Ruslan Kogan is more than just an Australian with an electronics company named after him. He’s the guy who brought us the Kogan Agora netbook based on community input, and who didn’t quite bring us the Kogan Agora cheap, unlocked Android-powered smartphone. So what’s net for Kogan? a $200 tablet running Google Android that looks like it’s set to undercut the Apple iPad (on pricing, if not necessarily features).

And that’s $200 Australian, we’re talking about, which means that the Kogan tablet could sell for as little as $180 US, if it ever comes to the US. Although to be honest, it’s not entirely clear if it will even be released in Australia at this point.

Kogan is showing off a prototype with a 600MHz ARM-based processor, a 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel capacitive touchscreen display, 2GB of storage, and 512MB of RAM.

The tablet also has an HDMI output. Kogan tells APC Magazine that the demo unit can run Android, Ubuntu Linux, or Windows — although I’m assuming he means Windows CE, since you can’t run the desktop version of Windows on an ARM-based processor.

via Engadget

The Agora Netbook from Australia’s Kogan Technologies may be one of the first examples of a netbook designed by committee. Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan asked for community input when he first decided to put together a mini-notebook, and the results are a stunningly average netbook with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 10.1 inch display. 160GB hard drive, and if you’ve ever seen another netbook you can probably fill in the rest.

But there are a few things that make the Agora stand out. It uses the gOS operating system, which is based on Ubuntu Linux, but which uses an OS X-style dock application launcher and integration with web services like Gmail and Google Docs.

Australia’s Technology & Business posted a glowing review of the netbook today, and points out another nice feature: easy access to the RAM, hard drive, and WiFi. While the Agora Netbook certainly isn’t the only mini-laptop that lets you remove or upgrade these components, it certainly makes things easy. All you have to do is remove a single screw.

On the down side, the Kogan Agora comes with a choice of a 3 or 6 cell battery, but even the higher capacity 6 cell version provides only 3 to 4 hours of run time.

via Boing Boing Gadgets

Australian entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan promised a few weeks ago that his company would come out with a netbook based on user-suggested specifications in short order. And it looks like he was right. He stopped by PC Authority recently with a demo unit of the Kogan Agora netbook running the gOS Linux operating system and another running a beta version of Windows 7.

The netbook has a 3 cell battery, 1GB of RAM, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, a 160GB hard drive, a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.3MP camera, 4-in-1 flash card reader, and 3 USB ports. There’s a space for a SIM card, but the netbook doesn’t currently support 3G wireless connectivity.

Kogan plans to sell the base model for $499 Australian, or about $321 US. For $549 AUD/$353 US you can get a model with a 6 cell battery, Bluetooth and 2GB of RAM.

If you’re wondering how Kogan was able to put this thing together so quickly, here’s the secret: He didn’t build the thing himself. He worked with manufacturers (probably in Taiwan) building similar netbooks for other companies. As Netbook 3G’s Jeff Blagnac points out, this machine looks a lot like the Sotec DC101 or Olevia X10A. But neither of those computers comes with the gOS operating system, so this is clearly a custom job.

via Engadget

Last week, Ruslan Kogan, the head of Australia’s Kogan Technologies, announced that his company would be developing a netbook. But while he planned all along to use an Intel Atom CPU and a 10.1 inch display, Kogan took the unusual step of asking people to leave comments on his blog to help determine hte color, operating system, and other specs, including what software would come preloaded and how much RAM it should have.

The results? It looks like we’ll be getting a pretty standard mini-laptop with a 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and Linux. Windows will not be available as an option at launch. Unlike some mini-laptops, the Kogan netbook will have user upgradeable RAM, with the machine supporting up to 2GB.

Kogan says the machine will be produced in China, and he expects to begin taking orders for $529 to $539 AU (about $340 to $347 US) in just a few weeks.

via Engadget