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Amazon is reportedly interested in buying Boost Mobile
If helping to create a competitor is a necessary condition to get the Sprint/T-Mobile deal done, then perhaps Amazon can help. A report from Reuters suggests the retailer is interested in buying Boost Mobile from the combo, particularly because it would come with the ability to use T-Mobile's network for six years. The unnamed sources also claimed the company could be interested in spectrum the newly-merged pair would have to divest. Amazon has tried to get into the mobile business before -- remember the Fire Phone? -- and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see it add wireless to the suite of services it offers. Yesterday's report pointed to the possibility of a cable company trying to rise up as the fourth major mobile operator, but if Amazon can pass regulatory scrutiny, maybe Prime will cover one more thing pretty soon.
Amazon may have another smartphone in the works (update: no)
Amazon's Fire Phone was a disaster by most accounts, but that might not stop Bezos and crew from giving handsets another try. In a speech at the Television Critics Association press tour (where Amazon has been very busy), studio head Jennifer Salke said she has the prototype of a future Amazon phone that would reportedly have a better interface for Prime Video. Salke didn't delve into specifics, to no one's surprise, but she claimed it was "much more intuitive" and that you could even see it in her office. Just let us know when you're ready to give a product demo, Jennifer.
Amazon’s flop of a phone made newer, better hardware possible
Amazon devices have taken root in our homes with almost alarming speed, but the tech giant hasn't gotten everything right. Back in 2014, Amazon released the Fire Phone, an ambitious smartphone that remains the company's biggest hardware flop to date. The comapany has never confirmed how many Fire Phones it sold, but considering that Amazon took a $170 million write-down in October of that year, it's fair to say the device bombed.
Amazon stops selling the Fire Phone
After roughly a year of dismal sales (and the resulting steep discounts), Amazon's Fire Phone is no more. The internet retailer has confirmed to GeekWire that it sold its remaining stock of the Fire OS-powered smartphone at the end of August. There's no mention of whether or not this is a sign of a sequel -- the more successful Fire TV is also sold out, we'd note -- but you shouldn't count on it. Reports claim that Amazon is chopping both future phones and other hardware projects as a result of the Fire Phone's failure, so this will likely join the annals of one-and-done flops like the HTC First and Microsoft's Kin series.
WSJ: Amazon axes hardware projects after Fire Phone failure
An Amazon exec revealed last year that the company's continuing to develop more Fire phones despite the first one's failure to sell. According to The Wall Street Journal, though, that might not happen anytime soon: Amazon's shelving future phone plans, among other projects, and has even laid off a number of engineers from its secret Silicon Valley hardware development center, Lab126. That's the same facility responsible for the Fire tablets, TV and phone, the Dash button and the well-reviewed Echo speaker/voice-activated assistant. Lab126 was formed back in 2007 -- named as such to represent the first (A) and the 26th (Z) letters in the alphabet and, hence, the company's logo -- to develop Kindle e-readers. Unfortunately, the Fire phone's failure to sell (which led to a $170 million loss) forced the company to merge, stop or scale back many of the its (rather interesting) projects, in addition to cutting jobs.
Amazon slashes the cost of its Fire Phone to £99
Amazon's Fire Phone has been a huge flop, and it seems like the company is just about ready to throw in the towel. Following multiple fire sales in the US, Amazon has dropped the price of its first smartphone by up to 75 percent in the UK. That puts the 32GB model at £99 off-contract, down from £400, and the 64GB variant at £149, which is £330 cheaper than before. The reductions expire at the end of the day, however, so if you're intrigued by the handset's unique Firefly and Dynamic Perspective features, you'll have to act fast. Of course, such a heavy price cut doesn't solve the Fire Phone's larger problems, such as its underwhelming Fire OS software, and the fact it's still locked to O2, even without a contract. More importantly, this is an early sign that Amazon is waving the white flag in the UK -- it's a sure fire way to move stock while it focuses on perfecting its successor.
Amazon will develop Fire phone sequels despite the first's failures
Amazon's Fire phone has been doing so badly on the market, that the company took a $170 million hit in the third quarter of 2014 and is currently sitting on $83 million worth of unsold devices. But even all those millions aren't enough to make the retailer throw in the towel -- Amazon SVP of Devices David Limp told Fortune that the execs are moving forward with their plans to develop and release more phones in the future. According to Limp, the company blames the Fire phone's originally steep pricing for its failure to sell. In fact, the 32GB model used to cost $200 on contract until Amazon was forced to drop its price to just 99 cents in September.
