What has a quad core processor, 4.7 inch 3D screen, a 5MP camera at the front, a 13 MP camera at the back, with optical image stabilisation and unlimited Cloud storage for all the photos you take? Well it is indeed the new (and very pricey) Fire Phone from none other than Amazon.
It will form part of Amazon’s fire devices line-up and is the first cell phone from the global organisation. Reports online vary greatly about what this phone will do to the currently very populated cell phone race. Some say it won’t even make a notch in the market, whereas others say it’s the greatest thing since the smart phone revolution.
To some extent I agree with the latter, because each mini revolution had something significant, first full touch screens, then very large touch screens, multiple cores, better software, superior cameras and then waterproofing. This is the next step, a 3D screen with proper motion tracking and tilt sensors. Apparently it gives a display that is quite submersive and convincing.
The Fire Phone will run a modified version of Android called FireOS, which might complicate things for Google. The phone is however just a gateway to a larger plan at hand. Amazon’s strategy is selling, and lots of it. That’s why they developed Firefly, an app that can identify almost anything from more than a 100 million items in the Amazon database. This also takes you to the Amazon store where you can buy whatever you identified, which fits in perfectly with Amazon’s plan.
Firefly can be used to identify physical items by taking a photo of it, or with a photo of the barcode. It can also identify music, TV shows and movies, which you can then purchase from Amazon. Smart hey? This feature however is also the creepiest part of this phone. When you innocently take a photo of the teddy bear that little Suzy wants, Firefly will not only send a photo to Amazon, but also the ambient sound you are experiencing, and the GPS coordinates.
In an age where digital information is becoming one of the most valuable assets, Amazon will be helping themselves in an “Apple- like” fashion. Overall it seems like it will be a good solid phone, and the features have all the makings of a great new market leading high end smart phone, if you can afford it.