We gather around the group in a circle, about 8 or 10 feet away from the Tesla coils as the band performs. This is not some "don't want to dance in front of the stage" kind of teenage awkwardness—if you stand too close when the band plays, you might actually get electrocuted.

When the lights go down, a loud buzz generates, followed by streaks of lighting into the air. Then the music begins, followed by the sound of drums that are precise as can be. What follows is an overload of light and sound that is pure amazing, a melange of familiar melodies from our favorite video games (Mario and Zelda themes), TV shows (Airwolf) and pop songs ("Sexyback").

Once the band stops playing, we still can't roam freely. First, they must discharge the coils, ridding them of any stray lightning bolts that might be trapped inside.

/

Consisting of a pair of Tesla coils—plus a pair of LED-equipped robotic drums and an Open Labs sound console—the ArcAttack experience is largely automated, suggestive of a future era when a musical performance isn't about the people playing the instruments, but rather the technology involved.

ArcAttack hails from Austin, Texas and certainly don't fit the mold of what most consider a band should be. But that's a good thing.

John Di Prima is the man behind the boards, responsible for the execution of the live show. He controls the coils and drums, plus mixing in a few new sounds during the set. He's also responsible for most of the songwriting and drum programming.

Patrick Brown, aka Parsec, is the master of ceremonies, decked out in steampunk-esque attire consisting of a Faraday Suit with a string of lights that react with the Tesla coils, plus the requisite lightning-proof goggles. He's the link between the crowd and the show. He found the Di Prima brothers at an Austin Burning Man event and jokes that he's managed to not get kicked out yet.

Joe Di Prima designs, builds and maintains everything for the group, serving as the technician when the show is on the road. When they're composing and recording, he plays guitar. With a background in electronics repair, Joe eventually linked up with the engineering department at the University of Texas, where he first learned about the magic of Tesla coils.

I took a few minutes to interview ArcAttack—what makes them who they are—besides the Tesla coils, of course...

——-

Gizmodo: What does your setup consist of?

Joe: It would be two DRSSTC (Dual Resident Solid State Tesla Coil) units which are MIDI controlled. There's a fiber optic cable running to some digital logic boards that are in the Tesla coils.

John: The Open Labs MiKO MIDI console hosts the PC Software (Fruity Loops) that we use to actually sequence the music.

The MiKO is just a Windows machine with a bunch of nice MIDI interfaces, cased in metal—which is nice because we have a lot of EMF emitted from the coils. I actually used to run it off my laptop, but it would crash all the time.

Patrick: The drum machine has a solenoid for every drum, and they're MIDI controlled also...from the MiKO.

Gizmodo: How did you get the idea to create a musical show using Tesla coils? Had it been done before this?

Joe: When we did it originally, it was the first time it had been done in this manner. There are a few ways that you can audio modulate a Tesla coil—this way is known as PRM modulation. Now there are a few dozen people that picked up on it, but nobody does it to the scale that we do. It's still fairly new, and surprisingly still fairly unknown.

When I first saw a solid state Tesla coil in operation, I understood how it worked. After a few minutes of playing with it, I got the idea that, many years later, I put into practice.

Gizmodo: Who are some of your musical and tech influences?

John: Well obviously Nikola Tesla. For music, we all have pretty different tastes. But the cool thing with our project is that we can do anything from Pantera to the Chicken Dance and people would dig it. I listen to electronic rock, Kraftwerk, Daft Punk...if I could do a show with Daft Punk, you could shoot me afterward.

Joe: I didn't know what music was until three years ago. For tech influences, hard to say, but Faraday, all my mentors at all the repair shops, my dad (who was a biomedical engineer) and Steve Ward, the father of the DRSSTC, who I met at the University of Texas.

Gizmodo: What are some of the weirdest/favorite/disastrous shows you've played?

John: Joe had to tackle a cop once.

Joe: Yeah the cops had come shut down this rave we were playing at, and the Tesla coils were still running. He was coming over to shut our stuff off, not knowing exactly what it was, and he was walking straight into the Tesla coils. So I grabbed him and pushed him back. Amazingly he did not Tase me. He was actually kinda grateful. Funniest part is, after they kicked everyone out, they walked around and asked if we could turn the stuff back on.

