After months of leaks and speculation, Amazon unveiled its 'Fire
Phone' smartphone. The new phone has a 4.7-inch screen, a
13-megapixel camera and unlimited photo storage in cloud, as well
as a 3-D like effect where the images move where you do.
The phone will be available July 25, and sells for $649 to $749
with no contract.
We're in Seattle and live-blogging the announcement, and will
bring you all of the news, photos and analysis in real time.
(Sorry, unlike Apple's WWDC keynote or Microsoft's Surface Pro 3
announcement, there is no live video stream from Amazon.)Follow
along and tell us what you think in the comments.
3:17 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
Thanks to everyone for stopping by -- especially for all of the
thoughtful comments. (There were many!) We'll have our main article
on the news updated by Greg a few more times. And our Personal Tech
teamis getting some video together right now and will have a
roundup of the most important features shortly. Stay tuned!
3:07 pm
Better yet, here's Amazon's GBP FirePhone info page. Just don't
preorder until AFTER our review: http://t.co/7JB65K4Tay
--- Wilson Rothman (@wjrothman) June 18, 2014
3:07 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
And that's a wrap. Bezos leaves the stage saying he hopes users
have as much fun using Fire Phone as Amazon had making it.
3:06 pm | by Greg Bensinger
Fire Phone undercuts iPhone with equivalent memory by $100 with
two-year contracts.
3:06 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
I am torn over these short-period discounts. To me, 12 months of
free Prime just hook me in, and then I am forking over money a year
from now. If I end up loving the service, I guess I should have no
complaints.
3:05 pm
Fire Phone costs $199 with a 2-year contract, and comes with 12
months of Amazon Prime. Ships on July 25.
pic.twitter.com/Cbu2YzYLKb
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
3:04 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
Fire Phone order page confirms it is running Fire OS 3.5
http://t.co/UBwl3uPCNY
--- Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) June 18, 2014
3:03 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Fire will cost $199 with a 2-year contract, Bezos says. That's
for a 32 GB model -- a nice touch. The phone ships July 25, he
says. And this one more thing: free 12 months of Prime service.
3:03 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
Another selling point that brings down the virtual cost of the
device: For a limited time, according to Amazon's site, buyers get
12 free months of Prime.
3:00 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
There will be a smooth hand-off between "Mayday" help service
and AT&T's service, de la Vega says. Pre-orders for the phone
start today, says de la Vega.
3:00 pm | by Greg Bensinger
The phone is a selling platform: " I am going to buy a whole lot
more things with this technology than I ever have before," said de
la Vega.
2:59 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
(Though, to be fair, that free cloud storage option has piqued
my interest. That siphons off some of the cost.)
2:58 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
De la Vega is singing the praises of the Firefly feature. He'll
buy a lot more stuff from Amazon now that he has that. (That's the
point, right?)
2:57 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
Wow, this is premium pricing that positions the Fire Phone as a
high-end device right up there with the flagship phones from
Samsung and Apple. Those two have left nothing but scraps for
others trying to crack the premium market. Maybe the 3-D makes it
worth, but I'd be surprised if people switch allegiances based just
on that.
2:54 pm | by Greg Bensinger
AT&T's Ralph de la Vega, who heads up the company's wireless
division, is on stage to talk about exclusive contract for the
phone.
2:54 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Fire Phone will work exclusively with AT&T, Bezos says,
confirming the Journal's earlier report.
2:53 pm | by Greg Bensinger
Fire Phone is available July 25, according to Amazon's site.
2:51 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Another one Bezos's highlights: In messaging, turn the photo to
the right, and a view of recent photos comes up. Tap one, press
send and it is off. "I challenge you to do this on your current
phone." Bezos says.
2:51 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
For example, in the calendar app, you can just tilt the phone to
pull up automatic messages to let other attendees know you're going
to be late.
2:49 pm
Also, off-contract price will BURN a hole in your pocket! Fire
phone $650 off contract. pic.twitter.com/EnPsc2zmwp
--- Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) June 18, 2014
2:49 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Bezos now touting the "small touches" Amazon put into the
phone.
