AUSTRALIA’S first Google Android phone has been launched - but it’s not what was first expected. The Agora is a touch-screen handset running on the Google Android operating system, an open-source platform that can run on multiple manufacturer’s handsets.

Kogan Technologies, run by 25-year-old Ruslan Kogan, has priced the handset from $299 outright for a basic device with QWERTY keyboard, central navigation key, 2.5” touchscreen, microSD slot, and 3G connectivity and the Agora Pro, priced at $399, with a 2 MP camera, Wi-Fi, and GPS.

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Tags: Android, Google, mobile

Google’s new voice-recognition search tool for the iPhone has problems understanding Australian accents, leading to some bizarre answers to spoken queries.

Users down under have noticed searches for the word “iPhone” can return pages of results for “priceline”, “mustang” or simply a message saying “try again.”

The number eight becomes a search for “ike”, seven turns into “Clinton”, and don’t even try searching for the number six.

Google recommends the tool, which is available as a free download for the iPhone and iPod Touch in Apple’s Application Store, works best with a North American accent.

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Tags: Google, iPhone

Apple’s Steve Jobs does not like people breaking Apple’s rules and right now he is mightily miffed at the search engine Google which seem to have broken one of his commandments which he set in stone.

When Steve approved the rules of Apple’s iPhone Software Development Kit he demanded developers use APIs that come from his elite team of Mac developers. Innovation is not allowed other than from the font of all innovation, Apple itself.
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Tags: App Store, Google

 US carrier T-Mobile and Google overnight detailed the the first-ever mobile handset running Google’s new Android operating system.

Called the T-Mobile G1, it has both full touch-screen functionality, a QWERTY keyboard, a trackball for one-handed navigation, plus access to mobile Web applications like Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube, and more.

The G1 is available for pre-order now in the US in limited quantities if you’re an existing T-Mobile customer. It will be available in retail stores beginning October 22, for US$179 with a two-year voice and data agreement. It will be available in the UK beginning November and across Europe in early 2009, but no Australian dates have been announced.

The phone’s features include: Wi-Fi, 3G (with dual-band UMTS), multimedia messaging, e-mail support (Gmail as well as other POP3 and IMAP email services), instant messaging (with Google Talk as an option of course), a full HTML browser, GPS functionality, a 3-megapixel camera, the ability to multitask, a music player with access to the Amazon MP3 store, Bluetooth, and quad-band GSM support.

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Source: cnet

Tags: Android, Google, T-Mobile

Google turns tabs on their heads and reinvents the Web browser.

Google’s goals for its new Chrome Web browser are simple: Make the Web experience faster and, by extension, make more money for Google.

Google’s Chrome browser is now officially available as a beta, offering the promise of increased speed, security and usability. During a conference call and Webcast with the press today from the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif., Google trotted out a line-up of engineers to explain what is new for Web users and what Google hopes to gain with Chrome.

Download page for Google Chrome (BETA) for Windows

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Source: InternetNews.com

Tags: Chrome, Google

This week Google launched Street View for Australia. Now users of Google maps will be able to view their neighbourhood through the Google Earth service and zoom in to street level for a 360-degree view.

This new service is the result of a massive six-month photographic project covering hundreds of thousands of kilometres of Australian roads.

It will be interesting to see if Aussies have the same privacy concerns voiced overseas concerning this service.

Tags: Google