The latest version of Kogan’s “Agora” tablet range has been released just in time for Christmas shoppers, and unhindered by patent disputes and other commercial obstacles.

Marketed as “the best value tablet PC in the world”, the Agora tablets run Google’s Android operating system. But how does the Agora compare to Apple’s iPad, or other tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Asus Eee Pad, or LG’s Optimus Pad? I thought I’d buy one to find out.

Kogan LivePrice

The pricing of the Agora models is certainly attractive, with 7″-screen models starting at $199, 8″ models starting at $219, and 10″ models starting at $269. (These prices are all ex-delivery.)

Kogan sometimes offers a feature called “LivePrice”, whereby they accept orders ahead of manufacture and product availability. This (they say) helps Kogan to assess demand for a particular product, and better meet stock requirements. The “price clock” starts ticking early, until the day of release when the LivePrice, in theory, hits RRP. By ordering early, if you’re prepared to wait for manufacture, delivery, and “unforseen delays” (my delivery date went from the first week of November to the third week of November), then you’ll get an even cheaper product.

My Kogan Agora 10″ cost $239.38, so by ordering a few weeks prior to general availability, I saved about $30.00.

The Numbers

Here are the specs of the Agora 10″-screen tablet, taken straight from the Kogan website.

First impressions

The device arrived by courier. It was promptly unpacked, charged and powered-up. In addition to the above specs, the Agora is also supplied with a stretchy-cloth cover and a cleaning cloth.

Without any difficulty I had connected to the home WiFi network and sync’d it with my Google account. So far so good. I was web browsing, Tweeting, reading Gmail and loading applications from the Android Market.

The 10″ capacitive touch-screen is quite nice to use, and works predictably (albeit considerably less responsive than Apple’s iPad).

The inputs and outputs are handy, although the power socket and the headphone socket are almost identical in size. Don’t confuse the two.

It looks and feels like a giant Android phone, but as sleek and swish as it first appears, my excitement turned to frustration after a few days of use. I bought the Agora in the knowledge that it wasn’t running Android version 3, but a number of things I’ve subsequently discovered are frustrating and irritating.

Frustration and Irritation

Navigation button. The silver navigation button is handy as a ‘home’ button, but it’s not set up for navigation like on the HTC handsets. All it does is let you press it, and it returns you to the Android desktop. You can’t navigate screens, web pages or menus by swishing your finger across the button.

Crashes and reboots. A number of times I’ve had to hit the hardware reset button, because the device has got itself into an endless “Try Again / Cancel / Ignore”-type loop. This is disappointing. Once or twice a day, an application will just close, or crash, usually when you’re trying to do something quite basic, like send an email or look at a webpage or open an application.

Battery life and charging. Kogan says its tablet will give you “4 hours of normal use”. I seem to get four or five hours solid use every day, before it needs a charge. What frustrates the hell out of me is that the Agora won’t charge via its USB port. What the frack?!?! You’ll need to carry the super-duper Kogan-proprietary power supply around with you, if battery life is an issue. This is just poor hardware design and not acceptable in the tablet computer product-space.

Android thinks it’s a phone. Okay, I understand *technically* this is not Kogan’s fault, but it’s their tablet, they’re selling it, and any product shortfalls reflect badly on them. The build of Android installed on the Agora tablet (v2.3, code-named Gingerbread) thinks it’s a telephone. This is dumb, dumb, dumb. It’s taken Google until version 3 of Android (code-named Honeycomb) to release a product which can be configured as a WiFi-only device, and a number of products have been released way ahead of the Agora which run version 3, like the Asus Eee Pad and the Motorola Xoom.  Even now, we’re seeing new products being released which run version 4 of Android (code-named Ice-Cream Sandwich), like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

So why on Earth the Agora tablet wasn’t released running Android 3.1 (at least) is beyond me.  Sadly, this means there’s a “No Service” warning in the left-hand corner of the desktop, and it’s there for good.