2:49 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Like Firefly, Amazon's dynamic perspective feature comes with a
kit so developers can use it it in their own Android apps. (This is
the first reference I've heard to Android so far.)
2:48 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
For anyone looking to catch up, here is Greg's first cut at
story wrapping up all of the detailsso far. We'll keep updating it
through the day.
2:47 pm | PRICING | by Greg Bensinger
AT&T's website says that the Fire Phone will cost $199.99
for a 32 GB model, and $299.99 for a 64 GB model -- and that's
based on a two-year contract.
2:45 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Bezos gets a lot more animated when he dives into the complex
tech it took to make this all work. He's a nerd's nerd.
2:45 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
What about Chewbacca T-shirts?
No problem for the Fire Phone, says Bezos.
2:44 pm
Bezos shows the lab where Amazon tested its head-recognition
tech, with a creepy mannequin and disco lights.
pic.twitter.com/rRZvsJvBqT
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:44 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
I am sure the deployment is cool, but "tracking faces" sounds
like an inherently bad selling point.
2:43 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The technology that allows for finding heads took years of
development by the world's smartest scientists, says Bezos.
2:43 pm | by Greg Bensinger
The device is "really good at tracking faces," Bezos says.
2:42 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
But wait, says Bezos: What about people with sunglasses and
beards? "All this variety is an extremely difficult machine
learning problem," he says.
2:41 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
This tech also needed to know how far away the phone is from the
face, so Amazon added more cameras -- four in total. Even if you
hold your fingers over some of the cameras, the phone still has the
two needed to get a sense of depth.
The cameras also have infra-red sensors so they can work when
you're looking at your phone in the dark. (That's for me, when I
wake up in the morning.)
2:40 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
I can't wait to see this tech first-hand. I don't have a problem
with parallax, but I wonder if the extra hardware horsepower that
Amazon is throwing at this will make a big difference -- taking it
from "something's not quite right" to "that is so natural that I
can't tell I am being duped by tech."
2:39 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The existing front-facing camera on a phone also isn't
sufficient, says Bezos. Amazon made cameras with a much wider field
of view that can continue to find the face even when you move the
phone.
2:38 pm
A rejected early prototype of Amazon's active perspective tech
required people to wear a headpiece. pic.twitter.com/KCasXth0m8
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:37 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Early prototypes of this tech, Bezos says, required people to
wear a headpiece.
2:36 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
So how does this dynamic perspective work? Bezos says the key is
knowing where a person's head is at all times.
2:36 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
And there's gaming, too: Bezos is showing how the dynamic
perspective can help you navigate around a game.
2:35 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
To Scott Austin's point in his tweet: There were enough people
who didn't like parallax on the iPhone that Apple had to end up
letting people disable it.
2:33 pm
Active widgets on the Fire Phone's carousel of key apps offer
important updates. pic.twitter.com/GrqYFCv4Ac
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:33 pm
"Dynamic perspective." In other words, "motion parallax"
(remember the iPhone?). In other words, not 3D.
http://t.co/2YH0nq8GBY
--- Scott Austin (@ScottMAustin) June 18, 2014
2:32 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
On to the user experience of the phone: "active widgets" put key
apps in a carousel at the top, and also give you important updates
from it down below.
2:30 pm
Fire Phone's multiple cameras enable hands-free infinite
scrolling while reading an e-book. pic.twitter.com/oICI5BlBrn
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:29 pm
Do we know what the default maps app is? GBP firephone
--- Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) June 18, 2014
2:28 pm | by Greg Bensinger
Bezos shows off auto-scroll allowing articles or other content
to scroll just by tilting.
2:27 pm
Bezos demos the "dynamic perspective" on Amazon's Fire Phone. A
3-D like effect where the image moves when you do.
pic.twitter.com/ocH8Be9JlF
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:26 pm
Amazon GBP FirePhone listings partially visible on AT&T's
website: $199 (32GB) or $299 (64GB) h/t to @stevekovach
pic.twitter.com/HsjfmKIJXs
--- Wilson Rothman (@wjrothman) June 18, 2014
2:26 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The idea, says Bezos, is that nothing that's important gets
obscured.
Amazon also built these capabilities into its store, letting you
browse through a selection of dresses, for example, by tilting the
phone.
