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So Amazon just announced the Fire Phone, their first smartphone, but what exactly sets it apart from the pack? Aside from its pseudo-Android Fire OS, the Fire Phone will ship with a number of unique features designed to enhance the user experience by taking advantage of Amazon’s existing retail and digital ecosystem. Here are our 5 favorite features introduced along with the Fire Phone.
Dynamic Perspective
The Amazon Fire Phone has four additional cameras at each corner of the phone’s front display, and they’re not for capturing the perfect #selfie. These cameras, coupled with infrared lighting, are used to track your head in relation to the Fire Phone, creating an experience Amazon dubs Dynamic Perspective.
This pseudo-3D technology allows users to peer into display rather than at it, allowing for immersive functionality that varies depending on the application. In Maps you can peek around objects or reveal Yelp ratings. Images take on a whole new dimension, looking great no matter what angle you are viewing them from. Dynamic Perspective can also be used to trigger a number of functions outside of manipulating the appearance of an app or image, such as tilting the phone to scroll books and web pages.
The best part? Amazon has opened up Dynamic Perspective to developers, meaning the potential exists for many innovative and interesting ways for users to interact with the Fire Phone on a per app basis.
Firefly
Amazon’s Firefly is like Google Goggles on steroids. Using the Fire Phone’s rear camera, Firefly can scan and identify barcodes, book and album covers, works of art and more, presenting the user with more info on any particular item and a relevant Amazon purchase page if available. Essentially, impulse buys start and end with Firefly.
But Firefly isn’t limited to images. No, it can detect audio as well, scanning for music, movies, and television shows as you watch, and, you guessed it, once again offering up items for purchase when possible. Firefly can even scan documents for relevant text such as names, web and email addresses, and phone numbers to quickly create a new contact, send an email, make a call, or launch a web page.
Sure, Amazon likely implemented to feature for its own economic gain, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. A dedicated hardware button to launch Firefly makes it all the better.
Mayday
Amazon has brought the same 24/7 support featured on its line of Kindle Fire tablets to the Fire Phone. Only a tap away, Mayday offers lost users a quick way to solve problems with their device by providing live support from real, breathing human beings around the clock, 365 days a year.
Support is provided by way of video chat with the additional benefit of allowing an Amazon customer support representative draw directly on the screen to provide detailed instructions. With a promised response time of 15 seconds or less, Mayday looks to be a big help to inexperienced smartphone users.
Amazon Prime
You can’t talk about an Amazon device without talking about the Amazon ecosystem, and an included 12-month Amazon Prime subscription makes sure users have plenty of content to take in. Amazon Prime has long offered a growing library of video content — including movies and TV shows — while a newly implemented music streaming service provides even more entertainment options.
On top of Amazon content, the Fire Phone offers new ways of interacting with media, whether it be the X-Ray feature that provides info like song lyrics and IMDb-sourced trivia. And the Fire Phone fits right in with the rest of Amazon’s product line, allowing users to pick up right where the left off on their Kindle tablet or Fire TV.
Unlimited cloud storage for photos
The Amazon Fire Phone promises a great photo experience with its advanced 13MP camera, but what to do with all those gorgeous hi-res images? All Fire Phone owners are being treated to unlimited cloud photo storage, a nice touch that will help keep users photo libraries in tact and organized while allowing internal storage space to be used for other purposes — like all those movies, songs, and games.
Want to know more?
While those are the features everyone will be talking about, in reality these five items only deal with a small portion of what the Amazon Fire Phone is capable of. If you are considering the Fire Phone as your next device, we recommend you check out our comparison with other top Android smartphones on the market. Be sure to check out the new Fire Phone section over at Android Forums and keep it tuned to Phandroid for more coverage.
Not one bit interested in buying one
Like their tablets… I can’t imagine this will sell well, at all.. No matter what new features it has. Specially with it being restricted to only AT&T. Their Fire OS is ridiculous.
Unless it’s an iPhone exclusive deals on today’s carriers doesn’t make sense.
Unlimited photo storage? Google+ does this already, but I guess you can’t even download the app on the Fire so they had to include that ‘feature’.
Unlimited 2048 resolution. Full size images count against your Google storage.
Article didn’t state that, good to know.
Amazon has unlimited at full resolution. Google limits you to 2048. The article never mentioned Google+ photo storage.
Those 4 extra cameras always being on must eat a lot of battery. Looks interesting, but i already have a Fire HD 8.9 tablet.
You have to REALLY love Amazon if you’re buying this. Free prime and Firefly looks awesome but let’s face it. Its just a way for you to buy more off of Amazon. On top of that they have the walnuts to charge $600+ off contract.
