Skip to main content

Report: Amazon’s first smartphone to be revealed in June, ships by September

amazon-headquarters
Image used with permission by copyright holder

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, Amazon is preparing to announce the company’s first smartphone before the end of June and potentially eyeing September as a release window. Similar to the online retailer’s push to take on competitors like Roku and Apple in the streaming set-top box space with the Fire TV, the new smartphone would be pitted against popular iOS and Android smartphones on the market. It’s also likely that Amazon will use the same custom variant of Android that’s being used to power the Kindle Fire line of tablets.

Detailed by the Journal, Amazon representatives have been demonstrating early hardware to developers in both Seattle and San Francisco over the last several weeks. In order to differentiate the Amazon smartphone from competitors, the retailer is testing a feature that attempts to display images in a three-dimensional view by using four front-facing cameras to track the user’s eyes. Using the tracking data, the image on the screen would be continuously altered to appear as if it was a hologram.

amazon bezos
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Of course, this feature could be simply be in the testing stage and may not make it into the retail version of the smartphone. If it does make it into the final model, developers could apply the tracking data to applications like games, perhaps giving Amazon an edge when it comes to mobile gaming. Another advantage to rolling out a smartphone is that Amazon has a application marketplace ready to go with more than 200,000 applications from first and third party developers. These applications could be easily adapted to the smartphone, basically just a quick conversion process from the tablet version.  

Recommended Videos

Regarding the report, Amazon representatives declined to comment on the existence of the company’s first smartphone. If the phone is released in the September time frame, it’s possible that Amazon will be going head-to-head with the release of the new iPhone models from Apple.

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
Samsung may be about to score a double victory over Apple — here’s how
The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra's screens.

The latest Power On newsletter from Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman asserts that Samsung is ahead of Apple in both artificial intelligence (AI) and with its ultra-thin phone efforts. Does that actually matter, though?

Well, yes and no. While I think being first is an empty accolade if it’s not backed up by quality, Apple can’t afford to be too late to the party -- particularly in the case of AI.

Read more
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: Flagship throwdown
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max.

With the new year comes Samsung's launch of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which competes with Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Performance-wise, the Galaxy S25 Ultra runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, while Apple’s efficient A18 Pro chip powers the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Read more
The Astropad Bookcase turns your iPhone into an e-reader
Astropad Bookcase with iPhone.

Do you have an iPhone or Android phone? Of course you do. Do you have an e-reader? Maybe. Have you ever wanted to turn your smartphone into an e-reader? Probably.

If so, there’s a wacky little accessory from Astropad: the Bookcase. It basically makes your smartphone feel like an e-reader, like a Kindle, but without the actual benefits of an e-ink display.

Read more