To make matters worse, the operating system reports that most of its battery life is spent looking for radio hardware and components which don’t physically exist. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

“Screen wake”. This appears to be a systemic problem with the Kogan Agora tablets, and is discussed in detail on forums like xda-developers.com. When the device is not in use, every one or two, or five or ten minutes, the display just turns on. This appears to be related to the fact that Android keeps trying to connect to a mobile telephone network, but can’t. The solution is to root the tablet (get root access to the device) and install 3rd-party software. I haven’t been brave enough to try this just yet.

Internal G-Sensor. I switched off the auto-screen-rotate feature after about 10 minutes of use. It’s very sensitive – too sensitive – and unusable.  The slightest change in angle results in the display doing uncontrolled “360″s until you keep the device still.

Recommendations

I considered returning the Agora to Kogan for a refund. It’s flaky and frustrating. I think I’ll persevere for now, and I’m actively researching the best way to root the device and install a more up-to-date version of Android. I’m hoping that will fix a lot of the issues I’ve had to-date.

Would I recommend the Kogan Agora to the “tech-inquisitive”, dipping their toes in the sea of Android tablets for the first time? Sure, why not. It’s okay for what it is. Make sure you understand what you’re buying, and why it’s so cheap.

Would I recommend the Kogan Agora to IT professionals or power-users who want a stable, reliable and useful tool in their technology arsenal? No. While it’s only about $270, your money would be better put towards a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 or an Apple iPad.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.

2.3 · Agora · android · Gingerbread · google · Honeycomb · Ice-Cream Sandwich · KATBL10ANDCA · Kogan · tablet

This is a cursory, “first impressions” post about the latest social networking craze, Google+.

Facebook should be very concerned.  So should LinkedIn.  Google’s latest foray into social networking has all the hallmarks of a Facebook-esque social network but with safety and security at the forefront of the user experience.  Maybe they’ve learned from the failed Google Buzz in this regard?

Then again, maybe not.

Here are a few things I just had to get off my chest:

Gripe one: Instant Upload.

I’ve loaded the Google+ application on my Android-powered smartphone. It’s nice and uncluttered, and easy to use. It looks a bit like this:

However, without informing me or asking permission, the Google+ application uploads any photo I’ve taken to my Google+ account. Granted, it doesn’t publish these photos or make them visible, but when I log in to Google+ I get a notification which alerts me to the fact that new photos are waiting to be published:

You can turn this off in the Google+ app, by going into photos, pressing Menu, and unchecking “Instant Upload”. The problem IMHO is that when it installs, it defaults to ‘on’.

This is a bit spooky, like the uncle you always avoided as a kid, that said inappropriate things at Christmas dinner. It just makes you uncomfortable, and there’s no need for it.

Gripe two: User Invitations.

Whenever you share something with a “circle” (in Facebook-speak, post something on your wall), Google+ defaults to asking if you want to “Also email 124 friends not yet using Google+” or however many friends are in the circle but don’t have a Google+ account.  My 124 friends are now complaining that I am continually sending them Google spam, because every time I undertake a task or share something new, all my non-Gmail friends get a Google+ invitation.

It might be more user-friendly to send an invitation to a non-Gmail friend as a once off, rather than every time I do something.

I understand I can just uncheck this checkbox, but again, I don’t think it should default to being ‘on’.  And anyway, a mouse click is a mouse click, right?

Gripe three: Duplicate Contacts.

This isn’t strictly a Google+ problem; but we all have duplicate contacts in our address books, and the problem is exacerbated by Google+ and its circles. If you create a “Tech Talk” circle for example, you might find you’re dragging Dr Ron into the circle three, four, or maybe five times, because of separate contacts you’ve saved for Dr Ron with different phone numbers, email addresses, Facebook accounts and so on.

