Amazon new launch event June 18th

[6charlong]

Wired went on a rant about what a stupid idea the about to be announced (but still hush-hush) Amazon cell phone is.

The latest Amazon smartphone rumor has the yet-to-be-announced phone packing a sophisticated 3D holographic screen. This is a very dumb idea. The last place you want images floating in space is your smartphone.

http://www.wired.com/2013/05/amazon-holograms/

Maybe it's a joke. Suppose the handful of clues people keep referencing are only meant to arouse interest in whatever they do present.

Well, isn't about as good a theory as any?

[frahse]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Another gimmick that will probably fail, just like 3D TV. Cool when first released, but then consumers decide it isn't worth purchasing and another one bites the dust.

These 3D offerings all have similar courses. First great excitement, and then disillusionment ant finally abject failure.

[Laridae]

No doubt just another subsidized box to lock unsuspecting users into their walled garden.

Whenever I see the word "Amazon" now I have the same reaction as when I see the word "Apple" - I run as fast as I can the other way!

If it's not open, it's not useful.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Laridae

If it's not open, it's not useful.

What do you consider open? On my HDX 8.9 I read books I've bought from dozens of vendor, in epub format using Moon+ Pro and Mantano (& on rare occasion the Kindle & Kobo apps) and organized in Calibre Companion. That's open enough for me I guess and plenty useful.

[Barcey]

I can understand Amazon's desire to have 3D for items in their store. If it works well it would help the shopping experience. I'm not convinced that people would buy a phone for that though. It will be interesting to see the sales pitch on it.

[Laridae]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

What do you consider open? On my HDX 8.9 I read books I've bought from dozens of vendor, in epub format using Moon+ Pro and Mantano (& on rare occasion the Kindle & Kobo apps) and organized in Calibre Companion. That's open enough for me I guess and plenty useful.

The HDX 8.9 looks like a great machine and I'm glad you like it. And I'm sure they'll take good care of you as long as you don't care too much about being penned in.

But I, like so many others, have a wariness about being locked in to the ecosystem of a particular company, no matter how good it is. I call it "digital claustrophobia".

We'll see how proprietary the new product is once it's announced. But if past experience is any indication Amazon's business model has been very successful for them and I don't expect it to change.

[WillysJeepMan]

It'll be called the "Kindle Torch".
It will be pre-load with Amazon services.
Free calls to other Kindle Torch owners.

You heard it here first.

[elemenoP]

I hate to bash a product that hasn't even been announced yet but... six always-on cameras? In a time when we are just learning about the extent to which companies and our government can and are spying on us? That's not going to make anyone nervous, is it?

[pendragginp]

Originally Posted by Barcey

Judging by the anti-Amazon cartel campaign the last couple of weeks I think it's going to be the dried shrunken heads of the Hachette negotiating team.

Well played sir, well played.

[hardcastle]

Originally Posted by Laridae

The HDX 8.9 looks like a great machine and I'm glad you like it. And I'm sure they'll take good care of you as long as you don't care too much about being penned in.

But I, like so many others, have a wariness about being locked in to the ecosystem of a particular company, no matter how good it is. I call it "digital claustrophobia".

We'll see how proprietary the new product is once it's announced. But if past experience is any indication Amazon's business model has been very successful for them and I don't expect it to change.

It must be terrible to not be able to buy any eBooks from Google, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and anyone else using DRM-encumbered ecosystems. Which, last I recall, is everyone.

[QuantumIguana]

It may not be useful to you, but it doesn't mean it isn't useful to others. People aren't being "lured" in - what's important to you may not be important to others. And of course, buying this phone is optional, Amazon isn't going to send in jack-booted thugs to force you to buy it.

Originally Posted by hardcastle

It must be terrible to not be able to buy any eBooks from Google, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and anyone else using DRM-encumbered ecosystems. Which, last I recall, is everyone.

That couldn't possibly be the case, we all know Amazon is the villain, and every other company is the hero.

