Amazon to launch new smartphone: Reports
18 Jun 2014
After achieving near ubiquity from mailroom to TV, Amazon is all set to unveil its own smartphone on Wednesday, NBC News reported.
Reports had been rife that the company was working on a phone, after the launch of its Fire TV and tablets -- and rumours about what features such a device could include started swirling when Amazon announced the 18 June event.
According to a The Wall Street Journal report in April, the Amazon phone would feature 3-D images that would not require any glasses. It quote unnamed sources to say that the phone would use eye-tracking technology in four front-facing cameras.
The report appeared to be borne out by a preview video Amazon had released earlier this month, which showed customers trying out the mystery gadget. "It moved with me!" one woman said in the promotional video. Others moved their heads around as they looked at the gadget. With gesture controls like 'tilt-to-click', the suspected front-facing cameras might not be only for eye-tracking.
However, though the company was still to reveal its long-rumoured smartphone, the device might already have an exclusive carrier.
The report added AT&T would exclusively carry Amazon's smartphone, which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos would launch in Seattle Wednesday.
Amazon tested the arrival of the phone earlier this month in a video inviting the public to request a seat at the launch event.
The smartphone would reportedly feature a glasses-free 3-D interface achieved through four built-in cameras.
According to commentators, such an interface would help, Amazon differentiate its handset in a smartphone market that had been hyper-competitive and with hardware giants Apple and Samsung dominant.
According to research firm IDC, during the first quarter of this year, the two companies commanded a combined 45 per cent market share among global smartphone shipments by manufacturer.
