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Apr 12, 2001
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amazon_logo_2.png
Amazon is gearing up to release its long-rumored smartphone later this year to directly compete with offerings from Apple and Samsung, reports The Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the company has been showing off prototypes of its handsets to developers in San Francisco and Seattle in recent weeks, with Amazon likely announcing the phone by the end of June and launching it by the end of September.
The people said Amazon hopes to distinguish its phone in a crowded market with a screen capable of displaying seemingly three-dimensional images without special glasses, these people said. They said the phone would employ retina-tracking technology embedded in four front-facing cameras, or sensors, to make some images appear to be 3-D, similar to a hologram, the people said.
Rumors of the phone first surfaced in July of 2012, where it was reported that the company was working with Foxconn on the device. Last May, another report noted that the smartphone would join other products to complement Amazon’s popular line of Kindle tablets and E-readers.

The news comes as Apple is expected to ship its next-generation iPhone later this year, which may come in two different sizes: 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches. Recent reports have noted that the 4.7 inch version will ship in the third quarter of 2014, while the larger version may ship later due to production issues.

Along with a larger screen, both models of the iPhone 6 are expected to include a faster A8 processor, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, 1GB of RAM, and camera improvements in the form of optical image stabilization.

Article Link: Amazon May Launch Smartphone with 3D Capabilities in September
 

B...

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2013
1,949
2
I though 3D was abandoned after the HTC Evo 3D because it just doesn't matter in a smartphone.
 

unibodydesign

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2014
73
0
3D... AGAIN? If Nintendo & every TV company in the business blew it, why do Amazon think they're gonna make it work?

L_O_L

It's like 2009 all over; come one guys, try to diversify; we no more need 3D than we need *ANOTHER* smart phone platform.

the-third-party-facepalm-51486942215.jpeg
 

jayducharme

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2006
4,513
5,925
The thick of it
Seems to me to be a novelty and not really useful to most people. I guess for gaming or watching some videos it could be useful. But not for standard functions like e-mail, messaging or scheduling. And how many books would people read in 3D? Maybe Amazon has taken so long with their phone because they're struggling to find a way to differentiate themselves.
 

SPNarwhal

macrumors 65816
Apr 22, 2009
1,260
156
illinois
3D... AGAIN? If Nintendo & every TV company in the business blew it, why do Amazon think they're gonna make it work?

L_O_L

It's like 2009 all over; come one guys, try to diversify; we no more need 3D than we need *ANOTHER* smart phone platform.

Image

I don't think Nintendo blew it, but they're the only ones I feel didn't.
TV companies as well. Smart phone, though, makes no sense and isn't a feature that would improve the experience, rather just get in the way of it.
 

DuckyDelite

macrumors newbie
Mar 4, 2006
20
20
Don't care so much about the 3D part, I'm assuming they are thinking more about 3D movies via streaming than just a phone gimmick. With or without 3D, this could be some serious competition for Apple.

I'm using Amazon Instant Prime more and more so buying things in the Amazon ecosystem is appealing. I also tend to only buy Android Apps from the Kindle Store instead of the Play Store. This could mark the first all-inclusive stack to take on Apple: phone, tablet, streaming device, streaming service, and store.

I love my Apple toys, but I don't love the $5.99 rental fees.
 

Yelmurc

macrumors regular
Apr 16, 2008
219
58
Houston TX
Unless it can display a 3d image large enough to manipulate in 3d space with your hands, 3d displays and technology will always be a gimmick. Please give up on it.
 

unibodydesign

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2014
73
0
Unless it can display a 3d image large enough to manipulate in 3d space with your hands, 3d displays and technology will always be a gimmick. Please give up on it.

Human beings interacting best with physical things, not being part of a Star Trek experiment. An object with depth but no tactile feedback is pretty pointless. The whole 3D obsession is a Sci-Fi fan's dream, but real life experience and Star Trek gimmicks rarely overlap.
 

newyorksole

macrumors 603
Apr 2, 2008
5,058
6,354
New York.
It kind of sucks that there is pretty much nothing these companies can do to get me to switch away from my iPhone.

I've had everyone iPhone since the first one on launch day and there is nothing enticing out there, except the next iPhone.
 

diddl14

macrumors 65816
Aug 10, 2009
1,102
1,729
As a bookstore, Amazon was actually not bad. A bit like Google when they where just a search engine...
 

WissMAN

macrumors regular
Jun 19, 2009
146
14
Lone Star state
Amazon has as much business making a phone as Dell does making music production software.

Stick to what you know.
 
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pgiguere1

macrumors 68020
May 28, 2009
2,167
1,200
Montreal, Canada
What is described here is just a parallax effect.

A parallax effect isn't the same as 3D, no matter how sophisticated the eye tracking is. The illusion only works when you're moving the phone around, otherwise it's just a regular 2D image, and both your eyes perceive the same thing (unlike true 3D where your left and right eyes perceive differently).

Unless there are details we don't know, this seems to only do what the iPhone does with homescreen icons, albeit with more precision.
 
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unibodydesign

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2014
73
0
It kind of sucks that there is pretty much nothing these companies can do to get me to switch away from my iPhone.

I've had everyone iPhone since the first one on launch day and there is nothing enticing out there, except the next iPhone.

Wrong - next year's iPhone, too! :p
 
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