame is in sourcing quality electronics cheaply from China and selling it direct to consumers, cutting out the middleman and giving consumers lower prices.

Kogan has had success with this model in Australia, and sought to broaden its name internationally by being the first company to deliver the world’s second Google Android gPhone, months before big behemoths such as Samsung, Motorola and others.

As we all know now, Kogan delayed the Android “indefinitely” following discussions with Google, and due to the fact the Agora’s screen size at 2.5-inches, and its resolution of 320x240 (which was smaller than the 3-inch, 320x480 resolution of the HTC G1 gPhone) was going to be too small for existing and future Android apps.

Some readers and online commenters also doubted whether Kogan would have been able to supply future Android OS updates for the Agora, although if Kogan was going to go to all the trouble of creating an Android phone, you would have expected future OS updates would have had to be part of the plan.

So, what did Ruslan Kogan specifically have to say to iTWire about the Alibaba.com Agora clone phone revelations?

Please read on to page 2…