2:25 pm | by Greg Bensinger
Bezos shows tilting the phone allows some features to appear,
like pop-up Yelp reviews over locations.
2:25 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
Bezos now demoing the use of dynamic perspective beyond cool
lock screens: On maps, nothing is is blocked by a pin or a sign.
"You don't have to teach anybody how to do that" Bezos says.
2:24 pm
Looks like Fire phone will be $199.99 with a two-year contract
at AT&T http://t.co/6Pp2NBNCm8
pic.twitter.com/dRzxTgo3Bx
--- Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) June 18, 2014
2:23 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
I really just want to know if we're at "Help me Obi-wan Kenobi,
you're my only hope" technology yet, or not.
2:22 pm | by Greg Bensinger
The effect is like a hologram. Images appear to float in front
of, and behind other images on the screen.
2:21 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Now the big reveal: the phone has "dynamic perspective" that
makes the lock screen move around when you turn your head.
2:21 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
What if there were a thousand artists standing by to redraw the
picture every time you moved your head, asks Bezos?
2:20 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Amazon is now showing a video about how complicated it is for a
picture to represent 3-D.
2:20 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Now we're getting to the big reveal: Bezos is giving a short
history of how art moved from flat to 3-D.
2:19 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
The idea of "showrooming" -- when you go to a brick-and-mortar
store to check out a product, and then go home to buy it online --
really gets amped up with Firefly.
2:18 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Firefly is open to third-party apps, Bezos says, which allow
others to automatically recognize bottles of wine, and more.
2:15 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
There's also a dedicated Firefly Button on the phone -- never
more than one button away from buying something from Amazon, of
course.
2:15 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
No mention yet of what operating system the Fire Phone runs, but
the screen looks like it might be a modified version of Android
like Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets.
2:14 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Bezos is explaining how technically hard it is to make Firefly
work in the real world, where there are wrinkles and bends and
other problems. Much of that hard work happens in Amazon's growing
cloud service.
2:14 pm
Bezos demos a service called Firefly for Fire Phone that
recognizes objects, songs, TV shows & art. Technically hard.
pic.twitter.com/3WVNvUxYg0
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:12 pm | by Greg Bensinger
And there's more: Firefly also works for art, identifying pieces
and then pulling up Wikipedia info. (Now if only museum guards
would let you use your phone camera.)
2:11 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
(Of course, "Game of Thrones.")
2:11 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Firefly also recognizes TV shows, Bezos says, demoing how it
identified a scene in "Game of Thrones."
2:10 pm | by Greg Bensinger
Amazon's "Firefly" feature has Shazam-type song
identification.
2:09 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Bezos is now demoing a new service called "Firefly" that can
recognize products just with the phone's camera, and then add them
to your shopping cart. (Amazon added a similar service to its
iPhone app earlier this year.)
Firefly can also listen to songs and add them to your shopping
cart, or start a playlist on a music app.
2:08 pm
Amazon also including its "Mayday" online help service on the
Fire Phone. http://t.co/ZRLIVwzMP5
pic.twitter.com/QWwfenlBgE
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:07 pm | by Photo: AP
Any announcement should involve holding the product triumphantly
in the air.
2:06 pm
The Fire Phone will also have Amazon's "Mayday" support service
free.
2:05 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
We're hearing about Amazon's tight integration of its own
services in its new Fire Phone. That tends to annoy some in Silicon
Valley who prefer open ecosystems. But dedicated Amazon customers
will undoubtedly love it.
The idea: Fire Phone is just another reason to be an Amazon
Prime faithful.
2:05 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
So far, the unlimited photo storage is the thing I want to know
more about. That should send all others on their heels. The idea
that we were heading toward free/unlimited has been out there, but
this puts it front and center. What are the conditions? Is this
just for Prime people ...
2:02 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Now on to services: Bezos says the Fire Phone comes with apps
for video and music, both the native Amazon ones and others like
Pandora.