Patrick: My favorite show so far was when we played DragonCon in Atlanta a few weeks ago. We did the Mad Scientist Ball. We had our big Tesla coils and a Faraday cage, and revealed our new stage show, which assisted people in transforming themselves into true joy...by being bathed in the Tesla coil rays.

During our stage performance, there were about 15 people that we put into the cage, and this one guy named Dr. Satan had big metal wings that he put onto his back. We get him up there, but the cage is kinda small, and he has metal sticking out all over his body. So we tell him "don't move." Soon the entire crowd started chanting along. That was pretty cool. [And obviously Dr. Satan lived through it.]

John: We were in the Netherlands for two weeks, and we played a heavy metal fest where they put us in front of this church that was lit all demonic looking. On our stage, there were these big glass viewing areas where you could see the deceased founders of the town. I think that's pretty much the most epic thing ever. Heavy metal music through lightning over visible graves.

Q: What is the one gadget you can't live without?

Joe: My iPhone.

Patrick: My Dell laptop.

John: The Open Labs MiKO console. If it was human, I'd marry it.

Gizmodo Gallery 2009
Groupe
267 Elizabeth Street
New York, NY 10012

Gallery Dates:
September 23rd-27th

Times:

9/22 Tuesday
Media Day by appointment only. For info please contact gallery@gizmodo.com.

9/23 Wednesday
12-8

9/24 Thursday
12-8

9/25 Friday
12-8

9/26 Saturday
11-8
9-? - Live Musical Performance

9/27 Sunday
11-6

Read more about our Giz Gallery 09 here, follow @gizgallery on Twitter and see what else we'll be playing with at the event.And special thanks to Toyota's Prius — without their sponsorship, there would be no Gizmodo Gallery.

The Chrome Frame allows IE to use HTML5 and other open source technologies, including high performance JavaScript enhancements, that Internet Explorer's Trident Engine is unable to render. One of the largest barriers to the mass utilization of HTML5 was IE's lack of support for the standard. When people install the plug-in, and developers add a X-UA compatible tag, websites can have HTML5 elements without sacrificing losing a large segment of the potential user base. Without the X-UA tag, pages render normally using the Trident engine instead of the WebKit Chrome renderer.

One of the major advantages for Google in issuing the plug-in is ensuring IE compatibility for Google Wave. Users with the plug-in will also have the benefits of offline storage and utilization of the canvas tag. It's no secret that Google believes that the traditional desktop base is going the way of the dinosaur—making HTML5 and enhanced JavaScript a ubiquitous standard is the first step to emulating desktop environment via the web.

OK, great. Now let's see how many of the IT departments that refuse to upgrade from IE6 allow their users to install some crazy Google plug-in. [Ars Technica and Google Chrome Blog]

The formal name for this MakerBot is the Cupcake CNC, and is able to rapidly prototype anything. It consists of a series of belts and pulleys, laser cutter, a wood cabinet, and a stepper motor. And really, it's hard to complain about anything that plays "Television Rules the Nation" as a pure aside. The guys from MakerBot will be around to give away free items made with the printer as well. So come by and check it out.You might see a few other things you like.

Gizmodo Gallery 2009
Groupe
267 Elizabeth Street
New York, NY 10012

Gallery Dates:
September 23rd-27th

Times:

9/22 Tuesday
Media Day by appointment only. For info please contact gallery@gizmodo.com.

9/23 Wednesday
12-8

9/24 Thursday
12-8

9/25 Friday
12-8

9/26 Saturday
11-8
9-? - Live Musical Performance

9/27 Sunday
11-6

Read more about our Giz Gallery 09 here, follow @gizgallery on Twitter and see what else we'll be playing with at the event. And special thanks to Toyota's Prius — without their sponsorship, there would be no Gizmodo Gallery.

Features:

•Cool glowing blue tube with 8 digits and alarm on/off dot
•Adjustable brightness
•Alarm with volume adjust
•Precision watch crystal keeps time with 0.002% accuracy!
•Clear plastic enclosure protects clock from you and you from clock
•Battery backup will let the clock keep the time for up to 2 weeks without power
•Selectable 12h or 24h display
•Displays day and date
•10 minute snoozer
•Integrated boost converter so it can run off of standard DC wall adapters, works in any country regardless of mains power
•Great for desk or night table use, the clock measures 4.9" x 2.9" x 1.3" (12.5cm x 7.4cm x 3.3cm)
•Completely open source hardware and software, ready to be hacked and modded!

