Second Android handset to land in Jan.

An Australian electronics manufacturer has confirmed the launch of the world’s second Android-based mobile handset.

Kogan Technologies, which manufactures consumer electronics like TVs and cameras and sells direct to the consumer, branched out into the world of mobile phones on Thursday with the announcement of two Android-based handsets.

The Kogan Agora and Agora Pro will be available to buy worldwide on January 29, at A$299 (Eur153) and A$399 respectively, with the more expensive version featuring GPS, wifi and a 2 megapixel camera.

Both units offer HSDPA connectivity at 850, 1900, and 2100MHz, and GSM/EDGE at 850, 900, 1800, and 1900MHz, making them pretty global devices. The display is a 2.5″ touch screen, although the BlackBerry-esque form factor means a hard QWERTY keyboard is also present, along with a five way navigation stick.

All in all, the Agora looks a lot like the Motorola Q or the Samsung Blackjack. It is also understood that Kogan contracts out its designs to Asian manufacturers, so it may well have been one of the usual suspects which built the gadget.

The world’s first Android handset was the G1, built by Taiwan’s HTC and carried by T-Mobile.

Given that the device is based on Android, it comes with a full suite of Google applications, including Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Talk, and Google Calendar.

It looks very much like the device will only be available on the Kogan website but will be shipped worldwide. A posting on the company’s blog also reveals that the Agora came in a month late and A$100 over budget – it was supposed to ship before Christmas, with the low-end model undercutting the A$200 mark.