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Amazon Fire Phone

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Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#331

The market positioning here seems very un-Amazon. "Your margin is my opportunity" is probably my favorite Bezosism. Given that perspective and Apple's very cushy margins, I expected Amazon not to approach the market with an expensive phone packed with new features, but to approach the market from the bottom, with a good phone that is free or nearly free. The problem, of course, is that Google seems to have that segme…

Why does this seem to be targeted at Android? If anything, I would say the price differential between this and good android phones reflects that it might be more an iphone competitor if anything, and so it seems to be more targeted at Apple.

Perhaps the Fire phone is targeted a new segment that neither Android nor iPhone.

People that aren't interested in the high end features of smart phones as they are now - people who might even choose a flip phone - but will spend money shopping for traditional items.

Some studies say iOS users (as a whole) are more willing to spend money through their phone than other demographics, but are they willing to spend on what Amazon is selling? This seems to refer mostly to musics, apps.

Cover the internet/messaging basics, offer quick & easy support, make traditional shopping easy - plus add price comparisons and you may tap a large non-tech segment.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#332
A tilt UI is ridiculous. In many environments, there will be horrible glare at many angles due to overhead light sources. If you want to solve the finger-in-front-of-the-screen problem, put a capacitive touchpad on the back.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is interesting I think... iPad: Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 Apple TV: Kindle Fire TV, Chromecast iTunes: Amazon Prime Streaming TV + now music, Google Play iPhone: Kindle Fire Phone, Nexus 4 I think they're all playing for the same territory. The big difference seems to be that Apple really only sells the technology. Google sells the technology so that they can sell advertising for third party products. Amazon has the…

Google sells the technology so that they can sell advertising for third party products. I see this a lot of HN, and I wonder if people are just assuming? To put it into context, I see far more ads on my iPad and iPad Touch than I ever have on my Nexus 5. Outside of the money Google makes from their book, video, and apps stores, they sell the technology to ensure that their services remain viable, and cannot be cut ou…

I see this a lot of HN, and I wonder if people are just assuming? To put it into context, I see far more ads on my iPad and iPad Touch than I ever have on my Nexus 5.I have zero ads on any of my apps on my iPhone (if I find one that has added ads, I discontinue it's use and buy another app that doesn't insult me). If you see any ads on your apps, you're buying the wrong ones.

If you mean website ads, then you can thank Google for that - I'm pretty sure that a significant majority of all web ads use Google's ad networks. Of course, thanks to Apple's double-tap for zoom, I usually bypass most of this visual cruft when browsing on my iPhone.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#334
post #21

Dynamic Perspective thing... The shake to undo is possibly the most hated interaction on iPhones. I don't know if I would want to have to do physical stuff to the phone itself to reveal information that should be accessible via touch (or visible at all times).

Not sure why you're downvoted, I also hate Shake to Undo.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#335

Amazingly ambitious move by Amazon, which I have to respect. Yes, it will be extremely hard to take market share from Samsung and Apple, but there also hasn't been much innovation in the smart phone market recently, so the opportunity exists if Amazon takes a novel approach. Or maybe they just compete on price, as they have so many times before.

The funny thing is, they're not competing on price. Sans contract, this phone is a hefty $649.

When I heard Amazon would have a phone, I thought for sure it would be very cheap, possibly even free with Prime membership. That would be a game-changing move.

Now, it's just another Android phone, albeit with a couple extra bells and whistles. But with an inferior app store.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#336
Honestly I preferred it when Amazon just delivered physical items to me.

This bullshit tie-in with Prime and some stupid streaming crap I don't want has just left a sour taste in my mouth.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#337

So hang on....are you telling me that $199 is the cheapest price WITH A CONTRACT?? Obviously things are different in the US,but in UK it's almost unfathomable to be paying anything for the phone if you are getting a contract. Sometimes the latest iphone will have an upfront cost of 29 pounds, but it's rare.

It is worth mentioning that they are including a year of prime which is worth $99 and a $10 credit on their store so the actual price compared to say an iPhone is $90.

And if you already have Prime? Do they refund a year of your subscription?

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#338
post #188
post #59

The compelling feature on this phone everyone's missing: Let's say you have to browse through a bunch of stuff on your phone. The very moment you start doing this, you have a problem: There's a #%&! finger covering up the screen now! The idea behind this phone is simple: All browsing of information is done by tilting the screen, leaving the display completely unobstructed... sure, other phones have tried to do this b…

There's a #%&! finger covering up the screen now! Forgive me, but this was the first thing I thought of. (A collection of clips from television commercials for as-seen-on-tv gadgets, showing helpless ordinary people trying to do things like slice tomatoes, etc…) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xQLGWTSag

You might enjoy http://www.reddit.com/r/wheredidthesodago/

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#339

i still dont understand why someone hasn't put a sensor to scroll on the back or the side of the phone- i would prefer that you tilting since thats so imprecise

It's clearly not implemented due to the phone case lobby :)

Seriously though, implementing hardware features that make cases unworkable would put a damper on sales.

Re: Amazon Fire Phone

#340

A tilt UI is ridiculous. In many environments, there will be horrible glare at many angles due to overhead light sources. If you want to solve the finger-in-front-of-the-screen problem, put a capacitive touchpad on the back.

not a bad idea. having your index finger do all the scrolling or mouse-like movement.
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