Amazon released a short teaser video for a new device that “moves with you,” and shows people moving their head and the screen reacting to their movement. This ties in with previous rumors of the 3D smartphone Amazon has been working on, with four cameras to track the users head movement and adjust the screen.
The 3D smartphone technology has been leaked for a while now and Amazon has reportedly been working on it since 2012. The technology will work similar to Nintendo’s 3DS according to several “testers” who have apparently tried out the device and understand the design.
It is an interesting concept, the 3D effect has never been implemented into a smartphone. There have been reasons for this, the 3D effect can take up chunks of battery, is liable to fail and doesn’t offer much in the way of additional functionality, it’s start of the reason 3D TVs and monitors failed to take off.
Other than the 3D effect, Amazon could be preparing some wild ways to make users enjoy the experience of the smartphone. There has been rumors of sponsored data, where the user will be able to use select Amazon apps for free on cellular data, giving users an incentive to use Amazon applications over others.
There has also been rumors Amazon will offer the phone at a very low price for Amazon Prime subscribers, potentially even for free with a two year signup deal for Prime. If this happens, we might see a huge influx in Amazon smartphones for people who already use Prime and have no issue paying for two years in advance.
Amazon might release a new music streaming service alongside the smartphone at the June 18 event. The music service will work in a different way, compared to other services like Spotify and Pandora, offering music from a few months ago that Amazon can stream for cheap.
