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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Amazon is reportedly processing a caller Fire Phone.
- The erstwhile exemplary had respective issues, including an inferior app store experience.
- Under caller supervision (and with much experience), Amazon tin bash amended this time.
Well, I don't cognize astir you, but I surely didn't person "new Amazon smartphone" connected my 2026 bingo card. As it turns out, according to Reuters, the retailer whitethorn beryllium processing a caller smartphone, internally known arsenic "Transformer."
Those acquainted with the manufacture volition instantly gully parallels to Amazon's erstwhile smartphone effort, the Fire Phone from 2014. Appropriately, that telephone ended up arsenic portion of a occurrence merchantability astir a twelvemonth later.
The archetypal Fire Phone is inactive burned successful our minds
Now, successful 2026, with nary less than 5 telephone brands successful the US -- Apple, Samsung, Google, Motorola, and OnePlus -- Amazon faces a batch of competition. In fairness, it besides has 2 less platforms to vie against. In 2014, Windows Phone and BlackBerry were inactive precise overmuch portion of the smartphone conversation; these days, not truthful much.
Also: What's close (and wrong) with the Amazon Fire Phone
But there's 1 mistake Amazon made successful its archetypal effort that volition perfectly torpedo its chances astatine succeeding -- the Amazon AppStore and specifically the determination to forego Google Play services. Google is simply excessively invaluable successful excessively galore lives to not enactment the platform. Oh, and the Amazon AppStore is terrible.
It has admittedly been a fewer years since I past inventoried the Amazon AppStore, but erstwhile I past checked, the Amazon AppStore was a wasteland of half-supported oregon unsupported apps, with 2 notable exceptions. Finance, location control, and connection apps were either absent oregon had not received updates for years prior.
The lone apps successful the Amazon AppStore that remained up to day were productivity apps (largely powered by Microsoft) and streaming apps. Those 2 categories enactment precise good connected the cheap, underpowered hardware that Amazon usually launches, and that's fine. A coffee-table tablet is simply a bully happening to person lying around.
A spark of hope
But a telephone is different carnal entirely. If a tablet is simply a instrumentality to entertain, a telephone is simply a instrumentality for everything else. One of the cardinal reasons Windows Phone failed was its deficiency of an app ecosystem. The Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, Panos Panay, is precise acquainted with that saga, truthful I'm hopeful that helium volition marque the aforesaid arguments to the powers that beryllium astatine Amazon.
Honestly, if determination is anyone who I deliberation tin propulsion disconnected an Amazon telephone revival, it's astir apt Panay, who understands plan and merchandise improvement amended than most, and to beryllium perfectly honest, he's my implicit favourite merchandise presenter.
Also: Amazon Fire Phone review: Not a large smartphone
Of course, each of this is aboriginal days. This telephone is being worked connected internally, and adjacent Reuters reports that it could get the axe agelong earlier it sees the airy of day. Personally, I'm intrigued by the idea, but I sincerely anticipation that Amazon doesn't marque this the buying telephone it tried to physique successful 2014.
If Amazon conscionable wants to marque a nice, well-built smartphone, with a tegument that pushes Amazon contented to the fore, I'm good with that. But leaving Google down is simply a mistake that Amazon cannot spend to marque again. Fool maine once, and each that.
So, if this telephone is to person a accidental astatine success, it needs to clasp Google services truthful it tin beryllium a telephone that everyone tin use. Amazon has the marque powerfulness to marque a telephone similar this work, adjacent up against juggernauts similar Apple and Samsung, but it needs to attack this correctly, lest it extremity up successful yet different Fire telephone occurrence sale.
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