Main image of article Amazon Could Unveil 3-D Smartphone This Month
Amazon’s latest promo video shows people (presumably beta testers) gushing about a device in their hands. “It moved with me,” one says. “It’s very real life,” another enthuses. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that,” suggests a third, while tilting her head back and forth. The shot is always framed so that the object of their awe is just out of sight, but they’re clearly impressed with its capabilities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erUZQ9GK0sE Amazon accompanied that video with an announcement that it will host an event in Seattle later this month with founder Jeff Bezos. That announcement came with an image, of what looks like the corner of a black plastic (or metal) device. So what’s Amazon cooking up? If longtime scuttlebutt proves correct, the online retailer will launch a smartphone to complement its existing line of Kindle Fire tablets. As far back as last year, The Wall Street Journal and other outlets surfaced rumors that the smartphone will boast a screen capable of displaying 3-D objects without the need for special glasses. Click here for mobile development jobs. In April, BGR unveiled “exclusive photos” and more details of the smartphone, including its hardware and capabilities: 2GB RAM, Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4.7-inch screen with 720p HD resolution and six cameras—four of them arrayed along the front, to better track the user’s eyes in relation to the screen, a key element in properly rendering the interface’s 3-D elements. As with the Kindle Fire tablets, the phone will also supposedly run a heavily customized version of Google Android. Amazon wouldn’t be the first tech company to work on a 3-D phone. In 2011, for example, Sprint and HTC announced the HTC Evo 3D, an Android device with a glasses-free 3-D screen, but reviewers complained about the poor battery life and limited depth of field. If Amazon wants a 3-D smartphone to succeed, it will need to produce a device that not only offers a “gee whiz” factor, but also comes with specs capable of matching those of other premium devices on the market. A low price wouldn’t hurt, either.

Related Articles

Image: Amazon