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Amazon Reveals 3D Handset to Take on Apple and Google
Unleash Fire! Amazon reveals revolutionary 'holophone' to take on Apple and Google - and it can even let you shop just by looking at what you want to buy

4.7inch phone uses four front facing cameras to show 3D images that 'float like holograms'

Users can also tilt phone to navigate around menus

Has 13MP camera - and claims it can take better pictures that the iPhone 5s and Galaxy S5

Jeff Bezos unveiled handset at launch in Seattle

Firefly app recognizes what the user is looking at and hearing - and can let people buy them on Amazon

Only available in the US with AT&T starting at $199, with a two-year contract on July 25th - or $649 with no contract

Published: 14:12 EDT, 18 June 2014 | Updated: 20:16 EDT, 18 June 2014

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Amazon has launched its first mobile phone in a bid to take on Apple and Google.

The Fire handset was unveiled by Jeff Bezos at a special event in Seattle.

'It's time to whip the crown from Apple,' said Mr Bezos before showing off the new handset for the first time.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos holds up the new Amazon Fire Phone. The handset has a 4.7-inch display with 720p HD resolution, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, and six individual camera modules to make the 3D effect work.

HOW THE DISPLAY WORKS

The handset chooses the two best views, and can even work at night using infrared.

The Fire will use head-tracking technology to make images on the smartphone's display appear to be 3D with a feature called 'dynamic perspective'.

'There is always more to see by changing your perspective,' Bezos said.

'What if there were a thousand artists standing by to redraw the picture every time you moved your head?' MINECRAFT SERVER LIST

Apps using the new feature includes a Maps app that lets users see around buildings.

Users can also tilt the phone to 'look around' an on screen map.

The handset has a 4.7-inch display with 720p HD resolution, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, and six individual camera modules to make the 3D effect work.

It will run a highly customized version of Google’s Android operating system similar to the one seen on Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets, and come with special tangle-free headphones.

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Apps available at launch include Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus and ESPN.

It also boasts a Gorilla Glass 3 screen with a rubber frame, and aluminum buttons.

Users will also have unlimited photo storage via the Amazon Cloud, and syncing with the company's recently launched Fire TV set-top box so you can send media to your TV.

The phone has its own menu system, and users can even navigate by tilting the handset. They can also see different app catergies through a special 'tray' that appears when they swip (right)

'Fire Phone puts everything you love about Amazon in the palm of your hand-instant access to Amazon’s vast content ecosystem and exclusive features like the Mayday button, ASAP, Second Screen, X-Ray, free unlimited photo storage, and more,' said Bezos.

'The Firefly button lets you identify printed web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR and bar codes, artwork, and over 100 million items, including songs, movies, TV shows, and products-and take action in seconds.'

how they compare: The new fire is up against Apple's iPhone 5s and Samsung's Galaxy S5

The MayDay 24-hour video help feature will also be available on Fire Phone, Amazon confirmed.

Bezos said the most important thing the firm has done was to 'earn trust with customers'.

The handset will initially be offered in the US only by AT&T in a deal that echoes the launch of the original iPhone.

The deal has already riled AT&T's competitors,

A SHOPAHOLICS BEST FRIEND - AMAZON'S NEW FIREFLY APP

Amazon also announced that the Fire Phone will come with a new app called Firefly.

This uses the camera and visual recognition to identify objects ranging from books to CDs as well as listen to music before looking for it on Amazon.

The feature will also recognise phone numbers and web addresses, as well as TV shows.

Amazon claims it can recognise 100 million items in less than one second.

Once an item is recognised, it can automatically take users to the corresponding Amazon page so they can buy it.

The app is triggered by holding the same button that serves as a shortcut to the Fire Phone's camera.

Peter Woodd, CEO at phone accessory maker IDT Systems said 'The effect this will have on the Smartphone industry are substantial.

'Consumers are constantly looking for the newest and most innovative device and if Amazon’s Smartphone offers the suggested 3D viewing capabilities, the usual players may find their hold decreasing.'

It is the first time the retailer has created a phone, and follows on from the success of the Kindle eReader and Kindle Fire tablet, with sales of eBooks overtaking those of physical copies in the UK in 2012.

Although Amazon did not confirm a release date for the UK, experts predict it will be on sale this year outside the US.

More than six in 10 said 3D graphics, as shown off by Amazon chief executive Jeff Besos (pictured) at the US launch of Amazon¿s Fire Phone, wouldn¿t make them any more or less likely to buy a handset, either

Amazon had designed its own software for the phone. There, the app grid is showing - and users can even tilt the handset to navigate through it

The handset has been under development since 2009 at Lab126, Amazon’s secretive Silicon Valley hardware division.

Web site BGR said the design looked like an iPhone.

AMAZON'S SMARTPHONE: WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at uSwitch.com said: 'Amazon already has two very effective power-ups in its armoury: brand power and reams of content that smartphone users can soup up their mobiles with. Add those to a quality handset and the mobile market may well have a Trojan Horse on its hands.'

Duncan Bell, operations editor at UK-based gadget magazine T3 said: 'The Amazon phone's solid hardware and verging-on-pointless software features are irrelevant here. Amazon sees this as a platform to flog its content, just as it did with ebooks on Kindles. Problem is, all its video and audio content is or will be available on every other device known to humanity, leaving no compelling reason to buy its own phone.'

Ramzi Yakob, industry expert and strategist at digital agency TH-NK said: 'Alarm bells started ringing when I realised that Jeff Bezos had spent more than twice the amount of time explaining how Dynamic Perspective was developed than actually showing us what it can do to improve the user experience. It clearly isn't a game changer.'

Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at uSwitch.com, said: 'Arriving so late to the over-crowded smartphone party requires tactical consideration, and Amazon has covered all bases with a handset which is both big on spectacle and packed with features.

'Amazon already has two very effective power-ups in its armoury: brand power and reams of content that smartphone users can soup up their mobiles with.

'Add those to a quality handset and the mobile market may well have an Trojan Horse on its hands.

'Amazon’s killer blow lies in its deep connection to the Prime subscription service. The Fire Phone is rather a gateway into its millions of books, movies and music on-demand, making the device key to a very appealing package.

The handset has as 13MP camera - and Bezos claims it can take better pictures that the iPhone 5s and Galaxy S5

The handset has been runoured for weeks- which Bezos acknowledged with this slide

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