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Amazon's Fire has a multi-perspective display that moves with you
After weeks and weeks of being rumored, Amazon's finally unveiled its first smartphone: the Fire. And, as expected, there are 3D-like features on board, with something the company's calling Dynamic Perspective. Thanks to this, Amazon's Fire will be able to do a number of neat things across different apps; for example, if you're looking at a picture, the view of it will change as you move the device around. To show off the effect, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos used a 3D aerial view of the Empire State Building, which made the iconic building look as if it were popping out of the Fire phone's screen. The web browser can also take advantage of the Dynamic Perspective feature, allowing you to easily scroll through pages by simply tilting the phone.
Live from Amazon's phone announcement in Seattle!
Look, Amazon didn't exactly hide the fact that today's mystery product announcement would be its long-rumored 3D phone. But with the exception of the occasional picture, the company did a decent job of keeping its new handheld device out of the public eye. Now Amazon's ready to show off the new Kindle Fire phone (or whatever it ends up being called), and we're here to bring you the news as it happens. Enjoy!
Tune in to our liveblog of Amazon's phone announcement tomorrow!
Amazon has taken a crack at e-readers, tablets and even set-tops, so it was only a matter of time before the company turned its sights to the ripe smartphone market. Of course, we've also heard about this project for the last three years, so it's about time Amazon actually launched an official device. And from what we've heard so far, the company won't have to try very hard to be different from its competition: Rumors indicate the new device will come with six cameras, a 4.7-inch screen and a suite of clever 3D tricks. Aside from that, we're relatively in the dark about what to expect, so you'll want to stay glued to our liveblog of the launch event starting tomorrow at 1:30PM ET, linked below! Amazon's phone launch liveblog June 18, 2014 1:30:00 PM EDT
Amazon phone reportedly coming in September with glasses-free 3D
Stop us if you've heard this one before: Amazon's getting ready to launch a phone. This is actually one of the longest-running rumors we've heard, with the first reports stretching back to 2012. So what's different this time? According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is already showing off prototypes of the handset to developers and is gunning to announce the device by the end of June with a September release. The report tells us that Amazon wants to differentiate itself from other top-of-the-line flagships by adding four cameras with retina-tracking tech, making it possible to project 3D images without needing glasses. Rumors of a "Kindle phone" (or multiple phones) have been floating around the internet for ages, and this isn't even the first time we've heard that Amazon was working on a 3D-type display -- the Journal began reporting last May that the project would enable visuals that "seem to float above the screen like a hologram." Given how much smoke we've seen, there's quite likely fire. We wouldn't be surprised to see some news come out around the same time as Google's I/O developer conference, but we're more curious to find out exactly what Amazon plans to do with this retina-tracking tech and how developers will be able to take advantage of it. Needless to say, it certainly would add an interesting element to our already endless Instagram feed.
Former Windows Phone Director Robert Williams joins Amazon, stirs rumor pot
We're no CSI, but if we were Amazon, planning to make a phone, we'd definitely want to make sure developers were happy, that we had some weight in the patent world, and had an idea of the end design. With that all sorted, we'd likely hire a senior Director of Business Development from a major competitor -- which is exactly what has happened. Robert Williams, formerly of said position at Microsoft Windows Phone is joining his fellow WP alumni, Brandon Watson, over at camp Bezos as Director of the App Store. Of course, this could just be a strategic move on behalf of the company's Android market, and the Amazon phone is still very much just a rumor, but with more pieces of the puzzle starting to fit, and the book seller's ability to turn things on their head, we're far from ruling it out just yet.