Or you could just not have a special affinity towards android/iOS. I see no reason why someone coming from windows phone, or blackberry, or someone who just isnt necessarily a huge app fiend, or average consumer, wouldnt at least give this phone a look. It also has an HD screen and a snapdragon 800 processor.
It is overpriced by at least 200dollars.
Its a $200 contract phone that comes with a free year of amazon prime… Not every phone can be priced like a Nexus.
Which makes it more expensive. Still a phone that’s over priced and locked to 1 network.
most people dont care about being tied to 1 network. They stay with the same network for multiple years. Being on contract doesn’t make the phone more expensive than any other phone you would get on contract. You can pay $200 on contract for a select number of phones, this is one of them, the specs are solid and it comes with a year of amazon prime. I don’t see the big hooplal. Is it because it comes with s800 and not the 801?
only 4.7inch when 5.0 is the new norm, only 2GB ram when 3GB is the new norm, non HD screen, when HD is the norm, nothing amazing about it. Some gimmicks is not worth the price and being locked into the amazon OS is also a big negative. Just nothing to like about this phone at all.
Last time I checked 720p was HD. And everybody was complaining when many made the b move to 1080 and 1440 because of battery life concerns.
4.7 inch is lauded by many to be the ideal size. And technically over 5.2 inches seams to be the new norm. G2, g3, note, z2, new gs5 is 5.1. But that’s a preference not a spec knock in either case.
Yes nothing is amazing about it. People complained nothing is amazing about this years crop of flagship’s either. Yet they still go for $200.
You say all it is is gimmicks n that’s fine but that’s what sells phones. Oh and amazon prime membership is like $100 so you can cut that out of the price if you want. So there its $100 for a HD phone with snapdragon 800.
Also the people who would obviously buy this don’t care about being “locked down”. Most people don’t. The phone doesn’t have to be for you. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t for anyone.
I mean i’m on tmobile, so im not a pro att guy or anything, I’m just saying there are plenty of people who buy contract phones and this cost the same as the others with *similar* specs and a subscription fee included.
It’s a $400 phone.
It’s a $200 on contract phone that comes with a free year of amazon prime. Not every phone is going to have nexus pricing.
Just wondering how long it will take someone to snag the Firefly apk and post it.
Six consecutive articles about this POS
Weird isn’t it, it’s almost as if it was just launched and that Phandroid covered a live press event ;)
Not impressed. The 3D fad is going to be over very soon if it isn’t already. The insane off contract price and only other option is 199 2 year agreement with only 1 carrier.. Wow way to limit your potential customers.
The other little extras like scrolling to read text etc seems like a neat little niche idea but not worth buying a new phone for.. especially at this insane price.
It should be FREE with 2 year agreement, Or 299 off contract (including the 1yr prime) if Amazon actually wants to sell a lot of units.
I do not see this selling well AT ALL in its current form and price point.
It doesn’t offer much. Although anything new will surely be added to phones that are upcoming in the next year anyways.
I currently have prime and buy TONS of items off of Amazon and no way I would change from Nexus 4 that I use to have, or my current Nexus 5 for this POS.
I do like that Amazon brought in some new ideas to the smartphone table because everyone else will just copy the new little features in their own new phones in the next 6months to 1 year.
and no google store?????? what the heck??
Saw that first pic and thought it was funny that I’m out of town and actually went up in the Space Needle today
This will go the way of the Facebook phone.
I see one positive thing about this phone, and that is that we may finally be able to get our hands on an Amazon Prime Video apk via some enterprising soul over at XDA.
Previous attempts with the Kindle Fire have shown that it requires the entire framework, or it won’t work. Amazon uses a forked branch of Android, meaning it kind of is Android, but there are some fundamental differences to the very nature of the OS. You can’t just load any old app you want on it, and vice versa. It’s as bad of an approach as Apple has going…
The phone number scanned is wrong hahaha
Holy cow, you’re totally right! That’s an awesome fail.
So let me remind everyone of that Mario Party 2 game, Look Away. We remember it? Okay, after being reminded of them cheatin’ computers, let’s think about playing that game with your head and these cameras. =.P
Gee. Shiny 3D (Bleh) and a Mayday Button. Not impressed. This is designed for the people that like the Kindle Fire, brand whores, and the non-tech consumer. Does it come with a “Fire for Dummies” book too. Not impressed.
May have to get this. Damn it’s so difficult to decide these days!
Never mind. Didn’t know it was 600 off contract! Thought it was 200 off contract! One plus one I’m still waiting…. Patiently