TheCable

One of the biggest e-commerce companies in the world, Amazon, is set to launch it’s first-ever smartphone at an event in Seattle on Wednesday, but just what can we expect from the online retailer’s attempt to take on Apple and Google?

In terms of technical specs, the phone is likely to be placed in the upper-middle slice of devices, with reports suggesting a 4.7-inch, 720p screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 2GB of RAM.

However, Amazon is also going to be unveiling unknown ‘3D’ capabilities, with some leaks suggesting that it will use four cameras built into the front of the phone to track users’ head movements, while others say that built-in sensors will let people navigate the phone by tilting it from side to side.

A teaser video for the device apparently confirms this, with suspiciously delighted customers bobbing their heads about at the unseen gadget. This sort of user interface could help overcome the difficulties of navigating our increasingly large phones with a single hand – but if it’s anything less than 100 per cent intuitive it’s likely to bomb.

This may sound a dangerously unprofitable approach for Amazon, but with the company’s invitation to the June 18 launch, including a note from Bezos saying “I think you’ll agree that the world is a better place when things are a little bit different”, it’s entirely possible that the retailing giant is poised to shake things up.

The other main point of interest is likely to be the phone’s price. Unlike Apple, Amazon typically sells its hardware for little or no profit, instead making money from the digital media that owners purchase through its connected stores.

Photo credit: independent.co.uk