Amazon starts selling smartphones on O2 pay-monthly contracts
Amazon and O2 obviously established something of a rapport while working together on the UK launch of the Fire phone. Today, the pair solidify their alliance, with Amazon taking on a new role as an O2 contract reseller. The online retail giant spins it a little differently, saying you can now use its site to shop for the latest smartphones on pay-monthly contracts. With only O2 providing the contracts, though, it's six and two threes. Anywho, Amazon's "Phones & Accessories" store has been updated to include these new pay-monthly options alongside the existing SIM-free and pay-as-you-go handsets (which are available through multiple carriers). And to celebrate, several introductory deals are being offered to new and upgrading O2 customers. For a limited time, the Microsoft Lumia 735, Huawei Ascend P7 and HTC One M8 are free on contracts of £15, £20 and £28 per month, respectively. Amazon's also keen to point out you can now buy its Fire phone direct from the source for the first time -- because please buy Fire phone.
Amazon's acquisitions and experiments are erasing its profits (updated)
In case you didn't know, here's the crazy thing about Amazon: it isn't really known for turning a profit. Just think about that for a second. The company that wants to sell you everything, get it to you by any means necessary and serves as the backbone for a considerable chunk of the internet doesn't usually make money at the end of the day. And even with that financial truth entered into the record, people -- from Wall Street types to armchair prognosticators -- cheer whenever Amazon avoids losing as much money in a quarter as they expect it to. Today is not one of those days.
Amazon opening second retail store in San Francisco
Seething with jealousy because you live in California and that Amazon retail store in Manhattan is too far out of reach? Well, maybe the news that the online-shopping giant is setting up shop in San Francisco will help allay any envy. Amazon's City By the Bay pop-up shop is set to open in the Westfield San Francisco Centre October 22nd, according to GeekWire. What's on offer? Mostly Fire devices from the sound of it. It's too early to tell if this store will carry the same benefits as the Gotham retail location (pick-up, drop off or a return spot, namely), but, if anything, it shows that Bezos isn't afraid of trying out traditional sales models in more than one spot, either. If you'd rather not traverse into the city, there's apparently a Sacramento pop-up opening, too.
Amazon's Fire phone drops to 99 cents on contract
We had a few problems with Amazon's Fire phone, but one of the biggest was its steep asking price; $200 on contract (or $650 off) is a lot to pay for mid-range hardware with perspective effects thrown in. That won't be a problem after today. The online retailer has just slashed the price of its first handset down to 99 cents on a two-year AT&T contract, or $449 if you want to go contract-free. You'll still get the year's worth of Prime membership and unlimited cloud storage, to boot.
Amazon's Fire phone coming to the UK as an O2 exclusive
Amazon's usually quick to stock its national sites with any new homegrown hardware, but we were reminded just how long Fire TV has been out in the States last week when the company announced its European launch. Today, we've learnt Amazon's other new(ish) device, the Fire phone, will be making a much more timely appearance in the UK. From right now, you can pre-order it exclusively through O2, with September 30th set as the delivery date. The smartphone, which first landed in the US in late July, has a bunch of unique features like 3D head-tracking, one-handed gesture controls and live, on-device customer support through Mayday. There's also Firefly, an image- and audio-based search engine that can help you find products on Amazon, translate text, extract information from business cards and similar, as well as integrate with other apps like StubHub.
U-Verse app gets more live TV channels, launches on Amazon devices
AT&T is making U-Verse more appealing with each passing day. After the carrier revealed it would beat Google to the punch on bringing gigabit internet to Silicon Valley, now U-Verse is getting a great deal of fresh content and making its way to additional mobile devices. Aside from launching on Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Fire HDX, as well as the Fire phone, the U-Verse app today also welcomed over 50 new channels to its catalog of live TV streaming channels. This includes Cartoon Network, CNN, EPIX, ESPN, GolTV, HBO, HGTV, TBS, TNT and Travel Channel, plus many others -- most of which you can watch even if you're away from your home network. All in all, definitely a boost for U-Verse subscribers, and if you aren't, it's at least good to know that U-Verse looks to be a solid choice, especially now that DirecTV is joining AT&T's ranks.
Amazon's first Fire phone update tackles its big interface problems
Generally speaking, Amazon's Fire phone hasn't had the warmest of receptions, and the online retailer is looking to improve things with its first major update for the device. To start with, the flagship smartphone from Amazon is finally capable of multitasking, a feature that's hard to believe could be missing to begin with -- double-pressing on the home button now lets you quickly switch between apps and tasks. In this new version of the handset's Fire OS, Amazon has also introduced App Grid Collections, aka application folders; Carousel Pinning, which lets users pin their favorite apps to the main home screen; and the ability to take Lenticular photos with 11 images rather than only 3, something that should make the optical illusion better on those type of images. Perhaps most importantly, however, this update is said to bring "dozens" of system tweaks which improve the Fire phone's battery life, and we all know how important that is.