This is where I think Android has nailed it, with its ability to link multiple accounts and address book entries. Despite five “Dr Ron” contacts, they only appear as one consolidated contact in my contact list. (Thank goodness.)

And seeing as my Android contacts are my Gmail contacts, and my Gmail contacts are my Android contacts, can we somehow get these links pushed into Google+?  Thanks, that would be awesome.

To be continued…

Otherwise, Google+ is working well. It’s also still in beta, and has a long way to go. But I think it’s got a lot more promise than previous social networking attempts like Wave and Buzz.

More soon.

facebook · google · Google Android · Google Phone · HTC · social media · Social Networking

Early January this year, international VoIP-provider Skype announced the release of Skype Lite for Google Android and other Java-enabled phones.

For Android-powered phones like my trusty HTC Dream, all I have to do is connect to the Android Market from my phone, search for Skype, select install, and Bob’s-your-auntie’s-livin’-lover.

This all sounds great, but (*sigh*) Google appears to be maintaining separate Android Markets for Australia and the rest of the world.

Searching the Android Market for “Skype”, “Lite” or “VoIP” reveals diddly-squat.

A media release which appears on many news services and blogs says:

The Android version of Skype Lite will be / is available through the Android Market.

Java-enabled phones, including those from LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, can simply visit www.skype.com/m Skype website.

(Read more.)

Tech Talk Radio host Andrew McColm has Skype Lite working brilliantly on his new Nokia E61, and Hutchison 3 even offers Andrew and me “Skype minutes” on our current phone contracts.

But I’m faced with two problems:

1. International disparity with Google’s Android Market means that Australian users can’t download the application easily, if at all; and
2. Skype are not offering the application via any method other than the Android Market.

Bummer.  Come on Google, Skype, there are plenty of us waiting to chew-through those thousands of Skype minutes on our phone contracts which are currently going to waste.

android · australia · dream · google · HTC · lite · skype · voip

HTC is no stranger to the PDA market space.  The Taiwanese manufacturing juggernaut has been producing Personal Digital Assistants for Europe, America, Asia and Australasia for some years.  The popular iMate products, and the more recent Touch and Touch Diamond models have had a big impact on the local PDA market, with each version seemingly smaller, faster, lighter, more powerful and more feature-rich.

Enter the HTC Dream, now released in Australia: the first phone to run on Google’s Android operating system.

What’s a Google Android? Google Android is an operating system for mobile telephones and PDAs.  But not just any operating system.  This is the long-awaited open source solution from Google, which means developers have free and unfettered access to the nuts and bolts of the hardware it runs on.  Anyone from enthusiast to professional can write their own application to run on the Dream, and publish this application for download on HTC’s Android Market.  In other words, this is HTC’s version of the Apple Store.

Availability.

I bought the HTC Dream (known internationally as the T-Mobile G1) from a gadget store in Melbourne.  It wasn’t purchased on a mobile phone plan and it wasn’t badged as anything.  It’s “network unlocked” which means you can run the Dream with any SIM card on any network, i.e. it’s not locked to a particular carrier.  Consequently you may need to program the Dream with your carrier’s particular message centre settings.  Here are the settings that I got working for Hutchison 3.  Optus, and possibly reseller TeleChoice, are currently the only carriers offering the HTC Dream on mobile contracts in Australia.  I would hope that these are being sold with all the Optus settings pre-programmed.

Functionality: The Good…

Out of the box, presentation is excellent.  The Dream powers-up and the clarity of the 3″ capacitive touchscreen is very good indeed.  You can navigate around the Dream a number of different ways: by gently touching and dragging your finger across the screen; by using the mini track-ball to negotiate buttons, webpages and call logs; or a combination of these methods.  The “touch and flick” navigation system is easy to use and surprisingly accurate.  Some people have asked me if you can use the “Apple pinch” to resize photos and windows.  The answer is no, although this is more a limitation with Android than the HTC itself.  I’m sure we’ll see “pinching” and a heap of other things in versions to come.

