Amazon is reportedly prepping its own smartphone device featuring sensor technologies and possible 3D screen that may be ready to drop into Christmas stockings, according to published reports.
While Amazon had not publicly comment on the reports as of early Friday evening, several industry media outlets claim Amazon is ready to take on smartphone titans Samsung, Apple and Google's Android.
The news comes on the heels of Amazon's debut of Fire TV. As TechTimes reported earlier this week the $99 set-top device goes head-to-head with Google's Chromecast offering and Apple TV. Fire TV boasts the entire Amazon Instant Video Library; original movies, TV series and video games; and a cache of MP3 music files available for download. Of course, all of this great content comes at the high price of an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $99 a year.
Amazon also just debuted a pilot bar scanner, called Dash, for its AmazonFresh food shopping business
If the smartphone rumor is true, it's likely the smartphone would also serve a one-place console/controller for Fire TV, ordering off Amazon, subscribing to Amazon Web Services and all the other business segments within Amazon.
If the reports prove true Amazon's up against not only the formidable players mentioned but also Motorola Mobile, which is developing what it hopes are market hot handsets and Lenovo, which is making huge strides, though mostly overseas, with its handsets.
