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AMAZON : Fire Phone : Announced Today (1 Viewer)

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Insoxicated
:popcorn:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/18/amazon-announces-the-fire-phone/

• 3D display with head tracking
• Unlimited cloud photo storage

• 13MP Camera with OIS

• 2.2Ghz Processor / 2GB RAM

• 4.7" UltraBright IPS Display

• FireFly ; Scan any product, song, movie, show to bring up info / purchasing capabilty

• Sweet flat cord tangle-free headphones
• AT&T Exclusive

Meet the Fire Phone, Amazon’s first venture into smartphones. Jeff Bezos calls it the phone built for the Amazon Prime customer.

The Fire Phone rocks a 4.7-inch IPS screen and is equipped with a 13MP rear-facing camera with image stabilization and a f2.0 lens. Inside is a quad-core 2.2GHz chip, Adreno 330 graphics and 2GB of RAM — not enough to stand tall against the latest Android flagships but enough horsepower to provide a good experience.

Amazon has built this phone for the Prime subscriber. Much like with the Fire TV, the Fire Phone will ship with a person’s Prime information already entered. The phone is, after all, all about selling more wares and Amazon is ensuring there are no barriers to entry for its best customers, those who subscribe to Prime.

The phone also ships with unlimited photo storage through Amazon Cloud Drive.

TechCrunch revealed much about this phone over the last nine months. Starting with the head-tracking ability and later revealing all the user elements that would ship with the phone, there was a steady stream of information about this secret Amazon project. We even uncovered the technology Amazon is using for the head tracking. Other reports nailed down the phone’s specs and Amazon’s exclusive deal with AT&T. Few questions remained for Amazon to answer at today’s event.

 
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled a smartphone based on the company'sKindle Fire line of tablets at an event in Seattle on Wednesday.

Called the Fire Phone, the 4.7-inch device boasts a 2.2GHz quad-core processor, an Adreno 339 graphics processor and 2GB of RAM. The phone has Gorilla Glass on both the front and the back.

As predicted, the Fire Phone's display is capable of display 3D images. Amazon calls the technology Dynamic Perspective, with a 3D effect that adds the illusion of depth behind the screen, rather than outward.

SEE ALSO: If Amazon Launches a Phone, It Will Have a Serious App Problem
One of the standout features of the Fire Phone is that it offers free, unlimited photo storage on the Amazon Cloud (videos are not included) for pictures captured by the 13-megapixel camera. Amazon is clearly leveraging its strength in cloud services to its smartphone photo experience.

Another new feature: Firefly, which lets you scan any product, even music and TV shows playing in the background (à la Shazam) and bring you information on them from Amazon.com. The feature, which is activated via a dedicated physical button, works with restaurant signs and phone numbers, too. MyFitnessPal is integrated with Firefly to provide nutritional information on food.

Amazon includes its May Day service with the Fire Phone for no extra charge, extending the popular instant-customer-service app that it introduced with the Kindle Fire HDX tablets.

The Fire Phone has special features for video and music, too. The phone has the ability to "fling" content to another devices, such as Amazon's Fire TV, and Xbox or a PlayStation. The phone will also have predictive caching, which predicts what you're going to stream next. Prime Music will have the "x-ray" feature to provide real-time lyrics for songs.

For reading, the phone's WhisperSync feature will work with voice. That means you can listen to an audio version of the book while, say, driving, then continue where you left off on a Kindle or Kindle app.

The Fire Phone also includes special headphones equipped with magnets, which supposedly help prevent them from getting tangled up in pockets.

Rumors surrounding an Amazon phone have circulated for years, but the firstcredible reports began months ago, saying the company was working on a mobile device with a special 3D-capable screen. More recently, AT&T was reported to be the exclusive partner for the phone in the U.S., and that Amazon's secretive hardware company, Lab126, had been working on the phone for almost five years.

The history of 3D-type screens in mobile suggests consumers aren't interested in the feature. The two most notable devices, the HTC Evo 3D and the LG Optimus 3D, both flopped. The only real 3D success in mobile so far has been the Nintendo 3DS, which is explicitly a game console.

 
The dynamic perspective thing looked pretty cool.

I wonder if some of these features learn from your behavior. Like spelling autocorrect, it's great when it's working 100%, but that 5% of the time that it keeps doing something you don't want is really, really annoying.

 
meh.

i have a kindle fire for my son to use. it's a little buggy and not that hot. what amazon does well, though, is draw you into their ecosystem. pretty much the same thing as apple and google in that regard but not nearly as well. no one uses cloud player that i know of, for example, to stream their music.

 
saintfool said:
meh.

i have a kindle fire for my son to use. it's a little buggy and not that hot. what amazon does well, though, is draw you into their ecosystem. pretty much the same thing as apple and google in that regard but not nearly as well. no one uses cloud player that i know of, for example, to stream their music.
Click to expand...
yeah, we have one too. its cheap so i didn't expect too much from it.

is this another device that amazon is going to make no profit on just to get you to shop at amazon?

