Amazon launched its first smartphone in 2014, in the hope of taking on Apple and Samsung. However, the Fire Phone, supervised by founder Jeff Bezos, proved to be a flop in barely over a year, considering it to be one of Amazon’s highest-profile flops.
Now, Amazon is eagerly awaiting a new phone. The Reuters report, “Transformer,” is currently under development at its devices and services unit, confirmed by four people familiar with the matter. The phone is evaluated to be an initial personalized device to sync with home voice assistant Alexa and serve as an intermediary to Amazon customers throughout the day, the people affirmed.
This venture adds to the newest chapter in Bezos’s years-long effort to bring a ubiquitous voice-driven computing assistant similar to the voice-controlled computer in the science fiction series “Star Trek.”
Bezos objectifies a smartphone that holds shopping at its core. A smartphone that could take on Apple in shipping convenience and discounts through the Prime membership. Until now, Amazon has been gaining diversified new data about users only through mobile phones, which are combined with purchase history and user-content preferences.
The project is reported to be led by a year-old group at Amazon’s devices unit called ZeroOne, whose decree is to create “breakthrough” gadgets, the people said. ZeroOne, J Allard, a former Microsoft executive, was previously involved in devices such as the Zune music player and Xbox gaming console.
Three people working on “Transformer” mentioned that the phone is still under many developments. Amazon has explored a conventional smartphone and also a so‑called “dumbphone” with very few features to resist screen addiction. Amazon has not yet sought wireless carrier partners for the device, these people said.
However, an Amazon spokesperson declined to provide any official comment on this.
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As envisioned, the” Transformer” might have personalization features that would make buying from Amazon.com, watching Prime Video, and listening to Prime Music more convenient than ever, the people confirmed. They were to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss internal matters, Reuters mentioned.
“Transformer” is mainly focused on integrating artificial intelligence capabilities. Focusing on the elimination of the need for traditional app stores, which mandates a process of downloading and registering for applications before using them.
Alexa would probably be an important feature, but it wouldn’t be the phone’s main operating system, the people said.
“Amazon could have an opportunity,” Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of data and analytics at International Data Corporation, highlighted in a research note on March 13. Amazon “brings together a powerful services ecosystem spanning commerce, content, cloud, and an existing AI foundation with Alexa, along with deep expertise in data-driven customer engagement.”
“The window of opportunity is tiny,” he wrote. “Every major player is moving in the same direction.”