Though no one ripped the wraps off any new Android phones at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, fans of the OS at least had the previously announced Kogan Agora to look forward to. But not anymore.
The Australian manufacturer announced on Friday that its development team had run into potentially serious interoperability issues that will indefinitely delay the device, which was supposed to begin shipping by Jan. 29.
What kind of issues could possibly strike this late in the game? Apparently, the Agora’s display (which was half the size of the display on the G1) wouldn’t be able to handle many of the apps developed for Android, and designed to run at a different native resolution.
Though the phone had already reached the manufacturing stage, company founder Ruslan Kogan says he chose to withhold it anyway. “I cannot disappoint you by supplying a product that I am aware will shortly have significant limitations,” he wrote.
Since the company had already taken preorders for the unit, it will be refunding them within seven days. Though Kogan says the Agora will be redesigned, he has not yet announced how long that will take.
