Amazon announces it's Fire Phone

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http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/amazon-unveils-smartphone-1403114271?mobile=y

Amazon.com Inc. unveiled its long-awaited smartphone Wednesday, thrusting it into the highly competitive handset market.
The Fire Phone, as the device is known, boasts a 4.7-inch screen, a 13 megapixel camera and earphones that resist tangling, among other features, said Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, at an event in Amazon's hometown of Seattle.


The device, which comes with one year free of Amazon's Prime membership streaming service, is the company's first smartphone and a big bet that it can take on industry leaders Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.
One potential advantage for the Fire Phone is unlimited photo storage on remote computers through Amazon's cloud-computing software. As smartphones have become many users' primary camera, photos can suck up much of the storage, leaving little room for new apps or music.
The device also includes a hands-free auto-scrolling feature and will be available July 25, according to Amazon's website.
The handset business can be very unkind; once-highflying brands like Nokia, Motorola and BlackBerry have seen their market share erode.
Amazon will enter the fray with a powerful partner. AT&T Inc. will be the exclusive carrier, according to people familiar with the Seattle company's plans. The arrangement extends Amazon's relationship with AT&T, which also provides wireless service for Kindle tablets and e-readers. The move could help AT&T attract new subscribers at a time of intense competition among wireless carriers.
The phone will be priced at $199.99 for a 32 gigabyte model and $299.99 for 64 gigabytes, according to AT&T's website. Those prices are based on the user accepting a two-year contract with the carrier. According to Amazon's website, the Fire Phone will sell for $649 to $749 with no wireless contract.
Preorders for Amazon's Fire Phone have begun on Amazon's website.
To succeed, Amazon will have to convert not only new customers, many of whom are on multiyear wireless contracts, but also mobile developers. The phone is likely to use a version of Google Inc.'s Android mobile-operating system that doesn't have access to Google's own Play store, with its million-plus apps. Amazon's Kindles use such an operating system.
Some developers creating apps other than games who have seen and used nonproduction versions of the Amazon handset said it wasn't initially clear how they could use the eye-tracking software in their apps. One possibility, these people said, is the software could help improve mobile advertising placement, as well as app design.
A phone would be the latest example of Amazon's expanding hardware push, including its set-top box for streaming video, a wand for scanning and ordering groceries from home, and an updated version of its Kindle Fire tablet computer. The Fire lost ground to rivals in the first quarter, falling to a 1.9% share of world-wide tablet sales, from 3.7% a year earlier, according to researcher IDC.
One potential advantage Amazon has over other handset makers is its willingness to break even on hardware, relying on profits from the services available through the devices. That is a strategy Amazon has used for its e-readers and tablets, hoping to entice users to buy more e-books and digital music and video. If Mr. Bezos prices the smartphone near manufacturing costs, Amazon could undercut rivals and attract users who can't afford higher-end devices.
Amazon employees who worked on the smartphone device over its several years of development said the 3-D screen is ideal for game play and could have unique applications for mobile commerce, such as 360-degree views of clothing, toys or other goods. Ultimately, these people said, Amazon views the smartphone as effectively a mobile cash register for purchases, including movie tickets, e-books or diapers.
Because smartphones store a user's location and other personal data, Amazon could gain new insights into owners' habits and spending patterns to better tailor product recommendations and manage its warehouse inventory.