Amazon’s long-awaited contender to the mobile market is rumoured to finally launch in the later half of 2014, potentially as soon as June, and speculation is once again pointing to a 3D display for the smartphone.
The info regarding Amazon’s unnamed smartphone this time comes from highbrow news outlet The Wall Street Journal via those close to the source and once again suggests the smartphone’s display will pack three-dimensional and hologram-like images, with retina and gesture tracking controls.
This is not the first time we’ve heard speculation about a 3D display for Amazon’s first dabble into mobile and rumour initially surfaced over a year ago, showing just how long the tech nation has been awaiting a glimpse of the handset.
The Gadget Helpline actually offered a news article about Amazon’s rumoured 3D smartphone at the time when the third dimension was still a hot topic. The display method has since done the rounds to little lasting appeal, being utilised on smartphones such as the LG Optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D before disappearing into obscurity.
Having three-dimensional display on our mobiles has become a short-lived gimmick and the only notable remnant of the fad is found on Nintendo’s 3DS portable console so it’s a little strange that Amazon would be clinging onto 3D so long after its heyday.
Other features alleged for the Amazon smartphone (named the ‘Kindle Phone’?) include 4.7-inch screen and quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, as well as the fruits of partnerships with camera manufacturer Pentax and Sunny Optical with a 13-megapixel shooter expected. The mobile will run a version of the Android OS, but likely to opt for Amazon’s own Appstore rather than Google Play for downloading of software and digital content.
In other Amazon news, the company recently snapped up Comixology – the massive online library of digital comics, bolstering it’s offering of reading materials alongside Kindle. And let’s face it, comics are much cooler than real books!