Amazon unveils its first smartphone, which can recognise the world around it
The new Fire smartphone has the ability to render images in 3-D and can identify gesture controls using four front-facing infrared cameras that let it know the position of the users' head
Amazon unveiled its first smartphone ever on Wednesday, a device that assists shoppers by using six cameras that can make sense of its user’s face and the world around it.
The phone’s most significant feature, called “Firefly,” employs audio and object recognition technology to identify products and present the user with ways to purchase the items through Amazon. Users can simply snap a photo of a book, for instance, and Firefly will offer up its title and author, give more information about it and provide ways to buy it.
“We wanted to make a device that’s great for one person.”
Seven years after Apple’s iPhone took over the category, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos believes there is room in the market for something different. Even with the dominant leads that Apple and Samsung hold, Bezos said in an interview, “it’s still early” in the wireless device business.
People change phones all the time, he said. It’s not about taking market share right away, but making a phone that is ideal for a certain customer and hoping it takes hold.
“We wanted to make a device that’s great for one person,” Bezos said. “It’s like a certain person likes chocolate and another person likes vanilla. The customer can choose.”
While the new Fire Phone comes with some features that are practically industry standard – like a slim profile, a sturdy glass touchscreen, minimalist buttons and one camera for facing toward and away from the user, it breaks new ground in other areas.
Watch: Amazon launches 3D 'Fire' smartphone to challenge rivals
