Windows Phone Thoughts: Australia Home to Second Android Device. Looks Very Windows Mobile-ish

"We'll be totally honest -- we pretty much blew Ruslan Kogan off when he proclaimed that he was about to push out a $199 Android phone by the year's end. And truthfully, the guy still hasn't totally delivered, but you won't find us kvetching about more Googlephones, regardless of MSRP. The Agora (AU$299; US$192) and Agora Pro (AU$399; US$256) are available for pre-order as we speak, though neither one is scheduled to ship out until the end of January. For those unfamiliar with Kogan, it's an online-only enterprise that has wares built specifically to its dimensions in China, and so far as we can tell, it's as legit as they come. As for specs, the Agora packs a 2.5-inch touchscreen (320 x 240), 3G networking, a backlit QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.0 and a microSD card slot; the Pro adds in GPS, 2-megapixel camera and WiFi. So, with unsubsidized prices this low, are you willing to take a chance?"

I know this isn't Windows Mobile news but I thought it was incredibly interesting to see a company get ready to roll out an Android device that looks more like a Windows Mobile Standard handset instead of yet another Apple iPhone inspired touch screen device. With the lack of Windows Mobile Standard releases lately, I have feared that we would start to see the demise in QWERTY devices such as this. It is refreshing to see a company come out on the verge of releasing one that looks as slick as this device. I could easily see this being a Windows Mobile device in the future since the hardware is similar to that of current Windows Mobile Standard handsets we have today. Hopefully Kogan will be kind enough to release one of these bad boys in a flavor of our liking in the future.