Amazon rumored to introduce a smart phone in July

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by faithbw

I'm not sure how an Amazon phone solves your problem with Verizon or Comcast. If you get an Amazon phone, you'll still need a network to run it on. I suppose the new Fire streaming box might be better for you than a Roku but again, I don't see how this relates to a phone.

We don't know anything about an amazon phone, but it is probably just a first step in a plan which may include buying or building a phone network. Just building a phone that could intelligently leverage wifi networks could improve performance while lowering costs and create a competitive advantage. Simply getting the providers to bid for their customer minutes could reduce costs for the consumer while making a little money for shareholders.

Originally Posted by faithbw

The Amazon phone seems as superfluous (we should get an award for using this word so many times) as the Facebook phone. Ok, maybe a little less than the Facebook phone. Will people really want the Amazon experience on their phones? Is it necessary, especially with Kindle Fire tablets and now the Fire streaming box?

How about a gateway to let you take a call from grandma on your Fire TV equipped television?

I have a discover credit card. We charge ~$2500/month on that card -- $30,000 per year. I initiate purchases at shopdiscover.com to get additional cash back. I always ask if a merchant takes discover and pay with it when I can for cash back. I tell people about the card and send them referrals because we each get a $50 cash back bonus when they get a card.

Credit cards are an extremely profitable business. One more card is certainly superfluous. By sharing some of that profit with me, Discover is making sure it is the other card that is superfluous. While you think one more e-reader, tablet, streamer, or phone may be superfluous, the superfluous (three more times in this paragraph alone should be worth a little k, no?) device may be the one made by kobo, apple, roku, or RIM.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by frahse

I was wrestling with the choice of which Republic Wireless phone I would get.
Moto X $300 or Moto G $150 and now a new Amazon phone.


Any idea which carrier will offer it, or will it be all of them.
It would be really nice if Amazon offered a service like Republic.

$5/mo the phone works on wi-fi with voice, text, data
$10/mo the phone works on wi-fi and 3G cellular voice, text (no data on cellular)
$25/mo the phone works on wi-fi and 3G cellular voice, text, data
$40/mo the phone works on wi-fi, 3G, and 4G (LTE, whatever) with everything..

PLANS

Even at $5 a month, you get a phone number so with just internet service and one of these phones, you have a regular house phone, etc. (Just VOIP)

The beauty of the system is that if you decide that you want cellular or Data at anytime, you just select from the phone's dashboard, the plan you want. You can change your plan twice each month.

Off topic: My son got a Moto X through Republic. He got the $40 plan. He loves it. He is around Wi-Fi quite a bit though.
I am looking at the Moto G for me, but I don't think it does 4G, or allow you to speak to Google to ask questions. So I may end up with the Moto X.
S

[howyoudoin]

If Amazon builds a phone with an e-ink display on the back (like the Yota Phone), they would have interested me very much. They already have a massive kindle user base to give such a phone a solid USP.

[mewmartigan]

The Amazon phone makes sense whether it will sell or not. They already have an Android app store, they already have tablets on a modified Android, they now have a streaming box, etc. A phone will just add to the list of compatible hardware that can do "amazon stuff". I'm sure it can be used to control the Fire TV box, it will be able to stream Prime, run the Kindle book software, etc.

I am curious to know who's network it will use...my guess is ATT since the 3G Kindles already work with them and VZW is very restrictive about external phones (really? No Nexus 5 VZW!?)

The 3D is definitely a gimmick. I own a Nintendo 3DS which is the same idea of a smaller screen with no need for glasses. It does work and it works well....having said that, its a battery hog (essentially lighting two screens at once to create the effect) and you must keep your head and hardware still. Any shift off axis and the screen splits in two and gives you a momentary headache, haha.

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

The Amazon phone makes sense whether it will sell or not. They already have an Android app store, they already have tablets on a modified Android, they now have a streaming box, etc. A phone will just add to the list of compatible hardware that can do "amazon stuff". I'm sure it can be used to control the Fire TV box, it will be able to stream Prime, run the Kindle book software, etc.

I am curious to know who's network it will use...my guess is ATT since the 3G Kindles already work with them and VZW is very restrictive about external phones (really? No Nexus 5 VZW!?)

The 3D is definitely a gimmick. I own a Nintendo 3DS which is the same idea of a smaller screen with no need for glasses. It does work and it works well....having said that, its a battery hog (essentially lighting two screens at once to create the effect) and you must keep your head and hardware still. Any shift off axis and the screen splits in two and gives you a momentary headache, haha.

I fit into the group of people who think the rumor is a false one. But if Amazon does release a smartphone I think they will have to make it available on most of the main networks: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Choosing just one might have worked for Apple initially, but the Apple brand is more robust in electronic devices. Amazon has not achieved that level of branding with their Fires, not by a long shot. Even a lot of diehard Fire fans have now switched to Nexus tablets.

[mewmartigan]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I fit into the group of people who think the rumor is a false one. But if Amazon does release a smartphone I think they will have to make it available on most of the main networks: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Choosing just one might have worked for Apple initially, but the Apple brand is more robust in electronic devices. Amazon has not achieved that level of branding with their Fires, not by a long shot. Even a lot of diehard Fire fans have now switched to Nexus tablets.