Microsoft OneDrive arrives on Amazon's Kindle Fire and Fire phone
Folks who fancy Amazon's Kindle Fire and/or newfangled Fire phone just got another option for go-to cloud access. Microsoft has released a OneDrive app outfitting both of the aforementioned devices with easy access to stored files from the slate or handset. Of course, we'd surmise most OneDrive users have hitched their wagons to Redmond's own fleet of OSes. At any rate, apps now exist not only for the web retailer's gadgets, but for PC and Mac with mobile options on Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10. Bases covered. Microsoft's OneNote also sorts those trusty reminders and to-do lists across the Fire fleet, too. Ready to employ this version? Head over to Amazon's Appstore to do just that.
Amazon Fire phone review: a unique device, but you're better off waiting for the sequel
After producing a long line of e-book readers and tablets (not to mention a set-top box), Amazon has its sights set on the smartphone market. But finding success here won't be easy, even for an established tech giant like Amazon. With the Fire phone, the online retailer is coming in as an unproven underdog, hoping to bring iPhone and Android users into its fold. CEO Jeff Bezos says the only way to do that is to differentiate; to wow potential buyers with new features they didn't even realize they needed. These unique offerings include 3D head-tracking, product scanning and fast help from customer service agents.
Amazon's new games show what only the Fire Phone can do (updated)
Looks like Amazon plans to take advantage of the Fire phone's head-tracking tech at every turn, so it put its Game Studio to work developing two new titles especially for the device. The first one called Saber's Edge is a strategic pirate puzzle game, while the other, called To-Fu Fury, is a puzzle platformer (think 'Splosion Man) that stars a tofu martial artist. They sound like funny, typical mobile games, other than the fact that they support the Fire phone's "Dynamic Perspective" feature that tracks the movements of a user's head. Sadly, you can't exactly control the games by moving your noggin (that might sound silly, but at least that'll make the games truly unique), but you can peek around the corners to see hidden obstacles or bonuses. Of course, you can always just tilt the phone if you don't want to look silly in public. If you don't mind the games' limited support for the feature, you can grab em for $1.99 each -- but only if you're also getting the Fire Phone, which starts shipping this week. Updated (07/23/2014): While To-Fu Fury costs $1.99, it turns out Saber's Edge is actually free!
Amazon puts Prime in the spotlight in first Fire Phone ad
These days, it's pretty common to see even nine-year-old kids toting better smartphones than many adults out there -- and that's likely the sentiment Amazon hopes to convey with its first Fire phone ad. Now that we're a stone's throw away from the device's release date, the e-commerce giant secured the services of two precocious children for the commercial. It focuses mainly on the phone's tie-in with Amazon Prime instead of its features (its more intriguing ones being 3D and head-tracking), but the company might be reserving those for its second ad to come out in July. If you want to watch a couple of grade schoolers convince you to get the Fire phone, head past the break to watch the ad.
The Fire phone is Amazon's ultimate hardware weapon
Amazon's first phone is finally here. But what makes it such a curious little device isn't all that (lackluster) 3D, head-tracking stuff; it's Firefly, the company's new visual search engine. Amazon may have been born unto the internet as a modest bookseller, but it's now become a services company: There's the Kindle Lending Library for e-books, plus streaming services like Amazon Instant Video and Prime Music. Amazon's also a hardware maker. And this time, the company's made something that lets you text mom and use a powerful image-based search system to shop Amazon.com with one touch. It's the Fire phone, and it feels like the inevitable marriage of Amazon's device and services initiative.
Amazon's Fire phone has average looks and high aspirations (hands-on)
It was only a matter of time before Amazon launched a smartphone. In the past 10 years, the company's extended its reach from the online realm into physical hardware, and after the addition of the Fire TV recently, the smartphone was the last major device genre it hadn't explored. Amazon's filled that void with the Fire phone, an AT&T-exclusive smartphone that ships in late July for just under $200. CEO Jeff Bezos spent over an hour on stage discussing the new phone's litany of features and how its uniqueness gives it an advantage over most other handsets the Fire phone will compete with. It's true: No other devices have six cameras and quick access to tech support, and features like Firefly and Dynamic Perspective help give the device a flavor of its own.
