Amazon new launch event June 18th

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by Atunah

I would get it if I could afford it. I am in desperate need of a phone and a plan. I am on a prepaid plan right now, low end go phone and the phone is on its last legs. I wanted a nice smart phone to use on a pre paid of $25 and below.

I can't afford a $60 plus a month plan.

You might be interested in Republic Wireless' plans...

$25/mo for unlimited calling, text, and data, no contract. You have to buy a Moto G or Moto X phone up front (starting at $150 for 8 gb Moto G). It uses Sprint as its base network, but can roam onto Verizon. It uses Wifi for calling when you're at home, so you get far clearer call quality than most cell phones when you're at home, and switches seamlessly to cellular when you leave the house. You can also switch between the $25 plan that I just described and their $10 plan (unlimited talk & text) at no charge twice per month (they pro-rate the price according to days on each).

I got it for my daughter and my parents and so far so good...

[frahse]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

See this link:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ama...ung-2014-06-05

Amazon investors are worried the phone will be offered at cost without any profits added.

Bezos never saw a profit he couldn't turn down. That is why I am no longer long in AMZN. Not short either.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by twowheels

You might be interested in Republic Wireless' plans...

$25/mo for unlimited calling, text, and data, no contract. You have to buy a Moto G or Moto X phone up front (starting at $150 for 8 gb Moto G). It uses Sprint as its base network, but can roam onto Verizon. It uses Wifi for calling when you're at home, so you get far clearer call quality than most cell phones when you're at home, and switches seamlessly to cellular when you leave the house. You can also switch between the $25 plan that I just described and their $10 plan (unlimited talk & text) at no charge twice per month (they pro-rate the price according to days on each).

I got it for my daughter and my parents and so far so good...

Actually can switch between $5, 10, 25 and 40 plans.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by LovesMacs

Just speculating, but what if this were indeed an Amazon phone, and Amazon Prime members could make free calls and texts? Think that would tempt people to switch?

That was what I was waiting for. I am already a Primer.

But it appears not so

[Atunah]

Originally Posted by twowheels

You might be interested in Republic Wireless' plans...

$25/mo for unlimited calling, text, and data, no contract. You have to buy a Moto G or Moto X phone up front (starting at $150 for 8 gb Moto G). It uses Sprint as its base network, but can roam onto Verizon. It uses Wifi for calling when you're at home, so you get far clearer call quality than most cell phones when you're at home, and switches seamlessly to cellular when you leave the house. You can also switch between the $25 plan that I just described and their $10 plan (unlimited talk & text) at no charge twice per month (they pro-rate the price according to days on each).

I got it for my daughter and my parents and so far so good...

That is the one I have been leaning towards. Only thing with them is that underlying sprint number they have and some other things I been reading on the forum. But overall they seem to have what I need. A nice entry level phone with the Moto G and cheap plans. Ting was the other one I looked at.
Good to know its working for your family. I do wish though they had a way to add some data to the $10 plan. Most days I wouldn't need it, but I would like the option when out and about if I needed to use 3G. I know they allow the switching twice, but if those are used up, I don't have the option anymore for that month. But overall they sound about perfect for me with price and features.
Thanks for posting this.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by afv011

As I see it, this phone is basically a portal to Amazon's services, a trojan of sorts.

More a Siren than a Trojan my strangely svelte friend!

[frahse]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Within two years Apple would have released the iPhone 6 along with other better looking Android devices.

Personally I am underwhelm with this phone.
- This phone is launched in the U.S., but nothing for Canada.
- All the technology in this phone has been implemented in other smartphones before (E.g. iPhone 5S).

Within two years there will be a better Fire Phone.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by frahse

Withing two years there will be a better Fire Phone.

And the smartphone market will be very different from today's.

[fjtorres]

From CNET:

FIRE PHONE could bring in bring in an extra $2B in sales in the first year.
http://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-fire...lion-in-sales/

The Fire Phone could help Amazon could generate about $2 billion from e-commerce products alone -- that's not including what it will make from content like streaming videos, music or e-books -- predicts Neal Doshi, an analyst with CRT Capital Group. That could grow to $5 billion or $7 billion in the next couple of years, he said.

Of course, you can always find an analyst to quote for any position you want to take, but still...

It *could* happen...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

That's not correct. There may be a few Google apps you can sideload, but most of them require changes to the framework to run (on custom roms you flash the gapps package to get these changes). Also, more and more apps rely on the Google Play Services library, which is also missing from the Amazon build, so any app relying on that (not just Google's) wouldn't run.

I have Chrome, Gmail, Maps, and YouTube installed on my Fire HD 7. They were easy to download - here & here. I don't use Chrome and Maps, but they're available if I want them.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by wizwor

When did apple and samsung begin bundling a free year of prime with their devices?

A nice freebie for Prime users who want the phone.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I have Chrome, Gmail, Maps, and YouTube installed on my Fire HD 7. They were easy to download - here & here. I don't use Chrome and Maps, but they're available if I want them.

I don't doubt it that there are ways around - but also note that this post is from 2012; the Google apps have changed since then, with Google making them more dependent on the Google Play Services (both to allow updates on older phones, and to get a tighter grip on their apps), so these hacks on non-rooted phones are not guaranteed to work with more up to date APKs.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by afv011

I don't doubt it that there are ways around - but also note that this post is from 2012; the Google apps have changed since then, with Google making them more dependent on the Google Play Services (both to allow updates on older phones, and to get a tighter grip on their apps), so these hacks on non-rooted phones are not guaranteed to work with more up to date APKs.

I'm aware of that; but they still work and that's all I care about.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

A nice freebie for Prime users who want the phone.

Free 2-day shipping, movies, music, tv shows, and books for people who buy the phone. That makes it a different price than the others and a better deal.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by wizwor

Free 2-day shipping, movies, music, tv shows, and books for people who buy the phone. That makes it a different price than the others and a better deal.

When compared with the others, it is; if you can live with Fire OS.

FTR, the competition is also too expensive and I wouldn't get any of them.