2:01 pm
The headphone de-tangling wars are on: Amazon goes for a flat
design of the set that comes with its new Fire Phone.
pic.twitter.com/vmskWvxAKW
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
2:00 pm
The GBP FirePhone has a 4.7 inch screen, 2.2 GHz CPU, 2 GB of
RAM, 13MP cam. GBP Amazon
GBP LIveblog: http://t.co/95bwv3AVRd
pic.twitter.com/CCbuTj1Ush
--- WSJD (@WSJD) June 18, 2014
1:59 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Addressing headphone tangles, Bezos says the earbuds come with
flat cables and magnetic earbuds that clasp together.
1:58 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
And the first reference we've seen to Amazon's existing
capabilities: free unlimited storage for photos on Amazon's cloud
service.
1:58 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
There's also a dedicated phone button on the side of the
phone.
1:57 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The Fire Phone's optical image stabilization helps gather more
light in dark conditions, Bezos says, zooming in on a sunset
picture compared to an iPhone and Samsung Galaxy.
1:56 pm
Say hello to Amazon's 4.7-inch Fire Phone.
pic.twitter.com/FNyJP0CEbL
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
1:56 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Camera: 13 megapixel sensor on the back, and optical image
stabilization to counteract natural hand tremor.
1:55 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The phone is 4.7 inches, a size Amazon settled on after trying
many different sizes. (I agree with them on that.)
It has a 2.2 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM.
1:54 pm
It's the Fire Phone. pic.twitter.com/kFUPUug0sL
--- Harry McCracken (@harrymccracken) June 18, 2014
1:54 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Now on to the phone: Bezos asks, can we build a better phone? He
answers his own question: Yes. It is called Fire Phone.
1:53 pm
Just like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos is talking up his company's
strengths. Unlike Jobs, he speaks kind of slowly.
pic.twitter.com/bpAiX8SLV8
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
1:53 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
Makes sense to me that Bezos is building the case for why Amazon
should not only be in the hardware business, but why it should keep
releasing new products. So many people still think of it as an
online e-commerce business. (And it is.)
1:50 pm
I don't need to tell you how excited I would be if the Amazon
Kindle phone has this keyboard. pic.twitter.com/i9JWTjpBiJ
--- Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) June 18, 2014
1:50 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Amazon earns trust, he says, by doing hard things well.
This is starting to sound to me like a motivational speech for
Amazon employees. Let's get to the new stuff!
1:49 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Bezos asks: "What's the most important thing Amazon has done in
the last 20 years?"
His answer: "The most important thing we've done over the last
20 years is earn trust from customers."
1:49 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Also, there are tens of millions of tablet owners today, too,
Bezos says. (Amazon has always been tight on real sales
numbers.)
1:48 pm
Amazon now has tens of millions of Prime members, thanks to
addon services like video and lending library, says Bezos
pic.twitter.com/gCzMK8nPYm
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
1:48 pm | by Greg Bensinger
Bezos is building a case for Amazon's hardware prowess, noting
the Kindle e-reader has overcome skepticism.
1:47 pm | by Geoffrey Fowkler
Bezos says today there are "tens of millions" of Kindle
owners.
1:46 pm | by Geoffrey Fowkler
What about hardware?
Bezos says Amazon has been in the device business for 10 years
-- launched the first Kindle seven years ago, and worked on it for
three years before that.
1:46 pm | by Geoffrey Fowkler
"The consequence of building a great service for one customer is
that you can get millions," Bezos says.
1:44 pm | by Photo: Bloomberg
Attendees waiting in line to enter the event.
1:42 pm | by Greg Bensinger
60,000 applied to go to Amazon event, Bezos said.
1:42 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is on stage touting the growth of Amazon
Prime.
1:40 pm
The Amazon smartphone event scheduled for 10:30 PT seems to be
running a little bit late pic.twitter.com/RSijjjSo98
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
1:39 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The video features Amazon customers pleading for invites to
today's event.
1:39 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
So, it looks like Amazon is better with on-time package delivery
than on-time event beginnings. The lights are down and we're
starting with a video.
1:38 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
While we are waiting, allow me to belatedly introduce our live
bloggers. We have Geoffrey Fowler, one of our Personal Technology
columnists. Greg Bensinger covers Amazon for the WSJ.Wilson Rothman
is our editor for Personal Technology news and reviews. Joanna
Stern, another Personal Technology columnist, is firing away on
Twitter and we're embedding some of her tweets here.Brian
Fitzgerald (that's me) is a deputy editor in the Journal's global
tech bureau.
