Amazon has been rumored to be working on smartphones for the last couple of years and it might be this year that the company gets closer to an actual product. According to a recent report, Amazon is working on two new smartphones and one of them will be labeled its flagship model, while the other will be more budget friendly running Amazon’s FireOS operating system. The flagship model is expected to arrive with unique features that include a 3D user interface based on eye tracking software. The 3D model will be the flagship and is code named “Smith” for now.
The Smith model is reportedly going to arrive with four, front-facing cameras that will be able to track the user’s eye and head motions in order to provide the 3D user interface. The initial reports suggest that it could be very similar to the parallax effect created with the new iOS 7 software from Apple. One other software feature will allow the phone to recognize certain users so that only they would be able to see the 3D perspectives, rather than if someone were looking over the shoulder and being tracked by the cameras.
The Smith smartphone is not likely to show up this year according to one online source. The budget handset is going to reportedly launch for free and without a contract. Reports from the last few months have indicated that Amazon would not be giving the phone away, but without confirmation the rumor stays a rumor at this point. Amazon has made a name for itself in the mobile world by selling cheaper products and up selling consumers through all of the digital content that it offers. Giving away a phone for free would be ground breaking in the mobile world only because the report claims that it will be without a contract as well.
That does not mean that Amazon will not require a two year subscription to Amazon Prime, the company’s digital library membership, but nonetheless the phone will cost nothing to obtain. Amazon has yet to really take up any space in the smartphone market, but if it does with these new phones it could be up against a lighter competition than the tablet market. Amazon has a couple new versions of its Fire tablets coming this year as well and should be ready to ship before the busy holiday season.
