Reports of an Amazon-branded smartphone have been circulating for years. However, the Wall Street Journal recently confirmed that the online retail giant is currently testing a handset and remains on track to launch the smartphone during the second half of 2014.
According to the WSJ, Amazon hopes to distinguish its smartphone in an already crowded market with a screen capable of displaying (seemingly) three-dimensional images without special glasses.
As Liliputing’s Brad Linder notes, Amazon already offers a lineup of tablets powered by Fire OS, the company’s custom version of Android.
The recently launched Fire TV also runs a version of Fire OS and there are over 200,000 apps available in the Amazon Appstore.
“It’s likely that Amazon’s smartphone won’t be particularly expensive, even if it does have top tier specs and unusual features like a 3D display,” Linder explained.
”But what remains to be seen is whether Amazon will partner with wireless carriers to offer the phone at subsidized prices to customers who sign a 2-year contract, or if it’ll be sold as a carrier unlocked device the way Google Nexus phones are.”