Feature-packed. The Dream is an HSDPA 3G handset with Bluetooth, WiFi, a sliding QWERTY keyboard and a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus.  It’s a telephone, a web browser, a portable email client, a music player, an Instant Messaging client… the list goes on.

Gmail and Calendar integration. Automatic synchronisation with Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts works very well.  Update something on your Mac or PC and the change will be reflected on your HTC Dream in a few moments.  Listeners to Tech Talk Radio will know that I recently re-jigged my personal email to use Google’s Gmail.  I’ve set-up Gmail to POP in to my usual email server, retrieve my messages, then using IMAP I can access my messages on Gmail from the HTC Dream, as well as other clients like Thunderbird running on Ubuntu or Outlook running on Windows.  This takes a little bit of getting used to but seems to be working very well.

Combined with Google’s free SMS alert to Australian subscribers, the automated appointment notification is an invaluable tool, and all but kills 3rd-party UM and notification applications that big corporates have traditionally paid big bucks for.

Android Market. This is Google’s answer to the Apple Store.  The Android Market is awesome and contains a heap of free applications which can be easily downloaded and installed on the HTC Dream.  My favourite Android Market application is Shazam (Sony Ericsson calls this “TrackID”), which detects and tags music you’re listening to.  The Android Market home page has more information for downloading to Android-powered devices, and links to resources for developers.

Contacts. The contacts / address book is smooth and easy to use.  There is a setting in each contact called “send straight to voicemail”… why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?!  Awesome!  The usual thumbnail-contact-picture feature is there and works well, along with fields for heaps of contact numbers and personal details.  As you’ve probably come to expect, changes in your address book are automatically replicated to Google Contacts online.  Updates happen fast.  Very cool.

Music Player. The music player is functional and indexes music tracks based on track name, artist, album name or playlist.  Album art is displayed as a thumbnail in search results, or as a large image during playback.  The great thing is that you don’t need proprietary software to load music onto the HTC Dream!  Simply plug the device into your PC or Mac via a USB cable, and the HTC Dream appears as an external device which you can copy music to and from.  My excitement about this simple feature is stupid, because it’s such an obvious thing to be able to do, but sad because modern so-called “music player phones”, manufactured by big names like Sony, still require you to run their own special software to simply transfer music and data files.

The supplied ear-bud headphones are okay as far as ear-bud headphones go.  They plug into the HTC Dream’s USB port and have a control button for answering calls, pausing music playback and so on, as well as a volume dial which works independently of the HTC volume controls.

QWERTY keyboard. The 5-row QWERTY keyboard is revealed by sliding the screen to one side.  The keyboard works well and I think I’m used to it now, after a few weeks.  It’s small, and my personal experience is that two thumbs are faster than two index fingers.  It’s illuminated and has good tactile feedback when you press a key.  Don’t try to use it while you’re driving though, you need two hands, and anyway you shouldn’t be using a PDA while you’re driving should you?

Messaging in portrait mode, or landscape mode with the QWERTY keyboard.

…The Bad…

While I really, really like the Dream, and clearly have a vested interest in my new best friend, there are things which HTC can do better.  Here are some things which strike me as needing improvement.  You may or may not agree.

Battery life. Sometimes I get a day from the supplied 1150 mAh battery, sometimes not.  If you don’t have access to a charger while you’re out on the road, this can be a nightmare.  HTC needs to address battery life urgently in the next version.

FM radio. There is none.  There are Android Market applications for streaming audio while you’re on the go, like Last.fm.  This is personal preference I guess but many people will be looking for a radio while they’re out and about driving; in the gym; walking the dog; wherever.

The camera. Comparatively low-res, 3.2 megapixels.  Video is not supported.  MMS is okay for still pictures, but not video.  No flash.  Also the shutter button has two positions: half depressed for auto-focus and fully depressed to take the picture.  Pressing the shutter button does not automatically launch the camera application, you need to find this through the applications menu.  Lag between pressing the button and taking the photo is quite distracting.  Images are generally good but don’t throw away your Pentax SLR just yet.

