MOBILE

Before the proverbial smoke has even cleared on the G-1, the first handset designed specifically for use with Google's Android operating system, the all-new Agora has been announced.

Boasting of a full QWERTY keyboard, central navigation key, a 2.5-inch touch screen, microSD slot and 3G connectivity, the Agora is set to have the honor of being the world's second phone to run Android.

A more thorough look of the feature set reveals some pleasant surprises: 2.5-inch TFT LCD flat touch-sensitive screen, integrated QWERTY keyboard, high-speed 3G network connection, one-touch Google search, easy web browsing, email attachment support for images, videos, music, and documents, customizable home screen with instant email, text message and IM notifications, instant access to mobile internet services

, music player, Wi-Fi, GPS navigation, and 2.0 megapixel camera. Finally, keyboard backlighting, built-in microphone and speaker, headphone jack, MIDI, MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, PCM ring tone formats, MPEG2 H263, H264, MPEG4 and AVI video support.

Developed and manufactured by Australian firm, Kogan, the Agora will be available nationwide January 29, 2009 for an MSRP of around $399.