Online electrical retailer Kogan, just weeks after launching a mobile service, has unveiled a dual sim 5-inch smartphone which will be available early February.
The device, which will be priced at $149, has a dual core 1Ghz Cortex –A9 processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 4GB internal memory and a microSD card slot.
The Kogan Agora smartphone will work on any network in Australia.
One of the standout features of the device is the fact it can run two SIM cards simultaneously.
One SIM card slot can run on 3G and other is only able to run on 2G.
Users can give each SIM a name to make it easier to identify the SIM card the calls are coming to.
It’s also possible to receive calls on each SIM card simultaneously.
And when it comes to data, the Agora allows users to choose which SIM card they’d like to use.
The Kogan Agora has a 5-inch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480 and is running the Android 4.0.4 operating system.
“Up until now, full feature smartphones have only been for the rich. We want to make technology more affordable for everyone,” says Kogan founder and CEO Ruslan Kogan.
“Before today, a decent smartphone would set you back over $500. For most people, that’s more than a week’s salary.
“We think everyone should be able to afford a great smartphone that has all the main features people want. We spoke to thousands of customers and they all said they want a phone with a large screen that looks stylish, and has access to the latest apps.
But this isn’t the first time Kogan has tried to release a smartphone into market.
Back in 2008 when Android was first released as an operating system, Kogan had plans to launch one of the first smartphones running Google’s operating system but it ran into a brick wall and was scrapped.
“We ran into a few unexpected hurdles outside our control that prevented us from launching it,” Kogan told Tech Guide.
Kogan has kept the Agora name and the device is now a reality. Incidentally Agora is the Greek word for marketplace.
Kogan also said the recently Kogan Mobile launch has been a huge success.
“It’s been phenomenal – we can’t print sim cards fast enough,” he said.
“We’re already now much bigger than other carriers that have been around for three or four years.”
The Kogan Agora is available for pre-order now from www.kogan.com/au
* Stephen Fenech travelled to Las Vegas as a guest of LG
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