After what seems like years of rumor and speculation, the Amazon phone has finally made an appearance in leaked screenshots revealed here. The phone is slated to be officially unveiled in June and released to the public sometime in 3Q 2014, and will be one of two smartphones Amazon has in the works.
Here's what we know about the phone thus far. The device will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2 GB of RAM, a battery size between 2,000 and 2,400 mAh, and Amazon's forked version of Android, Fire OS 3.1 "Mojito." That means customers will likely not have access to Google's services, but rely on Amazon's Appstore and other Amazon services instead.
The unannounced smartphone will also sport a 4.7-inch display with a 720p HD resolution (between 300 and 320 ppi), a 2MP camera on the front supplied by Primax for taking selfies and contacting Amazon Mayday, and a 13MP camera on the back supplied by Sony. There will also be four additional cameras on the front, one planted at each corner of the screen that will be used for the glasses-free 3D interface.
Sources claim that the four sensors on the face of the phone are low-power infrared cameras that are used to track the user's face and eyes in relation to the phone's display. Amazon's software thus makes constant adjustments to the positioning of elements on the screen so that all objects stay in perspective no matter the angle. Previous reports stated that by tilting the phone left or right, hidden panels slide into view on both sides.
BGR reports that the 3D effect begins at the unlock screen, which uses special wallpaper with perspectives that shift as the user tilts the phone in all directions. On the Home screen, the icons and other core elements take advantage of the 3D tech. The company's various stores (MP3, Appstore, etc.) will also use the tech, allowing customers to tilt the phone to see all sides of a three-dimensional product.
The report also states that Amazon is working to recruit big outside developers so that Amazon will have a portfolio of 3D capable apps during the phone's launch. Sources said that Amazon will also make a set of APIs available to third parties that will take advantage of the phone's 3D environment.
Honestly, do we really need a phone capable of rendering 3D objects? The Nintendo 3DS was one thing, but making calls and navigating a 4.7-inch screen filled with 3D imagery seems like overkill.