According to people like Laridae and his fellow Android is God group, anything that isn't pure Android is a walled garden. BS! Hell, even so-called pure Android doesn't really exist. I bet no two devices have ever run the same Android. Even if they ran Android x.y.z, the manufacturer and/or carriers undoubtedly changed Android to meet their commercial needs and made it uniquely sucky. Apple doesn't allow carriers to modify iOS. A phone from AT&T with Android is way more walled in than an AT&T iPhone. Walled in is just a BS phrase that has little meaning in the real world.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by hardcastle

It must be terrible to not be able to buy any eBooks from Google, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and anyone else using DRM-encumbered ecosystems. Which, last I recall, is everyone.

All hail Alf!

[hardcastle]

Originally Posted by jswinden

According to people like Laridae and his fellow Android is God group, anything that isn't pure Android is a walled garden. BS! Hell, even so-called pure Android doesn't really exist. I bet no two devices have ever run the same Android. Even if they ran Android x.y.z, the manufacturer and/or carriers undoubtedly changed Android to meet their commercial needs and made it uniquely sucky. Apple doesn't allow carriers to modify iOS. A phone from AT&T with Android is way more walled in than an AT&T iPhone. Walled in is just a BS phrase that has little meaning in the real world.

And pure Android doesn't do you much good when you still have to rip the DRM to read your books on a lovely open eReading program.

When someone makes an open, entirely 100% DRM-free eBook Reader and Store then I'll switch to that, because it's a great end goal. But it hasn't happened yet. I support DRM-free sources of books when I find them (websites like StoryBundle and Unglue.it are wonderful!), but demonizing one ecosystem is really narrow-sighted.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by jswinden

According to people like Laridae and his fellow Android is God group, anything that isn't pure Android is a walled garden. BS!

Android/Linux is the OS of the me generation -- a distro for every single person and using it let's one imagine he is sticking it to The Man.

It took a couple days for the XBMC team to get it running on Fire TV. Amazon didn't rush out a patch to prevent such hacks a la Roku and Chromecast.

Amazon has a walled garden with a gate. Their app store makes installation of vetted apps simple for the less technical while protecting them from all the bad things that happen in the Play store. At the same time, flip a switch and you are free to install and [hopefully] run any app that can be side loaded.

I don't know what is coming, but I know it will be reasonably priced and well supported.

Originally Posted by jswinden

I'm sure it will sell dozens of units like its cousin the AmazonTV! But then people will realize that it is just a modified Android device that cannot use the Google Play Store, and they will notice that whatever Amazon Prime perks it comes with won't amount to the value of a wooden nickle. So it will flameout just like the AmazonTV will.

I'm going to guess you have not yet had a chance to play with a Fire TV. We have two at my house -- one I bought to evaluate and one I bought for my kids so I could evaluate the first one I bought. We also got their controller. We like both a lot.

At launch, FTV did everything it did better than the competition -- it had YouTube, Netflix with support for profiles, high quality games, and support for real game controllers. Since then, Amazon has added more than 150 apps.

As for it being little more than a house branded android device, you could not be more wrong. Integration with the Fire tablets has no peer except in iLand. This, of course, is the aPhone opportunity -- to integrate with other devices so that the value of the ecosystem is greater than the sum of its parts.

I don't want to get ahead of Bezos, but cell phone services are over priced and perform poorly. I refer to mine as my device of last resort. Adding data plans for a family of four can run $200 a month! They are not well suited for children. I expect Amazon to address these issues.

- I expect to see parental controls on this phone -- just as there are on the Fire and Fire TV.
- I expect to pay a reasonable price for the device and the service -- just as I have for my Fires and Fire TVs.
- I hope that it is WiFi savvy so it can use WiFi for data and voice whenever possible.
- I expect the device to act as a remote and second screen for Fire TV.

Mostly, though, I expect to be able to take it out of the box, do a simple setup, and use the device. I expect my mother to be able to do the same.

If some of that happens, we will trade in our Verizon plan for an Amazon plan.