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Let me talk to you about this “Amazon phone rumor” thing real quick. It’s tiresome. It’s old. It just. Won’t. Die. They’ve been alive as long as the Amazon tablet rumors have, and we’ve seen multiple generations of that thing launch by now.
But here we are again, once more pondering whether Amazon will look to enter the smartphone arena despite the online retailer attempting to deny it at every turn. DigiTimes says there’s still reason to believe Amazon is going to attempt to break through, with the company reportedly getting Primax to supply the camera sensors for this mystery smartphone.
We still don’t have the slightest clue what this smartphone could end up like, as every report we hear makes it sound as if Amazon is in the very early stages of research and development. We do expect it to be a fork of the Fire OS, which itself is a fork of Android.
This would give Amazon a unique smartphone user interface unlike anyone else’s, though it might be to the detriment of the open, customizable user experience Android users are known to love. Amazon will obviously want to tie in their own multimedia ecosystem such as Kindle Books, Instant Video and Amazon MP3, but at what expense?
Will we be treated to more devices without access to the Google Play Store? And will these devices be subject to the “with offers” form of advertisement that recommends books and videos to buy on your lock screen? Those are questions that can only be answered once official details are ready, though you’ll have to forgive us if we aren’t willing to hold our breath waiting for said details to come to light.
No comment…
Amazon offers some of the best built, most affordable, easiest to use Android based products on the planet, but you guys are so negative to them that it’s amazing laughable. Why do you even call yourself phandroid? Android is meant to be modded, but if Amazon does it…whoa, it’s not stock. It doesn’t use the Play store…who cares, are people getting the Android apps they want or not?
Amazon ushered in the era of high quality Android tablets, but when they released their new HDX tablets, you gave them two second of negative review, and yet NEXUS got what…a bazillian reviews? And yet you could argue (very well in fact) that Kindle Fire’s are every bit as good, only a matter of taste distinguishes them. If Amazon could land a high quality, inexpensive Android (yes, Fire OS is Android) phone in people’s hands wouldn’t that be cool?…oh wait it would be Amazon, so that means that you would only give it negative reviews. Phandroid…only if it’s stock Google and not from Amazon.
And what Mark didn’t know was that Quentyn actually bought two Kindle Fire HDXs this holiday season.
I never said there was anything wrong with Amazon’s style. I think it’s great for many people. If I weren’t such a demanding user, I’d probably own one for myself.
I don’t like how the PlayStore isn’t there. It’s no different than getting a phone on another OS.
The “No Playstore” is a HUGE deal breaker. Or are you wanting me to buy ALL my apps again? It’s supposed to be on Android, I shouldn’t have to.
This is probably why people aren’t seeing it as Android. This is probably why people are down talking it.
Amazon not allowing the Pay Store is its biggest problem. Amazon doesn’t have all the apps the Play Store does, and many of the ones it does have are inferior because they rarely, if ever, get updated.
By not having the Play Store, you have to pay for an app a second time to use it on a Kindle device.
When I read that “Amazon ushered in the era of high quality Android tablets”, I had to laugh. If you are talking about the HDX, it is a great device with a beautiful screen. Past Kindles were not the best (not bad, but not the best). The Barnes & Noble Nook tablets were superior in hardware to Amazon’s offerings but providing an inferior ecosystem (although books were on par with Amazon).
The first high quality Android tablet has to be the Nexus 7. Just like the Nexus One did for phones, the Nexus 7 defined what an Android tablet needs to be.
Nexus devices are big news in the Android world. They represent Google’s vision for Android and usually indicate where the OS is headed. Fire OS is running an older version of Android so it does not represent the future of Android. I would expect that an Amazon phone would be in the same boat. It would likely be a good phone but bringing nothing to the table but the Amazon ecosystem.
I think you should also address Amazon’s dirty trick of not having the Amazon Instant Video app available on the Google Play Store (except for Google TV). I am one Amazon customer who is hesitant to buy videos from Amazon because of this omission. I know it is not a technical issue because Kindles run on Android so a port should be a no-brainer. Interesting enough, It is available on the iOS AppStore.
Thank you!! Android was built so any manufacturer or vendor could mod it to their own needs and desires, yet it seems everyone who comments is like, “It’s not stock, so it sucks”. Guess what? The stock Android interface isn’t all that great, nor is it all that intuitive. A lot of the various skins like Sense and TouchWiz add convenience and ease of use. Some of them are features Google has added to newer versions, so how bad can they be.
The simple fact is the Kindle is the device that brought an affordable tablet into the mainstream. It wasn’t any Nexus device that did that.
Dead on the arrival it is skinned like their Fire line up. Especially if there’s no Google Play.
Wont die, just like “Keeping up with the Kardashians”
Who are they?
No one important. I always say they were the bad guys on Star Trek:Deep Space Nine, lol.
The reason i am not getting any Kindle Fire tablets is mainly because of that proprietary Skin/UI. No matter how cheap they are, I refuse to get one.
If an amazon phone came out it would flop like their tablets
Nope. No thanks. I like Android for Android, and for Google services, I would not have a phone that restricted me to using Amazon services.
I write training material for cellular devices, I am shocked how easy the Fire is to train on. What a GREAT device. If they brought that ease of use to phones it would rival the iPhone for ease of use.
Fire OS also happens to be the smoothest version of Android I have seen, its almost iOS like, its not as stable as HTC SENSE or obviously as flexible as Touch Wiz. For a consumption device its really great.
If I need a PC…ill use a PC, if I want to read a book or watch a video on a 7 inch screen..it better be damn easy to do…and that is what the Fire does well.
Having said that…they need to bring that approach to the Phone. It better be a GREAT phone…and if I choose to read a book or watch a movie on a 5 inch screen..it better be damn easy to do.
They need to focus on making the phone, texting and email as simple to do as possible. Then worry about including their massive ecosystem.
KindlePhone Paperwhite now with 7 day battery life