Kogan to release US$200 Android phone in Australia on Jan 29!
by Hamish Robertson on Dec 04, 20085 Comments">5
Australian online electronics retailer Kogan is now taking pre-orders for the “Agora” Andorid phone due to be released on January 29. It’s a bit later than promised, but nobody is complaining due to the very compelling price. The Agora will be coming in two flavors, a $299AU ($200US) basic model and a more upmarket $399AU ($266US) model. The main difference between the two is WIFI, GPS and a Camera. Both models feature a 2.5 inch touch screen, 3G connectivity and a QWERTY keyboard. Oh, and no 2 year lock-in contract. You can find out more information and pre-order one for …
Android on your desktop! Android ported to Beagleboard
by Hamish Robertson on Nov 20, 20081 Comments">1
Rupesh Gujare over at Beagleboard.org has managed to port the Android OS to the Beagleboard development computer. A Beagleboard is an impressive 3 by 3 inch mainboard with a fanless 600mhz ARM CPU, 128MB RAM, graphics chip, video out, headphone jacks, SD/MMS card slot and USB: essentially everything you need for a basic computer. Android is definitely working but we’re not sure how well just yet. You can watch a video of it after the jump. If you’re feeling hardcore, go buy a Beagleboard, download the Android file system and let us know how you do.
Banshee media app syncs your tunes to T-Mobile’s G1
by Hamish Robertson on Nov 18, 20080 Comments">0
The free open source media player Banshee has hit version 1.4 and now syncs your music and playlists to the G1. It’s all automatic and works much like iTunes does with the iPhone. It even imports all the songs you’ve purchased from Amazon. Banshee as a media app is very sweet indeed, doing all the cool things a music app should with absolutely no fuss. You can read a full review here. There is a catch. Banshee is currently only available for Mac and Linux. The developers promise to have the Windows version running soon and judging by the rate …
Sync Outlook, Act!, Notes and more with Android via CompanionLink software
by Hamish Robertson on Nov 12, 200816 Comments">16
CompanionLink Software have released CompanionLink for Google Android which syncs Outlook, Goldmine, Act!, Notes, Groupwise or Palm Desktop with your Google account. After it’s in your Google account your Android device will sync automatically. This is a godsend for those of us who aren’t already fully in the Google-sphere. Not only do you get your phone synced but you also get a backup of your life – accessible from any web browser. While average users will be happy, we’re having trouble envisaging the enterprise sector jumping for joy just yet. How many businesses out there are going to risk having …
Ballmer mocks Android in Australia: “blah-di-blah-di-blah”
by Hamish Robertson on Nov 07, 20083 Comments">3
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has publicly mocked Android at the Telstra Investor’s Day Conference in Sydney, displaying absolutely no understanding of Android or it’s open source model. Here are some of Mr Ballmer’s choice quotes when questioned about Android; “They (Google) can hire smart guys, hire smart people, blah-di-blah-di-blah.” “I don’t really understand their strategy … if I went to my shareholder meetings and my analyst meeting and said, ‘Hey, we just launched a new product that has no revenue model – yeah, cheer for me!’ I’m not sure my investors would take that very well, but that’s what Google’s …
T-Mobile G1 file system opened up, root access gained
by Hamish Robertson on Nov 06, 20081 Comments">1
The G1 has been jail-broken, meaning that users now can get full write (root) access to the G1′s file system. The hack involves the use of a simple terminal program (PTerminal), running a few commands and logging into your G1 from your home PC. This is much easier than it was for the developers who initially jail-broke the iPhone. Frankly, unlike the iPhone, a jail-broken G1 probably won’t be much of a revelation. Android’s Java implementation is very good and gives developers lots of easy-to-program freedom in a safe, managed environment. However some processing-intensive apps could benefit from bypassing the …
Android heading down under thanks to Kogan
by Hamish Robertson on Nov 05, 20080 Comments">0
Looks like Android is heading down under. Young Aussie entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan from Kogan Technologies has announced plans to launch an Android Phone in Australia for AU$199 (about US$140) by Christmas. Apparently he’s getting the device made-to-order in China using stock parts. The device is planned to incorporate a touch screen and track ball but will omit a real keyboard. We think It’s a brilliant idea but we can’t help but wonder about the amount of quality control the device will undergo with Christmas being only 7 weeks away. So far the device doesn’t even have a name. Kogan Technologies …
G1 taken to pieces and examined
by Hamish Robertson on Nov 02, 20081 Comments">1
The guys over at Japanese site Tech-On have discovered what makes a G1 tick, shake, and connect by taking one to pieces. Inside they found a pair of vibration motors, a sneaky antenna, and the same trackball that is used in RIM’s BlackBerries. The engineers were impressed by the construction of the keyboard, and the creative placement of the antenna but were concerned about the strength of the plastic that connects the screen to the main unit. Opening the G1 was very difficult, involving a team of engineers and threaded screws so please don’t try this one at home. We’ve …
G1 now available in the UK!