Again, the design is completely open source, so if you prefer to build from scratch you can hit up the project page for the full schematics, source codes and files. [Ladyada via Slashdot]

The inaugural book essentially mimics the video, but also happens to come complete with functioning QR code trickery and a SIM reader that you can use for fun (maybe profit?). The set costs $35 (purchasable here), but if you like, you can also print it out yourself. The downside is that you might not get the same, high quality look and you definitely won't get a SIM reader. But then again you save $35. [Citizen Engineer]

Google says the OS is open source and lightweight, allowing users super quick access to the web. They claim the OS will be virus free (the security architecture is entirely new), and run a newly-designed windowing system on top of a Linux kernel that will be compatible with x86 and ARM processors alike. Though they were quick to mention this was separate from Android, they also conceded there would be some overlap in concept and functionality between the two platforms.

While the discussion of specific apps (and how they will work) was vague, Google made reference to a developer ecosystem that will be heavily web-based, and apps would be compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux (obviously). In a nutshell, it looks like Google Chrome OS is about simplicity, speed, safety, and cloud computing.

The announcement of Google Chrome OS is a big step forward for a company who slowly and subtly wedged their way into web app development. Google says that Chrome OS is intended for "power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems." So what does this mean for Google, and more importantly, what does this mean for Microsoft and Apple?

I think that Google has primed themselves to take a big chunk out of the mainstream computing market. That's not to say that you or I will be exclusively using Chrome OS, but with the internet becoming more and more accessible from ANYWHERE, our parents, grandparents and technophobic siblings probably will be converts. Most of them are already familiar with Google as a brand, and frustrated in trying to learn the intricacies of current operating systems.

And even for those of us who consider ourselves technologically advanced, how much of the desktop experience have Google's web apps already replaced? We'll still have our main computers, but what will be running on our netbooks or old laptops that sit in the living room?

More and more, I find myself working almost exclusively with apps that exist entirely on the web, or with clients that connect to web services. The only apps I use that aren't cloud-happy are either utilities, media players or photo/video editors. And even then, those are heading in that web-centric direction. Cloud computing has been bringing us closer and closer to the mainframe days of yore. Google wants to be the only backbone working behind the scenes. By saying they're keeping Chrome OS app development web-centric and platform-agnostic, they're slowly luring us techies into their web.

Still, Windows and OSX will always have a spacious home in the computer world, undoubtedly. Some apps will always require native architecture, and the businessmen, code-monkeys, graphic designers, video editors and other connoisseurs of nuanced computing would be foolhardy to try and work strictly in the cloud.

But the final hurdle for Google to overcome is easy, accessible online storage. Will they be able to go after Amazon's S3 cloud servers? And perhaps more importantly, will they be able to offer the service for free? If they can let us really extend our hard drives into the cloud, look out. Chrome OS will be a force to be reckoned with.

But do we really have to wait a year to get our hands on this thing? [Ars Technica and Google]

Instead of creating a proprietary copy of these pieces of infrastructure, Powerset decided instead to turn to Hadoop, a Lucene subproject that is a framework for running data-intensive applications on large clusters of commodity hardware...Unfortunately, there was no Hadoop equivalent to Google's BigTable storage engine.

Because we have benefited greatly by leveraging the available Hadoop technology, Powerset decided to give back to the community by developing an open-source analog to BigTable that is built on top of HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System). After all, we need to develop it, anyway, it isn't part of the Powerset "secret sauce," and we, in turn, could benefit from contributions from other members of the community.

In other news, Satan called. He said the snow in hell is great but it's freezing down there, so bring your skis and a big coat. [Cnet]

Gamepark is currently developing the SDK and plans to have the store up and running by August 2009. At that point, anyone interested in making games for the platorm can do so—although a pricing structure has not been announced. However, they do compare the experience to what Apple has done and they expect both free and paid apps to be part of their offerings.

