Amazon has unveiled its first handset, offering 3D visuals – thanks to four face-tracking cameras on its front – and gesture controls.<\/p>\n
The Fire Phone allows its user to change an image’s perspective by moving their head, rather than creating “pop-out” effects.<\/p>\n
The owner can also scroll through a webpage or bring up menus by tilting the smartphone in their hand.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Jeff Bezos announced the phone at a press event in Seattle.<\/p>\n
One industry watcher had doubts about what was on show.<\/p>\n
“We’ve seen similar gesture controls on Samsung’s Galaxy range, and not many people use them,” said Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile devices analyst at market research firm IDC.<\/p>\n
“Unless the experience is extraordinary it can come across as a gimmick. I’d be surprised if Amazon has succeeded when Samsung hasn’t, but I’ll need to try it.<\/p>\n
The launch comes at a time when Amazon’s tablet sales appear to be on the wane, despite recent price promotions.<\/p>\n
Mobile content<\/strong><\/p>\n The basic version of the Fire Phone, with 32 gigabytes (GB) of storage, will cost $199 (\u00a3117) on top of a two-year contract with AT&T – the only network to offer it initially – on 25 July.<\/p>\n That is the same price AT&T charges for the 16GB versions of Apple’s iPhone 5S and Samsung’s Galaxy S5.<\/p>\n The “dynamic perspective” effect is made possible by the inclusion of four “ultra-low power” cameras coupled with four infrared LEDs, which permit the device to keep tracking the position of the user’s eyes and mouth in the dark.<\/p>\n The process only requires two cameras, but the firm said the extra two meant users would not need to worry how they held the handset.<\/p>\n Mr Bezos gave the example of looking at a dress’ design from different angles as an example of how the effect could be used, and showed how a handset could be tilted afterwards to make it move onto another garment.<\/p>\n Another innovation introduced by the Fire Phone is a dedicated side-button to activate Firefly, an app that allows it recognise text, images and sound in the smartphone’s immediate vicinity.<\/p>\n It can be used to bring up information – for example details of a wine, the name of a song, or information about a painting – and when relevant, the chance to buy the same or a related product from Amazon.<\/p>\n The facility relies on Amazon’s computer servers, so will not be available when the phone is offline.<\/p>\n “Firefly is not just about taking you back to the Amazon store, it’s about knowing so much more about consumers – things Amazon would not have known before,” noted Carolina Milanesi, from research firm Kantar Worldpanel Comtech.<\/p>\n The device also takes advantage of several other online services the company offers, including:<\/p>\n Several of these services will only remain available if the owner renews their Amazon Prime membership after a year, at an annual cost of $99.<\/p>\n\n