by Hamish Robertson on Oct 31, 20080 Comments">0
The T-Mobile G1 officially arrived in the UK yesterday. Customers could be seen lined up in front of T-Mobile shops across the UK, eagerly awaiting their very own black (or white) G1s. The UK version of the device comes free with a £40 per month contract and is available in black or white as opposed to the USA’s bronze, white, or black. We have no idea why the UK gets different colors, but there you go. Oh, they also get a 2gig memory card too.
OpenMoko to support Android on its open-source phones
by Hamish Robertson on Oct 30, 20083 Comments">3
The clever chaps over at OpenMoko are hard at work on an Android port to their existing Freerunner and Neo1973 phones. Although OpenMoko hasn’t set an official timeline for the port, Canadian company Koolu is already pledging to offer Freerunners (rebranded as WE Phones) running a beta of Android around November. We’ll believe it when we see it as according to this developer’s blog it’s quite a difficult task due to Android being developed on a slightly different CPU than what is used in the OpenMoko devices. OpenMoko is famous for developing completely open smartphones. The phones have been recieved …
EA now selling Tetris and Monopoly for Android directly
by Hamish Robertson on Oct 29, 20081 Comments">1
EA mobile has directly released 2 Games for Android: Tetris and Monopoly Here & Now. Don’t bother looking for them on the Android Market as EA wants you to pay for them and the Android Market is still only for free apps. Both of the Games are available for $7.99 from www.eamobile.com. Tetris is also available from Handango for $9.95 and from Handmark for $7.99, though both of the sites had been charging an absurd $14.95 for it originally. Hopefully, EA will move to the Android Market once Google permits the purchasing of applications in Q1 next year.
Android games from Glu and others start appearing
by Hamish Robertson on Oct 24, 20081 Comments">1
Mobile game developer Glu has now made two of its games, Bonsai Bash and Brain Genius2, available for free on the Android Market. While not exactly pushing the limits of the Android platform, the games are fun and are well worth the free download. Gaming on Android obviously won’t really take off untill everyone is able to buy apps from the Android Market in Q1 next year, but the future is looking very bright indeed. For starters the G1 is powered by a snappy Qualcom processor with hardware 3D acceleration, so expect the new games to graphically bash the bonsai …
You don’t need to sync Android. Ever.
by Hamish Robertson on Oct 22, 200845 Comments">45
There’s an interesting post on the Google Mobile Blog explaining Android’s Gmail-based email and Contacts system. It’s pretty long and detailed but the basic gist of it is that you don’t need to sync your Contacts. Ever. The moment you use Android Gmail or Contacts, everything gets synced automatically to the Gmail server. Everything you send and receive, as well as everyone you know is automatically saved and accessible from anywhere you can access Gmail.com. This simple idea instantly makes traditional USB connection kits, driver installs, backup programs and PC syncing software look rather archaic. The downside to all this …
Android OS source code now available
by Hamish Robertson on Oct 21, 20082 Comments">2
The source code for Android 1.0 is now available in a weighty 2.1 gig download from http://source.android.com. Anyone with the brains and manpower is now free to edit, add, modify, use and distribute Android in anyway they see fit at absolutely no cost. This is pretty significant as it opens up all sorts of interesting possibilities for the platform and mobile computing in general. Android can now be easily ported to anything, from phones to GPS receivers, to in-car entertainment systems as well as other funky things nobody has thought of yet. It also allows companies to stop re-inventing the …
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