 
Wow, horribly overpriced for what it is.

I predict: epic flop

Sell your Amazon stock on this bounce imo. No one is going to buy this phone.

 
$649 and $749 for the unlocked versions is basically counting on you being a stupid moron to make this purchase.

 
It has some cool features to it, but I don't see enough to make people switch from Android/Apple/Windows Phone. Think Amazon is just a little too late on this one.

 
(HULK) said:
$649 and $749 for the unlocked versions is basically counting on you being a stupid moron to make this purchase.
Click to expand...
The 1+ One 64GB version is $349 unlocked and literally every spec is better. Except no 3d (which is stupid says this former Evo 3d owner) and no weird scanning program designed to sell you Amazon content. Plus, it has access to Google Play which this phone will not.

Pretty much every new Android phone in this price range outspecs this phone in every category... plus they're in Google's ecosystem, which this phone won't be.

Even the iPhone (which I personally don't think much of) is a better phone than this and costs the same.

This phone is like a Moto G LTE + 3d + Amazon scanner thing + 1 year free Prime subscription... except it costs $429 more.

This is such a huge fail.

 
While I'm not defending the phone... it never ceases to amaze me how many techdorks will completely write off a processor for reasons that hardly matter to the average phone user.... LOL 720p (most folks can't tell on that size screen)... LOL 4.7" phone (not everyone wants to walk around with a tablet in their pants... LOL 2.2 Ghz processor (most folks use of a phone would never reveal this perceived weakness....etc etc.

Yes... if you're a phonenerd who loves tinkering with the latest ROMS and overclocking your 9" phone in your parents basement.... this isn't the phone for you. Neither are most others. For the other 95% of the population who occasionally look up from their device, or even dare to put it in their pocket from time to time.... could be an option. not a great one admittedly... but it's not a terrible first shot into the market. The 3D gimmick, Firefly, Mayday, and Prime integration are features aimed straight at joe and mary sixpack.

 
I probably wouldn't pay extra for the Firefly service or the Dynamic Perspective, but I would like to check it out.

 
[icon] said:
While I'm not defending the phone... it never ceases to amaze me how many techdorks will completely write off a processor for reasons that hardly matter to the average phone user.... LOL 720p (most folks can't tell on that size screen)... LOL 4.7" phone (not everyone wants to walk around with a tablet in their pants... LOL 2.2 Ghz processor (most folks use of a phone would never reveal this perceived weakness....etc etc.

Yes... if you're a phonenerd who loves tinkering with the latest ROMS and overclocking your 9" phone in your parents basement.... this isn't the phone for you. Neither are most others. For the other 95% of the population who occasionally look up from their device, or even dare to put it in their pocket from time to time.... could be an option. not a great one admittedly... but it's not a terrible first shot into the market. The 3D gimmick, Firefly, Mayday, and Prime integration are features aimed straight at joe and mary sixpack.
Click to expand...
They're charging $649 for what Moto is selling for $229. That's my beef.
 
meh, it's probably not for me, but I'm impressed that they took a shot and added in new features that aren't on the market today. More interesting to follow then AMZN rolling out a $119 Moto E clone. The tech on the initial versions will probably be clunky, but who knows where this might take things in 2 - 3 years.

 
Seems pretty cool to me. Not sure why people are complaining. It could be like all the other folks right now and just push for higher resolutions (useless) or faster processors (who cares), when the reality is those things don't change anything. This seems like it has some neat game changers. Count me in.

 
(HULK) said:
[icon] said:
While I'm not defending the phone... it never ceases to amaze me how many techdorks will completely write off a processor for reasons that hardly matter to the average phone user.... LOL 720p (most folks can't tell on that size screen)... LOL 4.7" phone (not everyone wants to walk around with a tablet in their pants... LOL 2.2 Ghz processor (most folks use of a phone would never reveal this perceived weakness....etc etc.

Yes... if you're a phonenerd who loves tinkering with the latest ROMS and overclocking your 9" phone in your parents basement.... this isn't the phone for you. Neither are most others. For the other 95% of the population who occasionally look up from their device, or even dare to put it in their pocket from time to time.... could be an option. not a great one admittedly... but it's not a terrible first shot into the market. The 3D gimmick, Firefly, Mayday, and Prime integration are features aimed straight at joe and mary sixpack.
Click to expand...
They're charging $649 for what Moto is selling for $229. That's my beef.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing $649? The article says 199, no?

