Amazon 'Fire' Phone
AsSiMiLaTeD
Posts: 11,728
Anyone catch the intro on this phone? I started to watch the full presentation but I have some kind of mental block with that Bezos guy, I really can't stand his presentations, something about his style that I can't quite put my finger on...
Anyway, I did find all the details elsewhere and looks like it may turn out to be a good device if everything works as advertised. It seems well built with a good display that I much prefer over the AMOLED types a lot of other guys use, seems to be a good size and a good blend of functional and premium materials. The camera looks to be fantastic with a pretty quick lens, it may end up being one of if not the best cameras on a phone (or at least a normal phone that people will actually buy).
Dynamic Perspective sounds cool in theory, but depending on how well it works may just be more of a novelty. The whole 'tilting your phone to scroll' thing will never work for me because I tend not to hold my phone perfectly still at a set angle when using it, it looks great in the videos but I don't see it being all that useful. As long as I can disable certain parts of Dynamic Perspective though I'm good with it, I like the effects it provides in other areas.
FireFly looks to me to be the killer feature on the phone, assuming it works well and Amazon is able to stay on top of and maintain the database that makes it all work. The ability to just take a picture of anything and have Amazon know what it is and display related data can really be a game changer if it works reliably.
Amazon ties all their services together with this device, and while that works great for their tablets where you do a lot of reading and watching movies I don't see it being as relevant on a phone. Maybe I'm the odd man out here, but I just don't read books and watch movies on my phone.
The big downside for me is the closed system Amazon is using, or more specifically the lack of the Google Play store and all those Google services that make Android so appealing to a lot of people. They do the same thing with their tablets and they've sold plenty of those, not sure how well that'll translate to a phone though where people tend to be more tied into those services. The phone is also on the expensive side, it's not out of reach but there are lots of Android phone that it'll be competing with that are cheaper.
My feelings on this phone are mixed. I'm going to play with the SDK and pick up one of those to use for development, but right now I don't see it becoming my daily driver. I'm actually an Amazon 'guy' at this point, I've been a Prime member for years and spend thousands of dollars every year buying from Amazon. I'm probably their target audience with this device, so we'll see if they win me over once I actually have the device in hand. I will say that we weren't very impressed with their Fire HD tablet my wife had, hopefully the phone will be a better experience.
Anyway, I did find all the details elsewhere and looks like it may turn out to be a good device if everything works as advertised. It seems well built with a good display that I much prefer over the AMOLED types a lot of other guys use, seems to be a good size and a good blend of functional and premium materials. The camera looks to be fantastic with a pretty quick lens, it may end up being one of if not the best cameras on a phone (or at least a normal phone that people will actually buy).
Dynamic Perspective sounds cool in theory, but depending on how well it works may just be more of a novelty. The whole 'tilting your phone to scroll' thing will never work for me because I tend not to hold my phone perfectly still at a set angle when using it, it looks great in the videos but I don't see it being all that useful. As long as I can disable certain parts of Dynamic Perspective though I'm good with it, I like the effects it provides in other areas.
FireFly looks to me to be the killer feature on the phone, assuming it works well and Amazon is able to stay on top of and maintain the database that makes it all work. The ability to just take a picture of anything and have Amazon know what it is and display related data can really be a game changer if it works reliably.
Amazon ties all their services together with this device, and while that works great for their tablets where you do a lot of reading and watching movies I don't see it being as relevant on a phone. Maybe I'm the odd man out here, but I just don't read books and watch movies on my phone.
The big downside for me is the closed system Amazon is using, or more specifically the lack of the Google Play store and all those Google services that make Android so appealing to a lot of people. They do the same thing with their tablets and they've sold plenty of those, not sure how well that'll translate to a phone though where people tend to be more tied into those services. The phone is also on the expensive side, it's not out of reach but there are lots of Android phone that it'll be competing with that are cheaper.
My feelings on this phone are mixed. I'm going to play with the SDK and pick up one of those to use for development, but right now I don't see it becoming my daily driver. I'm actually an Amazon 'guy' at this point, I've been a Prime member for years and spend thousands of dollars every year buying from Amazon. I'm probably their target audience with this device, so we'll see if they win me over once I actually have the device in hand. I will say that we weren't very impressed with their Fire HD tablet my wife had, hopefully the phone will be a better experience.
Post edited by AsSiMiLaTeD on
Comments
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doesnt google already have an app that you can take a picture of stuff and it will find info about it? google goggles or something like that.
-CodyMusic is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it -
I believe Google shut down that Goggles app, it never really worked all that well. The advantage Amazon has is that they basically sell everything under the sun and should have a good database, but then again Google is our overlord and master of the universe so if they can't make it work well then maybe nobody can.
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AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »I believe Google is our overlord and master of the universe.
Fixed it for ya...Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
Oh I see, you're playing semantics with my statement. Obviously that was an over-the-top statement made in jest and didn't need the clarifying 'I believe' placed in front, I think people generally get that I was not stating that as a general undisputed fact...
That being said, while it's a complete over-exageration my personal belief is that statement is at least directionally correct, and probably moreso than most people realize. -
Baah!
I was hoping that the phone and airtime would be free if you signed up for Amazon Prime and bought a bunch of stuff off of Amazon. -
AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »Oh I see, you're playing semantics with my statement. Obviously that was an over-the-top statement made in jest and didn't need the clarifying 'I believe' placed in front, I think people generally get that I was not stating that as a general undisputed fact...
That being said, while it's a complete over-exageration my personal belief is that statement is at least directionally correct, and probably moreso than most people realize.
Yes just a joke Danny, playing around with the statement. But I too believe that google has far more knowledge and power over us than any one company should, and I am not even one of these crazy conspiracy theorists (ok you can probably have a lot of fun with that one).
As for the phone, it does look pretty cool but non google play is pretty much a non-starter. I also am growing weary of Amazon's business practices. I don't shop at Wal-mart because they are the devil; well it appears that Amazon may be the devil's online sister: http://www.salon.com/2014/02/23/worse_than_wal_mart_amazons_sick_brutality_and_secret_history_of_ruthlessly_intimidating_workers/ So although I have had prime since the beginning and buy way too much stuff from them, I am certainly not buying something that ties me deeper into their ecosystem.Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
That's an interesting article, Amazon gets so much positive press that you don't see stuff like that come out very often. Stuff like that is the majority of the reason I haven't set foot in a Wal-Mart is almost a decade now, looks like I should take a better look at Amazon now.
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Amazon has become a last resort, much the same way that Walmart is for me. Though I do have a prime account just for movies/shows. I'll continue to spend a little more and shop locally. Small business is the backbone of our economy.Review Site_ (((AudioPursuit)))
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