Microsoft integration. There’s no native syncing to Microsoft Outlook mail, contacts or calendar.  This is important to many people and probably needs to be addressed, although Google’s solution would be to use GMail which is tightly integrated with the HTC Dream.

File browsing. If you own a Nokia or Sony Ericsson phone, you will be familiar with a file explorer-type application, which lets you browse different file types and storage locations in the device.  On the HTC Dream there is no native file browser.  The Dream runs on a Debian variant of the Linux operating system.  To access data, such as photos, music and voice recordings, you need to launch the application that created the data.  For example, photos can only be accessed from within the “photo” application.  The file system is locked fairly tightly to prevent people doing stupid things, like deleting system files.  You get used to this fairly quickly, so it’s probably just a different way of doing things, not necessarily a bad way.

No native “notepad” application. If you want to scribble a note, reminder, password or anything else, there’s no native notepad-style application.  Again, you will need to download an application from the Android Market that does the job.

…and The Ugly.

Mini-USB. The mini-USB port for the Dream’s computer interface and battery charging is good… but not for audio.  The Dream needs a 3.5mm audio socket urgently for people hoping to replace their iPod.

Memory expansion.  The microSD card is tricky to get to, requiring removal of the back cover.

Google Latitude still doesn’t work with Google Maps.  This is ugly, ugly, ugly, and very disappointing.  If users of Nokia and Samsung phones running proprietary operating systems have access to Latitude, why doesn’t the first phone to be running Google Android?  This is more a criticism of Google, not HTC and it’s smartphone, but this noticeable oversight reflects poorly on the Google/HTC partnership.

Google Maps is sharp and accurate, but doesn't support Latitude

(Google Latitude is a new service which combines the power of Google Maps with ‘always on’ wireless and 3G phone networks.  Using Google Latitude, mobile devices can be configured to send regular location updates, and your position is plotted on Google Maps and can be shared with friends.)

Bill shock. The “always on” nature of the HTC Dream, and its regular data replication to Google, can chew-up valuable bandwidth.  This is fine if you have a 3GB data plan included with your mobile phone contract, but don’t try to use the HTC Dream on one of those old “$5 for 10MB” plans.  Also, be aware of your carrier’s data charges when you’re roaming on a partner network or if you’re using the device overseas.  Thankfully the HTC Dream has a “use data on home network only” setting which will be very helpful to many people.

Summing up?

In addition to addressing “the bad” and “the ugly”, it would also be nice to be able to add desktop shortcuts to frequently-dialled contacts, or access frequently-used system features like the wireless manager.  Currently the desktop is functional, but limited to only accessing installed programs.

There are heaps of other features I’ve glossed over or haven’t mentioned.  The HTC Dream is a robust, exciting new device from HTC and an excellent effort for “version 1″ of Google’s long-awaited mobile operating system.

Importantly, the HTC Dream is a serious contender to Apple’s iPhone, and Windows Mobile, Symbian and other proprietary smart-phone operating systems.  The HTC Dream is a fast, stable and intuitive platform and it’s my new best friend.  I can’t wait to see Android and HTC smartphones in one year from now.

android · dream · google · HTC

Here’s a sneak preview.

To answer some of your many questions:

• Yes it has a camera;
• Yes it supports MMS!
• It only supports 2100 MHz HSDPA;
• No it doesn’t have an accelerometer;
• It will support any type of POP3/IMAP4 email account, you’re not limited to using GMail; and
• No this model is NOT branded or locked with with any particular network!  I am using it on Hutchison ‘3′ straight out of the box.

Much, much more coming soon.

Need to sleep.  Work tomorrow morning.  Running out of stamina in my old age.

android · dream · google · HTC