I would love to see it on multiple networks (even though I will probably never buy one). I think the stickler here is VZW, not Amazon.


I've got enough Amazon devices to enjoy Amazon content, I'd much rather have my smartphone be vanilla android.

[rollei]

Originally Posted by howyoudoin

If Amazon builds a phone with an e-ink display on the back (like the Yota Phone), they would have interested me very much. They already have a massive kindle user base to give such a phone a solid USP.

Nice to have a Android smart phone with e-ink. Wonder if it is locked or unlock. I would buy it if it is available in Canada/USA.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by faithbw

Will people really want the Amazon experience on their phones? Is it necessary, especially with Kindle Fire tablets and now the Fire streaming box?

about as necessary as having an Apple experience on their phones, iPad, and Apple TV. Whether it's a comparable experience is another question, but they aren't doing anything unheard of, here.

Not sure why they would feel the need to build or provide their own cellular network, rather than using existing networks like other smartphones.

It's not gonna have eink. That's one thing I think is a safe bet.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by silverraven

Off topic: My son got a Moto X through Republic. He got the $40 plan. He loves it. He is around Wi-Fi quite a bit though.
I am looking at the Moto G for me, but I don't think it does 4G, or allow you to speak to Google to ask questions. So I may end up with the Moto X.
S

Somewhat, but I was trying to figure out what the Amazon phone had to bring with it to sell me.

You are correct on the Moto G - only 3G, I don't know about questions. It also has only 8GB not the 16 GB of the Moto X. Also only half the Ram.

I love the idea of the smartphone seamlessly using Wifi.
Saves on everything.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by PurpleStar

Good grief, is amazon taking over the world?

They already did; you missed it.

[Sregener]

I looked into Republic Wireless, but it looks like a significant cost increase for me compared to Ting. My usage works out to $14/month after taxes and government fees. And I'm enjoying my used Samsung Galaxy Nexus just fine. Works better than my iPhone 4 did. It's going to have to break before I give a different phone a serious look, and Amazon is going to have to work hard to beat the Nexus 5.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by Sregener

I looked into Republic Wireless, but it looks like a significant cost increase for me compared to Ting. My usage works out to $14/month after taxes and government fees. And I'm enjoying my used Samsung Galaxy Nexus just fine. Works better than my iPhone 4 did. It's going to have to break before I give a different phone a serious look, and Amazon is going to have to work hard to beat the Nexus 5.

I had never heard of Ting. Thank You!
S

[Atunah]

Originally Posted by Sregener

I looked into Republic Wireless, but it looks like a significant cost increase for me compared to Ting. My usage works out to $14/month after taxes and government fees. And I'm enjoying my used Samsung Galaxy Nexus just fine. Works better than my iPhone 4 did. It's going to have to break before I give a different phone a serious look, and Amazon is going to have to work hard to beat the Nexus 5.

Ting looks really interesting. Only pay what you use, what a concept. Still waiting on that from the cable/digital companies.

Only problem for me and Ting is that I have no phone and the ones they offer are way out of my price range. I need a pretty large screen to see and they are all close to $400. They have a Moto X, but no Moto G. I am not confident enough to buy a cell phone used. I really am just pretty clueless about all that stuff, so it needs to be buy plug and go for me. The upfront with republic is much more doable for me with the $149 Moto G.

But its a really great idea to only pay what you use, I just can't swing that expense at the start with a phone.

So I'll wait a little longer to see what or if amazon has anything. If not, I guess republic it is. Although I'll keep Ting in the back of my head just in case.

[Sregener]

Originally Posted by Atunah

Only problem for me and Ting is that I have no phone and the ones they offer are way out of my price range. I need a pretty large screen to see and they are all close to $400. They have a Moto X, but no Moto G.

Well, technically, Republic doesn't have the Moto G either. They've announced that they're going to have it, but they don't have it yet.

Ting is really interested in offering the Moto G. But they have to test it, and get approval from Sprint to offer it. I wouldn't be surprised to see them offer it in the next month or two, as they've been pretty quick to offer the latest and greatest devices, and the Moto G looks like a perfect fit for their model.

Of course, if you buy the Moto G and go with Republic now, nothing prevents you from switching to Ting as soon as they support it. Republic and Ting both use the same network - Sprint's - so the phones should work fine with either service.

But we're getting pretty far afield from the official topic, which is whether Amazon is going to release a competitive phone in July, and whether it will work on pay-as-you-go services like Ting and Republic...

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Sregener

Well, technically, Republic doesn't have the Moto G either. They've announced that they're going to have it, but they don't have it yet.

Ting is really interested in offering the Moto G. But they have to test it, and get approval from Sprint to offer it. I wouldn't be surprised to see them offer it in the next month or two, as they've been pretty quick to offer the latest and greatest devices, and the Moto G looks like a perfect fit for their model.

Of course, if you buy the Moto G and go with Republic now, nothing prevents you from switching to Ting as soon as they support it. Republic and Ting both use the same network - Sprint's - so the phones should work fine with either service.

But we're getting pretty far afield from the official topic, which is whether Amazon is going to release a competitive phone in July, and whether it will work on pay-as-you-go services like Ting and Republic...

One problem perhaps.
The Republic Wireless phones are a special breed. Not an ordinary Moto X or Moto G.