1:34 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
Why didn't Amazon do a live stream of the event exclusively for
people who have Prime Video?
1:31 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The event should begin any moment now.
1:30 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
A few readers weighed in on the comments tab. Here is a piece of
one response to Geoff's question about needing to hold the
device:
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
With an iPhone -- I'll buy it online without blinking because
it's a 'known-entity.' With an Amazon phone? Barring an
overwhelming barrage of extremely positive reviews, I'd absolutely
need to play with it first ...
Other readers were not happy with the idea of AT&T
exclusivity.
1:28 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
For all of the talk of fancy 3-D, I think people just want to
know the meat-and-potato details: what's the price, how big is the
screen, how good is the camera, how long does the battery last. As
much as people like to see a new form-factor, there is only so much
you can do with a slab of metallicy glass. The bar for uniqueness
is high there. But with several cameras on the phone (allegedly),
Amazon is going for something.
1:20 pm
The view inside the venue for today's Amazon smartphone event.
Not clear it that screen on the stage is 3-D.
pic.twitter.com/hhCDgeNWrM
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
1:15 pm
The lineup of tech reporters and reviewers waiting to enter the
Amazon smartphone event on a "sunny" Seattle day.
pic.twitter.com/d9RezTj4KL
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
1:12 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Of course, Amazon has figured this out before through
partnerships with retailers. There's no lack of irony that Amazon
literally has turned Best Buy into showrooms.
1:11 pm | by Wilson Rothman
Amazon will figure that out. They do have sales channels, they
just don't NEED them as much.
1:10 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
I think it's unwise to buy a device that spends so much time in
your hand without holding it first. Size and weight matter a lot,
and not just for ergonomics nerds.
1:08 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Readers:Have you bought a phone online before? Would you feel
the need to see and touch it before buying?
1:08 pm | by Wilson Rothman
There is another thing Amazon has that those others you
mentioned don't have, Brian: a massive sales channel. Amazon
doesn't require getting cuddly with cellphone store sales people or
Best Buy clerks.
1:06 pm | by Brian Fitzgerald
Apple and Samsung have such a grip on the smartphone market, I
wonder how Amazon intends to succeed. There are so many other
phones that haven't really caught on -- Facebook Phone, Moto X,
Nexus, etc.
We've heard a lot about the 3-D and eye-tracking tech, and
that's all well and good. But I think Amazon would have to do
something practical that makes people's lives easier -- remove
e-commerce friction for Prime customers, or all customers -- or go
cut-throat on cost. And getting Prime customers as the early
adopters through sweet incentives wouldn't hurt.
1:05 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
It's not just a matter of new bells and whistles. Samsung has
previously loaded up its Galaxy phones with lots of them, including
eye tracking and no-touch operation. But it actually scaled back on
them (or turned them off by default) in its latest Galaxy S5.
1:04 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
The question that's got folks buzzing outside the venue: Why
would anyone want an Amazon smartphone?
12:54 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
It's not clear what role, if any, the Amazon customers are going
to play in today's event. But I have to give Amazon credit for
attempting to innovate on the idea of these launch events. Now if
only they had a live stream ...
12:52 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Media and customers invited by the company are lined up in front
of the studio, waiting to go inside. Feels more like an Apple event
than any Amazon event I've been to before.
12:51 pm | by Geoffrey Fowler
Today's Amazon event at least smells amazing. It is taking place
in a studio next to the Theo Chocolate factory, in a part of
Seattle with office for other tech companies.
12:45 pm
The line up for today's Amazon event is starting. Forget
smartphones: the chocolate factory next door smells amazing.
pic.twitter.com/BiabLVVyO7
--- Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) June 18, 2014
12:01 pm | Thanks for Stopping By | by Brian Fitzgerald
Thanks for stopping by the Amazon live blog. The company isn't
streaming live video, so we'll get you the headlines and our
thoughts as soon as the news is available. The event is scheduled
for 1:30 p.m. ET, so come back then. And always feel free to tell
us what you are thinking in the comments.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires