Ring ring ring ring ring...Jeff Besos Phone.

MainerInExile

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Seven Costanza said:
Going to be an AT&T exclusive too- that turned out real well for Facebook...
I don't expect the phone to be a game changer, but I do expect either the price or the business model to be something different.  Maybe something with the data plan is different?  Before the AT&T exclusive thing was announced, I sort of expected the phone to be sold unlocked.  I'm bummed that's not the case.
 

Boston CyberSox

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I agree, the AT&T exclusivity is disappointing, and limits the appeal of the phone.
 
I do expect that they'll announce a data plan where data consumed using Amazon Prime services isn't counted against your monthly data limit.  Perhaps other carriers didn't want to play with that data pricing model.
 

jayhoz

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If your priorities are set as follows, this is the phone for you
 
1) I hate typing shit into my phone
2) I really like taking pictures with my phone and having it identify things for me.
3) I really like watching out dated Amazon prime content on a tiny screen.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10000) App availability / support are important to me.
 

SumnerH

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jayhoz said:
If your priorities are set as follows, this is the phone for you
 
1) I hate typing shit into my phone
2) I really like taking pictures with my phone and having it identify things for me.
3) I really like watching out dated Amazon prime content on a tiny screen.
 
4) It would really suck to be able to access my gmail account from my phone.
 

jayhoz

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If by free you mean paying $200 and committing to AT&T for two years, yes AP is free.
 

jayhoz

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Seven Costanza said:
I'm having a hard time picturing anyone who would use this phone.  
Amazon Vine cultists? 300 (I believe) of which were in the audience.
 

MainerInExile

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SumnerH said:
4) It would really suck to be able to access my gmail account from my phone.
It has an email app, of course, but I agree.  Not having a native gmail app is a deal-breaker for me.
 
Overall, I think the phone had more cool features than I expected, but less of a business model differentiator than I expected (hoped?).  It's too bad they won't get gmail or chrome anytime soon, because overall I'd rather get it than a Samsung.  I like Android, but the Google Play store is shit.  It will take some time, but I believe Amazon will have the better app store in short order.
 
Disclaimer: I am a massive Amazon fanboy.  I use Amazon for video, not Netflix.  And I use Amazon for MP3s, not iTunes.  So there you go.
 

jayhoz

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MainerInExile said:
It has an email app, of course, but I agree.  Not having a native gmail app is a deal-breaker for me.
 
Overall, I think the phone had more cool features than I expected, but less of a business model differentiator than I expected (hoped?).  It's too bad they won't get gmail or chrome anytime soon, because overall I'd rather get it than a Samsung.  I like Android, but the Google Play store is shit.  It will take some time, but I believe Amazon will have the better app store in short order.
 
Disclaimer: I am a massive Amazon fanboy.  I use Amazon for video, not Netflix.  And I use Amazon for MP3s, not iTunes.  So there you go.
 
This will literally never happen.  Why would a dev build an app for a bastardized version of Android on a device with a tiny slice of the handset market and not for the broader Android market?  Despite a clear price and first mover advantage the Kindle Fire tablet only captured 10% of the Android Tablet market.  If Google Play is shit, then the Amazon App store is Jeter's range.
 

AlNipper49

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In that argument's defense, the fire is a complete piece of shit. (Although at its price point it is a more or less negligible decision)
 

NortheasternPJ

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I just watched the promo video. The screen seems pretty cool. I'm not sure how useful it is outside of gaming, and if anyone's going to actually create games for it.
 
The tilt / flick features look good in the video but in the real world, they seem awful. Flick and the autoscrolling. Hold your phone to read, lean it over to look at something and it starts scrolling. Move your phone, new menus come up. 
 
I often use my phone in bed, on the couch etc. and its not always at the perfect angle in front of me if laying down etc. In those cases, this phone seems very hard to use. I'm sure you can turn it off. If i'm sitting still and using my phone 
 
The second half of the video was focused around the ability to scan a physical item and get pricing for it on Amazon. Or scanning physical print ads for phone numbers! I'm trying to think about the last time i read a physical print ad, never mind having the need to dial the number on it.
 
The Amazon app on the iPhone / Android can already scan barcodes and get pricing from Amazon. I guess it's more convenient to be able to scan a book cover, but who cares?
 

johnmd20

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AlNipper49 said:
In that argument's defense, the fire is a complete piece of shit. (Although at its price point it is a more or less negligible decision)
 
You think so. Which one? I have the Kindle HDX and it's absolutely awesome. Light, fast, and user friendly.
 

jayhoz

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If all you want to do is surf the web, watch AP videos, and play angry birds it is a fine machine.  If you want to do more with it, it is a POS because it has no App support.
 
The Google Play Store has 1.2 million up to date apps.  The Amazon App Store has 240,000 apps.  Many of which are several revs out of date.
 
Gmail, Google Maps, Google Earth, Instagram, Snapchat, Clash of Clans, SoSH, Sunrise, Uber.......all missing
 

smastroyin

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To me the market is the technophobe types like my mother who want a "smart" phone.  For example, I got her a Kindle Fire and she loves it.  LOVES IT.  When I upgraded my Nexus 7 I gave her my old one.  She doesn't touch it.  Too many buttons, she doesn't want to figure out widgets, etc. etc.
 
I agree that the limited apps is more ok for a tablet/reader, and that a phone needs different things by nature of how you use it.  But I have to think they will be expanding the app library to adjust.
 

johnmd20

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jayhoz said:
If all you want to do is surf the web, watch AP videos, and play angry birds it is a fine machine.  If you want to do more with it, it is a POS because it has no App support.
 
The Google Play Store has 1.2 million up to date apps.  The Amazon App Store has 240,000 apps.  Many of which are several revs out of date.
 
Gmail, Google Maps, Google Earth, Instagram, Snapchat, Clash of Clans, SoSH, Sunrise, Uber.......all missing
 
Ah ha, I only use my Fire for AP Videos (and Time Warner cable and Netflix) and web surfing and, for that, it's fantastic. I love the screen and the weight(or lack thereof) makes it wonderfully portable. 
 

jayhoz

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smastroyin said:
To me the market is the technophobe types like my mother who want a "smart" phone.  For example, I got her a Kindle Fire and she loves it.  LOVES IT.  When I upgraded my Nexus 7 I gave her my old one.  She doesn't touch it.  Too many buttons, she doesn't want to figure out widgets, etc. etc.
 
I agree that the limited apps is more ok for a tablet/reader, and that a phone needs different things by nature of how you use it.  But I have to think they will be expanding the app library to adjust.
 
They need the devs to do the heavy lifting if they are to expand.  I'm guessing the devs will be watching the units out the door and judging whether it is worth their while to rework their apps to function on Amazon's fork of Android.
 

MainerInExile

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jayhoz said:
 
This will literally never happen.  Why would a dev build an app for a bastardized version of Android on a device with a tiny slice of the handset market and not for the broader Android market?  Despite a clear price and first mover advantage the Kindle Fire tablet only captured 10% of the Android Tablet market.  If Google Play is shit, then the Amazon App store is Jeter's range.
Oh, the Play Store has a ton more selection, but a lot of the selection is junk.  Probably 50% of the Play Store is literally garbage, so Amazon doesn't have as much ground to make up as you may think.
 
Also, in theory at least, making an App for the Amazon App store should be pretty straight-forward if you already have an Android app.
 
Finally, the major #1 difference that will make the Amazon App store better: credit cards.  Amazon has mine.  Google doesn't.  Look at the differences in percentage of paid vs free apps on Apple vs Google.  Why?  Apple has your credit card already (because of iTunes).
 
Now, as I said, I will probably never get the phone because of the lack of the native Google apps.  Still, I think the Play Store sucks, and Amazon can overtake it.
 

Seven Costanza

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I have to be honest, based on the reactions here and in the tech blogosphere, I figured there would have been a much bigger negative reaction to this phone. 
 
Surprised at the relatively decent press and buzz it's getting.  I still think it's going to be DOA, but I'm walking that back a bit.
 

Harry Hooper

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jayhoz said:
 
They need the devs to do the heavy lifting if they are to expand.  I'm guessing the devs will be watching the units out the door and judging whether it is worth their while to rework their apps to function on Amazon's fork of Android.
 
Ed Bott's latest column has one rationale for developers producing apps for AOSP:

 
The [Microsoft] Office team in particular has learned how to enthusiastically embrace alternative platforms. The goal for Office is to become aggressively ecumenical, running on as many platforms as possible. Office on the Mac, for example, is a significant business. The new Office apps on iPad are excellent and appear to have sold a fair number of $99-per-year Office 365 subscriptions.
 
If Microsoft's goal is to make it possible for you to run Office on as many devices as possible, then building a first-class Android app is mandatory, even if the unintended side-effect is strengthening Google’s hardware position temporarily.
 
That certainly means delivering Office for Android through the Google Play store, using the same subscriber-only model Microsoft used for its iPad apps. Whether Google will embrace Office as enthusiastically as Apple did is an open question, but it’s a safe bet that Office for Android will be insanely popular.
 
But the real game is in the Android Open Source Project, the Android code that Google gives away. An army of small Chinese manufacturers are building handsets based on AOSP. As of the end of last year, BI Intelligence reported that 25 percent of all global smartphone shipments were running a forked version of Android, minus Google services.
 
Amazon’s Kindle Fire is based on AOSP and is similarly Google-free. AOSP is also at the core of those Nokia-branded, Android-powered phones now being sold by Microsoft.
 
 

derekson

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So a $200 price drop after 2 months on the market. The sales numbers must be absolutely dreadful. They seem to have spent a fortune on advertising this thing too, as I've seen a ton of TV ads and heard a ton on the radio as well. Could be a major sinkhole for them.
 

Harry Hooper

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Too late, Jeff. I think I would have bought this phone for 99 cents and tried it out instead of dropping over $200 on the Moto G back in July.
 
 
Edit: Amazon Prime would have been a nice perk. I refuse to pay for it, though I do buy stuff from Amazon.
 

johnmd20

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Amazon getting into tablets was a good idea. You can have multiple tablets, even if it's just to check out the latest technology. And the Kindle HDX is fantastic. But people usually have only one phone because it's not just a one time charge, it's a monthly charge.
 
It is asking a LOT to get people to give up their Androids or iPhone's for something new and probably not that good. Free Prime isn't a bad deal but it's not an incredible deal. And they are so behind on Apps, it makes Windows look like an industry leader. Too late, too difficult. It's not a huge surprise this phone is a flop.
 
Will Amazon give up or keep fighting?
 

Harry Hooper

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From Fortune mag: 4 reasons Amazon’s Fire Phone was a flop
 
Resonating with comments upthread, reasons included "too expensive at intro" and notably this comment "Amazon would probably have the most luck convincing first-time smartphone buyers who have yet to develop a device preference to pick up a Fire Phone, but there simply aren’t many of those people left."