After nearly three years of rumor and speculation, Amazon has officially announced their first smartphone in the Fire Phone.
The Fire Phone features a 4.7-inch HD resolution display, quad-core 2.2 GHz processor sourced from the Qualcomm Snapdragon series, 2 GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 lens and Optical Image Stabilization, with dual stereo speakers. One key feature of the smartphone is Firefly, which is a 3D capture algorithm that recognizes objects, text, and audiovisual content using the camera and/or microphone for future Amazon purchases. Firefly also has a dedicated button, as does the camera.
Amazon will make an SDK available to developers to let them integrate Firefly functionality with third-party apps for other undetermined uses. A camera-driven Dynamic Perspective feature lets you view lock screens, images, and maps in a parallax perspective by tilting the phone in multiple directions to simulate depth. The system uses four infrared cameras to track faces, and can be used to navigate parts of the interface without the need to use physical input.
The Fire Phone supports all Amazon Prime media services, such as music streaming, TV, and movies, and also includes one free year of Prime membership currently worth $99. It also supports Miracast for streaming video directly from the phone to a compatible TV while including unlimited online storage via Amazon Cloud Drive for images taken with the main camera; the Fire Phone also includes the Mayday 24/7 live support feature that debuted with the Kindle Fire while being packed with premium earbuds that feature flat cord magnets to keep them from tangling.
AT&T has the U.S. exclusive on the Fire and lists the phone for sale for $199.99 for the 32 GB version, and $299.99 for the 64 GB version, both with a standard 2-year contract. It will be available July 25th from Amazon.com, listing the phone starting at $649 without contract and $749 for the 64GB version.
