Unbeknownst to us, little ol' IXI Mobile has apparently still been "competing" in the US with its Ogo line of messaging devices, despite the fact that it has been all but MIA since disappearing from AT&T's lineup (the old, pre-Cingular AT&T, that is) back in 2005. The emphasis is on "has," though, because the San Francisco Business Times is reporting that IXI is now officially pulling out of the US to concentrate on overseas ventures where it has seen just a bit more luck. Even so, the company is hemorrhaging cash with an $11.4 million second quarter loss, just $8.1 million in the bank, and a host of fresh layoffs, firings, and losses -- including the CEO, executive co-chairman, and CFO in one fell swoop. Messaging, the Ogo's strong suit, is a game that plenty of full-fledged cellphones now have down to a science by packing in QWERTY keyboards in one of several form factors; at the time of the original Ogo's launch, that wasn't the case. So the real question IXI's gotta be asking itself here becomes: is the Ogo still relevant, overseas or otherwise?

[Via mocoNews]

Goodness, this is not a flattering shot of the new Ogo 2.0's interior. That's alright, though; it's still better than the original, and we imagine there's a healthy contingent of individuals out there searching the globe high and low for their now-ancient Ogo 1's replacement. Though there's no word on whether AT&T will breathe more life into the Ogo platform stateside, it technically possible thanks to this particular model's quadband GSM radio plus EDGE. The addition of voice calling (a feature notoriously missing from developer IXI Mobile's first effort) makes the device a legitimate Sidekick competitor -- but if we're to judge from looks alone, they've got a little ways to go yet. Check the FCC filing for some more (non-)glamor shots and the user's manual.

IXI Mobile looks to be shaking up its line of Ogo mobile messaging devices in a big way, today introducing the Ogo CT-25E, which the company says is the first in its new Ogo 2.0 family of devices. In light of recent developments, Swisscom will not surprisingly be the first to offer the handheld, which IXI is boasting will "do for Web2.0 what the original Ogo did for the first generation internet services." While we'll have to wait and see about that, the device certainly looks to be a step in the right direction, with a QVGA display, full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2,0, and quad-band EDGE/GPRS connectivity, as well as some welcome PMP features, with a microSD slot providing some much-needed additional storage. If the device's integrated features are enough for 'ya, IXI looks ready to meet your expansion needs with its so-called OgoClips, which'll let you add everything from digital cameras to bottle openers (yes, bottle openers) to the device. Unfortunately, there's no word on an exact price or launch date for the new-and-improved Ogo, though you can check out plenty of pics of it and its various attachments in the gallery below.