21–30 of 51 posts
Article content notwithstanding, calling it the "Amazon Fizzle" is a great burn. As a prime subscriber, I'd feel that I get more value for my subscription if they finally made their streaming work on Android devices (I'm not sure if it works on iOS). There is no app and the last time I checked, firefox on android also wouldn't play the content. This phone just reinforces in me the idea that I shouldn't renew my subsc…
Perhaps I am missing something, but I don't understand the appeal of this phone. Its only real differentiator seems to be the "instant customer service" feature.
Not sure if the phone has that UI but if so it would be a reason I would not consider buying one.
(It's possible that with some UX improvements the core idea would work, the problem is that it doesn't work now).
Perhaps I am missing something, but I don't understand the appeal of this phone. Its only real differentiator seems to be the "instant customer service" feature.
I think the glasses-free 3D through gaze tracking is what they expected to be the selling point... I also think that Bezos made a big mistake with this, and that he's such a hard-nosed jerk that he'll do a lot of damage to Amazon trying to force this to succeed before he will admit he was wrong. The phone market is totally saturated, why even bother with it?
Most importantly, as far as I can tell, it doesn't make any existing smartphone activities easier or faster, nor does it make possible any new category of activity. Games are neat, but who is going to make games for a platform no one is on?
I agree with the other commenter, however, that Amazon is mostly interested in gathering detailed data on how people use their phones, and even a small percentage of the market is still a lot of useful data. They may learn something interesting (those eye-tracking cameras aren't there just for the sake of the UI), in which case they will be better positioned to increase their market share if they want to.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This may seem weird in Silicon Valley, but even in the US, a lot of people don't have $200 to pay for a phone.
Then they probably don't have enough money for a subscription service, and if they do, they're better off with a non-smart (dumb?) phone.
In case anyone at Amazon is reading: I own a Kindle Fire and the only thing I don't love about is the nav. I wish I could turn off the carousel style nav and just use a normal tablet/phone style nav with icons. Not sure if the phone has that UI but if so it would be a reason I would not consider buying one. (It's possible that with some UX improvements the core idea would work, the problem is that it doesn't work now…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This may seem weird in Silicon Valley, but even in the US, a lot of people don't have $200 to pay for a phone.
Then they probably don't have enough money for a subscription service, and if they do, they're better off with a non-smart (dumb?) phone.
Article content notwithstanding, calling it the "Amazon Fizzle" is a great burn. As a prime subscriber, I'd feel that I get more value for my subscription if they finally made their streaming work on Android devices (I'm not sure if it works on iOS). There is no app and the last time I checked, firefox on android also wouldn't play the content. This phone just reinforces in me the idea that I shouldn't renew my subsc…
Amazon just launched the Prime Instant Video feature on Android.
Article content notwithstanding, calling it the "Amazon Fizzle" is a great burn. As a prime subscriber, I'd feel that I get more value for my subscription if they finally made their streaming work on Android devices (I'm not sure if it works on iOS). There is no app and the last time I checked, firefox on android also wouldn't play the content. This phone just reinforces in me the idea that I shouldn't renew my subsc…
They just released support for android with Instant video a few days ago.
Oh wait. No I wouldn't.