 
Otis said:
(HULK) said:
[icon] said:
While I'm not defending the phone... it never ceases to amaze me how many techdorks will completely write off a processor for reasons that hardly matter to the average phone user.... LOL 720p (most folks can't tell on that size screen)... LOL 4.7" phone (not everyone wants to walk around with a tablet in their pants... LOL 2.2 Ghz processor (most folks use of a phone would never reveal this perceived weakness....etc etc.

Yes... if you're a phonenerd who loves tinkering with the latest ROMS and overclocking your 9" phone in your parents basement.... this isn't the phone for you. Neither are most others. For the other 95% of the population who occasionally look up from their device, or even dare to put it in their pocket from time to time.... could be an option. not a great one admittedly... but it's not a terrible first shot into the market. The 3D gimmick, Firefly, Mayday, and Prime integration are features aimed straight at joe and mary sixpack.
Click to expand...
They're charging $649 for what Moto is selling for $229. That's my beef.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing $649? The article says 199, no?
Click to expand...
That's the on contact subsidized price. Which means, on At&T, that it's actually $199 + $25 a month for 24 months. Or $649 off contact.The components of this phone and the labor to assemble it probably cost Amazon about $150. On top of this, it's blocked Google's apps and services, not because they're not compatible, but because they want to sell you their stuff and not leave you with a choice. And then they invented an admittedly cool scanner thing but it ultimately is just another way to get you to buy more stuff from them. So you're paying premium prices for low range equipment with 1 neat feature and several limitations in the name of them selling you more stuff. It's a bad deal.

 
[icon] said:
While I'm not defending the phone... it never ceases to amaze me how many techdorks will completely write off a processor for reasons that hardly matter to the average phone user.... LOL 720p (most folks can't tell on that size screen)... LOL 4.7" phone (not everyone wants to walk around with a tablet in their pants... LOL 2.2 Ghz processor (most folks use of a phone would never reveal this perceived weakness....etc etc.

Yes... if you're a phonenerd who loves tinkering with the latest ROMS and overclocking your 9" phone in your parents basement.... this isn't the phone for you. Neither are most others. For the other 95% of the population who occasionally look up from their device, or even dare to put it in their pocket from time to time.... could be an option. not a great one admittedly... but it's not a terrible first shot into the market. The 3D gimmick, Firefly, Mayday, and Prime integration are features aimed straight at joe and mary sixpack.
Click to expand...
So you are willing to forgive its obvious shortcomings for its wonderful plebeian undertones?

 
(HULK) said:
Otis said:
(HULK) said:
[icon] said:
While I'm not defending the phone... it never ceases to amaze me how many techdorks will completely write off a processor for reasons that hardly matter to the average phone user.... LOL 720p (most folks can't tell on that size screen)... LOL 4.7" phone (not everyone wants to walk around with a tablet in their pants... LOL 2.2 Ghz processor (most folks use of a phone would never reveal this perceived weakness....etc etc.

Yes... if you're a phonenerd who loves tinkering with the latest ROMS and overclocking your 9" phone in your parents basement.... this isn't the phone for you. Neither are most others. For the other 95% of the population who occasionally look up from their device, or even dare to put it in their pocket from time to time.... could be an option. not a great one admittedly... but it's not a terrible first shot into the market. The 3D gimmick, Firefly, Mayday, and Prime integration are features aimed straight at joe and mary sixpack.
Click to expand...
They're charging $649 for what Moto is selling for $229. That's my beef.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing $649? The article says 199, no?
Click to expand...
That's the on contact subsidized price. Which means, on At&T, that it's actually $199 + $25 a month for 24 months. Or $649 off contact.The components of this phone and the labor to assemble it probably cost Amazon about $150. On top of this, it's blocked Google's apps and services, not because they're not compatible, but because they want to sell you their stuff and not leave you with a choice. And then they invented an admittedly cool scanner thing but it ultimately is just another way to get you to buy more stuff from them. So you're paying premium prices for low range equipment with 1 neat feature and several limitations in the name of them selling you more stuff. It's a bad deal.
Click to expand...
Real Americans like paying too much for crappy ####, so long as they don't look like some damn hipster. Now where's a chilis?

 
I do tons of shopping on Amazon Prime. I don't mind them making that easier, even if they stand to benefit at the expense of other companies I might otherwise buy from. Amazon makes life really easy.

:shrug:

 
Otis said:
I do tons of shopping on Amazon Prime. I don't mind them making that easier, even if they stand to benefit at the expense of other companies I might otherwise buy from. Amazon makes life really easy.

:shrug:
Click to expand...
Agreed, as do all of the Google services that don't appear to be available for this phone, thus its a loser IMO.

