Bezos: Amazon Fire smartphone offers 'something different'
SEATTLE (AP) — There are two ways to view the smartphone Amazon introduced to the world Wednesday: It's either the latest in a long line of phones with fancy features many people will never use or a magic wand for shopaholics.
The phone's most significant feature, called "Firefly," employs audio and object recognition technology to identify products and present the user with ways to purchase the items through Amazon. Users can simply snap a photo of a book, for instance, and Firefly will offer up its title and author, give more information about it and provide ways to buy it through Amazon with a single click.
Seven years after Apple's iPhone took over the category, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos believes there is room in the market for something different. Even with the dominant leads that Apple and Samsung hold, Bezos told The Associated Press in an interview, "it's still early" in the wireless-device business.
People change phones all the time, he said. It's not about taking market share right away, but making a phone that is ideal for a certain customer and hoping it takes hold.
"We wanted to make a device that's great for one person," Bezos said. "It's like a certain person likes chocolate and another person likes vanilla. The customer can choose."