Open source or not, I don't think the Wiz stands much of a chance (the name certainly doesn't help matters) given all of the stiff competition, but interested parties can pre-order the basic unit now for around $190 (without Wi-Fi—lame). [GP2X via TechRadar]

In his time as Washington D.C.'s CTO, Kundra used Google's web apps to not only develop intranets, but also content production systems. And according to cnet, he believes in a platform-independent, open source method of software development. Kundra is also a big proponent of transparency and the offering of information online, helping to shape the U.S. Government's updated tech policy.

Chalk up another net neutrality win for the good guys. And let's not forget, the CTO is still to be announced. [cnet via Electronista]

DoubleTwist was created by the famous DVD copy-protection reverse-engineer who calls himself DVD Jon, so you know it's friendly to the budget-minded poweruser. So far, it's been a joy to use, but it's still in beta and has some flaws. Here's what it does now, and what it should do:

What doubleTwist Does:

Manages Photos, Music and Video on Your Computer
It watches your Music, Photos and Movies folders, and lets you drag and drop any other folders into its media browser. There's also a Spotlight-esque search function to check your folders. Music is organized in sortable list form, while photos and videos are displayed as tiles.

Lets You Maintain an Online "Feed" and Send/Receive Media To/From Other doubleTwist Users
DoubleTwist has a built in social-networking aspect that lets you create an account, add friends and shoot files back and forth. You can post video, photos and music to a "feed," which is basically a media-rich version of the Facebook wall, and it gets syndicated to all your friends.

They say you can send any type of file back and forth on doubleTwist, which seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. We haven't yet had the chance to fully test this feature, but they remain pretty vague on its limits . And for those who aren't signed up, you can send them an email link to the doubleTwist servers, where they can view/watch/hear the content you want them to receive.

Connects to a Variety of Phones and Devices
DoubleTwist is really touting its ability to connect with devices here, especially BlackBerry and Android phones. (Not surprisingly, you can't yet sync with Apple products.) When you plug in your device, it shows up under its model name, and doubleTwist organizes media files in the same way it does for your computer. You can drag and drop freely between the two devices. (see top photo)

Auto-Converts Files to Provide Compatibility With Your Device
Because it only works with devices it knows, doubleTwist autoconverts media files as necessary. So if you have a .mp4 video file that your phone doesn't support, doubleTwist will detect this before uploading and convert appropriately. (We'll be testing this to see how long a movie in the wrong format might take.)

Connects to Your iTunes Library for Access to Playlists and Other Stuff
Like other media devices and apps, doubleTwist can read your iTunes Library XML file, which provides access to playlists and podcasts, in addition to the the rest of your library. Most of the crap that pops up in the left column of iTunes will show up here.

Uploads Photos and Videos to Online Services
With Flickr and Facebook integration, you can drag, drop and tag your photos, then upload them with a click, and without exiting doubleTwist. The same thing goes for sending videos to YouTube.

WHAT DOUBLETWIST SHOULD DO
iPhone and iPod Support
As we mentioned, there's not a lot of love for iPhone and iPod yet, but the doubleTwist team says this functionality will actually appear in future versions.

AirTunes Support
One of my favorite features of using iTunes with an Airport Express is the AirTunes streaming feature. There are 3rd-party apps, such as AirFoil, that take advantage of this feature, so it shouldn't be too hard to work this into future versions.

Native Playlist Support and Streaming Libraries
For now, there is no way to import or create music playlists, aside from what's already in iTunes. You also can't connect to other people's libraries or an iTunes Music Server on your network. This means you'll still be using iTunes for some stuff.

Advanced File Categorization/Organization
Right now, the categorization and organization of media files are a bit rudimentary. Music shows up in a list view, but the only sortable categories are Title, Artist, and Time. Photos and Videos only show up as tiles, with no other view or sort options, except adjusting thumbnail size.

For people with tons of files, this doesn't quite cut it.

I also don't really like that when you play a song, it launches a second window which compiles the list of songs played while the app has been open. But there's no way to remove songs from the list aside from closing the app, nor can you keep playback all in one window. It's not major, but kinda bleh.

BOTTOM LINE
DoubleTwist is an extremely promising app that really could become the de facto standard for media players if they continue to develop and improve on this beta. The idea of not having to use iPhoto ever again (I hate it), or getting more functionality than what VLC offers for videos is pretty exciting.g. [doubleTwist via MacRumors]

The Cuban government feels that Windows is not only a symbol of U.S. hegemonic rule, but they think the U.S. government has access to Windows' source code, and could use it against the Caribbean island. And it's difficult for Cubans to obtain and update their Windows software since there's like, you know, that whole trade embargo nonsense makes it really, really difficult to BUY it.