 
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I am a big fan of Amazon, however, I am not seeing the need to be tied into their system on a phone. I have a Kindle Fire, and I like it to watch streaming videos from Prime, but I definitely do not like it to do much more than that (maybe some simple web searches).

And the price is just stupid. I am surprised that they went the traditional route of tying it to a contract to subsidize the price. Seeing the success of the Moto G and Moto X, and the Nexus 4 and 5, I would think that any new player in the smart phone market would realize that new buyers do not want to be tied into a 2 year ATT contract. There are just too many other (better) options out there for this to succeed.

 
I imagine you can sideload any and all play store and other google services to this phone, just like you can to Amazon's tablets. But it is a pain in the ### and something that 90% of users wouldn't even attempt

 
Clifford said:
[icon] said:
While I'm not defending the phone... it never ceases to amaze me how many techdorks will completely write off a processor for reasons that hardly matter to the average phone user.... LOL 720p (most folks can't tell on that size screen)... LOL 4.7" phone (not everyone wants to walk around with a tablet in their pants... LOL 2.2 Ghz processor (most folks use of a phone would never reveal this perceived weakness....etc etc.

Yes... if you're a phonenerd who loves tinkering with the latest ROMS and overclocking your 9" phone in your parents basement.... this isn't the phone for you. Neither are most others. For the other 95% of the population who occasionally look up from their device, or even dare to put it in their pocket from time to time.... could be an option. not a great one admittedly... but it's not a terrible first shot into the market. The 3D gimmick, Firefly, Mayday, and Prime integration are features aimed straight at joe and mary sixpack.
Click to expand...
So you are willing to forgive its obvious shortcomings for its wonderful plebeian undertones?
Click to expand...
I agree with Icon...too many people are too concerned about specs they don't actually use. I'm happy they're innovating and not just regurgitating while ever-so-slightly increasing specs as Samsung and Apple seem to be doing with each new phone (I'm on my 4th Samsung in 10 or so years after a brief disappointing affair with Palm).

If this comes to Verizon before I choose my next phone it will be a consideration, especially if it's a second generation. Amazon's customer service being awesome is a big plus as well and I'm finding myself using Prime more and more every day.

 
HellToupee said:
Ketamine Dreams said:
Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
Oh its AT&T? Sorry I am out. I actually use my phone to talk every now and then.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Is anyone still on AT&T?
Click to expand...
Have had zero problems with ATT , think VZW is worst company I've ever dealt with and they have no signal in my work location.
Click to expand...
Coverage varies from place to place. There are corners of this country where any one of the 4 has the best signal. Taken on the whole though, Verizon is typically the best, closely followed by AT&T. T-Mobile and Sprint are a distant third.

 
culdeus said:
Awful.

Exclusive carrier

exclusive app store

question able specs

pass
Click to expand...
Sounds like you just rattled off things about the iPhone 4 before it started branching out to other carries.

I'm not trying to defend the phone, but doesn't each OS have an exclusive app store? I mean you can only get Apple's App Store on an iOS device. If anything, Amazon's App Store is available both on Amazon devices and Android devices.

 
Otis said:
I do tons of shopping on Amazon Prime. I don't mind them making that easier, even if they stand to benefit at the expense of other companies I might otherwise buy from. Amazon makes life really easy.

:shrug:
Click to expand...
Maybe if I wasn't in front of a computer all the time, this would make a difference. Love Amazon for retail, but I pretty much do all my shopping at work.

 
MattFancy said:
culdeus said:
Awful.

Exclusive carrier

exclusive app store

question able specs

pass
Click to expand...
Sounds like you just rattled off things about the iPhone 4 before it started branching out to other carries.

I'm not trying to defend the phone, but doesn't each OS have an exclusive app store? I mean you can only get Apple's App Store on an iOS device. If anything, Amazon's App Store is available both on Amazon devices and Android devices.
Click to expand...
Amazon's phone runs Android, they just changed it a bit.

If Amazon wanted to, they could let it have the Google Play, and the vast majority of apps would work fine. But, they don't let you have that, because they want to make money selling you these apps instead of Google. The result is an app store that is much smaller, and if you already own an Android device you end up paying twice for an app.

 
Ketamine Dreams said:
Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
Oh its AT&T? Sorry I am out. I actually use my phone to talk every now and then.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Is anyone still on AT&T?
Click to expand...
:hey:

Grandfathered in with unlimited data/text (which I abuse the hell out of) plus a 25% company discount. Never have a dropped call (DFW area). I share the account with two others in my family and pay less than 65 a month. I doubt I will be leaving AT&T anytime soon.

 
Interesting. AT&T was just terrible all the years I had it. Dropped calls constantly. Poor to zero coverage just a little outside of the city I live, making it worthless if I visited my parents, or went hunting or fishing. Verizon is light-years better here.

 
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