After the mystery, speculation and hype, Amazon's phone, officially known as the "Fire Phone," made its appearance in Seattle. Will it be the game-changer that strengthens the Amazon empire and directs users towards its products and content services?
Or will history ridicule and criticize it, similar to the "all-drone delivery service" announced earlier this year? If it does take off, an appropriate web-based terminal emulator will be needed to access mainframe applications just like other mobile devices.
The New York Times' coverage of the event focused on the specific tactics that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos seems to be employing to promote this device, and what it can offer users. In a nutshell, the dominant theme refers to combining information for what the company clearly hopes will be a more complete experience.
This does not just refer to the fact that users can expect Prime status when signing up for a phone plan. It also pertains to the way that the apps on the phone will interact, allowing a user to access a more detailed map function or, through its Firefly app, scan products, find them on Amazon and order them near-instantly.
In a Quartz article on this subject, Dan Frommer talks about another one of the features that the device has: 3D capability.
"This could either be gimmicky or cool—we'll have to try it, and see if developers care enough to make great apps for it," he said. "Other phones have tried 3D, but none has been useful or impressive enough to catch on."
We'll have to see where this phone leads, but if companies intend to make use of it, that's one more device to anticipate when making IT modernization plans.