But it is impressive that 20% of the Cuba's computer users are already running some form of Linux on their computers. Bravo, I say. Bravo. [Reuters]

The news was delivered by OLPC frontman Nicholas Negroponte himself, during remarks at this week's TED 2009 conference.

Blogger Ethan Zuckerman, reporting from TED, said Negroponte hopes the new open source hardware design will be "something that everyone copies."

"Commercial markets will go to no end to stop you. It's sort of a tragedy," Negroponte said. "So the future of One Laptop Per Child is to go 'from uppercase to lower case,' to 'build something that everyone copies.'"

According to Negroponte, the open design will lead to companies worldwide creating 5 to 6 million machines, per month, in three years time. That's a lot of little mean green machines with those weird alien wifi antennas.

And while this technically sounds like more of a licensing deal than true "open source," it will be interesting to see what companies cook up using the OLPC design over the next few years. If it catches on, that is. [Ethan Zuckerman via CNET]

They've posted a survey on their blog to test the waters. They say that getting Boxee embedded on a specialized Apple-TV-like box will take "a long time" but it sounds like they're certainly considering it. As of now, Boxee's revenue model is pretty non-existant.

Right now, you can only use Boxee on a computer (which you can of course hook up to your TV), or on an Apple TV (if you haven't played with Boxee on Apple TV, hit up our guide this instant. It's awesome). I personally would love to see a Boxee box, as it pipes in just about every streaming video service one could think of wanting (Hulu, Netflix, etc) while it serves up your downloaded and ripped video very competently with no restrictions. [Boxee Blog]

The Bug Labs booth at the Sands Convention Center (see: coffee, exposed circuit boards and lab coats).

The pico projector and 3G modules are the most interesting of the group. The DLP powered display has a 480x320 resolution, 9 lumens and integrated stereo sound. The 3G modules can be used to send text messages but also place calls and of course, transmit data.

I still haven't played with a unit, but there are about half a dozen gadgets I'd like to try making with a bug kit now that the 3g and projector modules are coming.

Bug Labs Announces New BUGmodules and Applications at CES 2009

Five new programmable multimedia and connectivity modules to encourage further development of open source hardware movement

NEW YORK, NY, Jan 7 2009 /PRNewsWire/ - Today, Bug Labs announces five new BUGmodules that will be unveiled at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. At the Bug Labs Test Kitchen (located at booth #IP209 in the Sands Expo Innovation Pavilion), the team will showcase several innovative new BUG applications which fully demonstrate the endless possibilities of BUG, the open source modular consumer electronics platform.

Each BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (e.g. a camera, a keyboard, a video output, etc.) that can be snapped to the BUGbase, a programmable Linux-based mini-computer with four available BUGmodule slots.

The five new BUGmodules are:

* BUGprojector, a mini pico-projector module, incorporating DLP® Pico™ technology from Texas Instruments. With a native resolution of 480x320 pixels, stereo playback and a brightness of 9 lumens, users can project videos, photos and presentations on the go.

* BUGsound, an audio module, providing a flush-mount 20-mm speaker and omnidirectional microphone with hardware stereo codecs and four 3.5-mm stereo jacks for third-party inputs, outputs, headphones and microphones. Use BUG as a portable music player, speakerphone, audio processor or more.

* BUG3g GSM, a 3G mobile radio with SIM card input, enabling BUGs to connect to any high-speed GSM network. Users can place calls, send and receive SMSes or transmit data, opening a world of possibilities for mobile and telephony applications.

* BUGwifi, a dual-function 802.11b/g wi-fi and Bluetooth™ 2.0 + EDR radio, offering yet another wireless data connectivity option for the BUGbase, while providing a gateway to a variety of peripherals such as keyboards, mice, headsets and more.

* BUGbee, a low-powered 802.15.4 radio, enabling BUG developers to create short-range personal area network (PAN) applications for home automation, sensor networks, automotive and more.

All new BUGmodules will ship this quarter, with pricing, technical specifications and availability information announced on the Bug Labs blog (http://bugblogger.com) in the coming weeks.

These five modules complement the initial batch of BUGmodules, including BUGlocate (GPS), BUGcam2MP (digital camera), BUGmotion (motion sensor and accelerometer) and BUGview (touchscreen LCD). And with the recent addition of BUGvonHippel, a breadboard module enabling users to add virtually any interface to their BUGbase, developers are given more control in making BUG the center of their device universe.

"We're really excited about advancing the world of ‘hardware mashups,’ and we believe these new modules will help the open source community take consumer electronics to a new level," said Peter Semmelhack, Bug Labs' founder and CEO. "For example, adding the BUGprojector with BUGcam2MP and BUG3G would make a great device for displaying online video calls in a group setting."

Additionally, BUGprojector incorporates technology from Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), and marks the first BUGmodule developed in partnership with a major consumer electronics manufacturer.

"We believe that the BUGprojector has tremendous potential for open source electronics," said Frank J. Moizio, Manager, DLP Front Projection Emerging Markets business "We are excited that the DLP Pico chipset is enabling such innovation and creativity with a company like Bug Labs.”

This is Bug Labs' (http://buglabs.net) second year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In 2008, the company won the CNET Best of CES Award for Emerging Technologies.

Whether it's viewed as a natural move forward in the name of openness or a sign that no one in the world will ever use OpenMoko's own open-source OS—iMAndroid have some blurry-as-hell shots of the FreeRunner hardware running Google's open-source OS alternative. Either way, huge credit is due to OpenMoko, for fighting the good fight early on.

Still, the reliance on only 100% open hardware components means the FreeRunner is still hobbled by a GPRS-only data connection; that's late-90s tech, and for a data-heavy platform like Android, could be a monumental pain. Or maybe it will be the first Android phone with a battery that can last more than 12 hours without needing a reboost? Rounding out the specs is more typical smartphone fare: wi-fi, AGPS, Bluetooth, microSD slot, and a 400 MHz Samsung processor.

Price and availability are not yet available, but I would reckon CES will shed a bit more light on things. [iMAndroid]

Kogan claims they spent a lot of time listening to direct feedback from consumers on what features they wanted most, and what price point they were looking to buy at, then Kogan filtered it down to the Agora. The phone sells without a contract or carrier obligation and also features a 624 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, wi-fi, 2 MP camera and 400 minutes of talk time. A lesser equipped Kogan Agora is also available, lacking the camera, wi-fi and GPS for 299 Australian dollars. As mentioned earlier, pre-orders are available not only to Australian markets, but the rest of the world as well. And the Agora will start shipping on January 29. [Kogan]

KOGAN UNVEILS ‘AGORA’
FIRST AUSSIE PHONE POWERED BY ANDROID™

MELBOURNE, Thursday 4th December 2008 – Kogan Technologies today unveiled the Kogan Agora, the first Australian mobile phone powered by the Android™ operating system.

Kogan Technologies will sell the Agora for AU$299 and the Agora Pro for AU$399. Both models are available for sale today on www.kogan.com.au. The phones are sold outright – with no contract – and will work on any network.

The Kogan Agora (AU$299) features a full QWERTY keyboard, central navigation key, 2.5” touchscreen, microSD slot, and 3G connectivity.

The Kogan Agora Pro (AU$399) adds a 2 MP camera, Wi-Fi, and GPS to the Agora’s impressive specifications.

Both models will ship to customers – in Australia and internationally – on January 29th 2009.

Kogan Technologies founder, Ruslan Kogan, said the Agora is proof that his company is achieving its goal of offering the latest technology at the best value prices.

“The Kogan team have been working very hard to bring out the exciting new phones powered by Google’s Android operating system at the right mix of price and specifications,” Kogan said.

“We’ve been listening to customers through our blog, and crammed in all the features we possibly could. The end result is the best value, fully-featured phone in the Australian market.

“We worked closely with manufacturers and vendors to develop drivers, software, and tweaks to make the Agora an intuitive and exciting experience for everyone.

“The design and features of the Kogan Agora makes the phone appeal to both consumers and business users.

“The Android operating system means the handset can capture and play music, photos and video, surf the web, play games, navigate, and organise your life with extremely powerful applications."

Kogan has been a long time supporter of open source and Android™ provides a real alternative to Apple’s proprietary operating system for the iPhone.

“Google is a key player in developing efficient and innovative online solutions for customers around the world. The open source nature of Android means the operating system will continually improve over time,” Kogan said.

Some of the applications pre-loaded on the Kogan Agora are:

· Gmail™
· Google Search™
· Google Calender™
· Google Maps™
· Google Talk™
· YouTube™

HIGHLIGHTS:
· 2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen
· Integrated QWERTY keyboard
· High-speed 3G network connection
· One-Touch Google Search ™
· Easy Web Browsing
· Easy-to-use email with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents
· Customisable Home Screen with instant Email, text message and IM notifications
· Instant access to mobile Internet services (Gmail ™, YouTube ™, Google Talk ™, Google Calendar ™, Google Maps ™)
· Music Player
· microSD™ expansion slot for all your storage needs
· Wi-Fi network access (included with Kogan Agora Pro)
· GPS navigation capability (included with Kogan Agora Pro)
· 2.0 megapixel camera (included with Kogan Agora Pro)

SPECIFICATIONS:

Operating System
Android™
Google Mobile Functions
Google Search™, Gmail™, YouTube™, Google Maps™, Google Talk™, Google Calendar™.
Display
2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 262K QVGA (320 X 240 pixel) resolution
Device Control
Central Navigation Key
Keyboard
QWERTY keyboard
Keyboard backlighting
GPS
GPS navigation capability (included with Kogan Agora Pro)
Connectivity
Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11b/g (included with Kogan Agora Pro)
Camera
2.0 megapixel colour camera (included with Kogan Agora Pro)
Audio
Built-in microphone and speaker
Headphone jack
Ring tone formats:
· MIDI, MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, PCM
Video
Video formats supported:
· MPEG2 H263, H264, MPEG4, AVI
Mail attachment support

Viewable document types:
· JPEG, GIF, WBMP, MIDI, AMR, MP3, WAV
Dimensions (HxWxD)
108 mm x 64 mm x 14.8 mm
Weight
130g
Battery
Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1300 mAh
Talk Time
Up to approximately 400 minutes
Standby Time
Up to approximately 300 hours
Processor MHz
624 MHz
Memory
ROM:
256 MB
RAM:
128 MB

microSD™ card expansion slot
Network

UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Other than as described in this release, Kogan and its products, are not affiliated with Google Inc or its products. Google™, Android™, Google Search™, Gmail™, YouTube™, Google Maps™, Google Talk™, Google Calendar™ are trademarks of Google Inc. Use of these trademarks is subject to Google Permissions.

About Kogan Technologies
Kogan Technologies is a wholly-owned Australian company established in 2006 by entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan. Kogan sells a wide range of consumer electronics in Australia, New Zealand, and around the world. The Kogan promise is based on a unique business model that passes the savings of dealing direct with the manufacturers onto Australian consumers. Bypassing middlemen, Kogan is able to offer the latest technology at the most affordable prices. Kogan’s unique blend of quality technology and value for money offers price-conscious Australian technology consumers a real choice.

"In the longer perspective, Linux will become a serious alternative for our high-end phones," Ukko Lappalainen, vice president at Nokia's markets unit, told Reuters.

"I don't see anything in Android which would make it better than Linux maemo," Lappalainen said."

These statements aren't necessarily a surprise, because with any mention of Linux, Nokians tend to shout Maemo like a reflex action.

One thing that came to mind when playing with the new N97 is that it is pretty close to the Internet Tablet Phone I wanted—the desktop widgets heralded as a grounbreaking way for users to customize their phones are incredibly similar to what Maemo has had since the beginning, and the hardware is very similar to the current top-end tablet, the N810. The only difference is Symbian, of course—Nokia's prize horse that they won't be giving up on any time soon.

So it makes sense they would dis Android. Nokia (or, at least, certain teams within Nokia) has been huge proponents of open source software long before Android was a twinkle in Larry and Sergey's eye. But where's the Maemophone? [Reuters]

Now he's sold a bundle of them, he's had a change of heart. Seeing patent laws as responsible for stifling "the creativity that patents were supposed to encourage," he's making the source code, board layout and TV power codes all available online. Can we expect a host of DIY hacks? Ohboyyes. Read on at the Makezine link: the full skinny on his reasoning is pretty interesting. [Makezine]